Food Allergy Care in Charlotte, NC
Reactions after eating can be confusing. A food reaction may cause hives, stomach pain, throat tightness, or swelling. Other symptoms may only leave you wondering if something “just didn’t sit right.” Your next step should not have to be guessing or cutting out a long list of foods on your own. Instead, it should be a careful evaluation with a trained allergy provider.
Medically Reviewed by Thomas L. Offerle, MD
Asthma & Allergy Specialists offers food allergy testing and food allergy management in Charlotte, NC. Food allergy care is available at the Arboretum, Mallard Creek, and Steele Creek locations and is provided by Dr. Thomas L. Offerle and Sary L. De La Rosa, MSN, FNP-C.
What Are Food Allergies?
A food allergy happens when the immune system treats a food as a threat. This can cause symptoms in the skin, stomach, lungs, throat, or heart and blood vessels. Some reactions are mild. Others can become serious and may require emergency treatment.
Food allergies are different from food intolerances. An intolerance may cause bloating, gas, or stomach upset, but it does not involve the same immune response as a true allergy. A food allergy test can help your allergy provider understand whether your symptoms fit a food allergy, another type of allergy, or a different condition.
What Are the Most Common Food Allergies?
Almost any food can cause an allergic reaction, but these nine foods account for the majority of food allergy reactions.
Milk
Eggs
Peanuts
Tree Nuts
Wheat
Soy
Fish
Shellfish
Sesame
Food allergies can affect children, teens, and adults. Some people have symptoms beginning in childhood, while others develop food allergies later in life.
Common Symptoms of Food Allergies
Food allergy symptoms may appear within minutes to a few hours after eating. Symptoms can include:
- Hives, rash, itching, or flushing
- Swelling of the lips, tongue, face, or throat
- Stomach pain, vomiting, or diarrhea
- Coughing, wheezing, or trouble breathing
- Dizziness, faintness, or feeling weak
- Tightness in the throat or trouble swallowing
Seek Emergency Medical Care
Seek emergency medical care right away for symptoms such as trouble breathing, throat swelling, repeated vomiting with weakness, or feeling faint. These may be signs of anaphylaxis, a serious allergic reaction that needs fast treatment.
Food Allergy Testing in Charlotte, NC
There is no single test that answers every food allergy question. Your allergy provider will start with your symptom history, timing of reactions, foods involved, medical history, and risk factors. From there, Dr. Offerle or Sary De La Rosa may recommend one or more types of food allergy testing.
Skin Prick Testing
Skin prick testing places a tiny amount of a suspected allergen on the skin, usually on the arm or back. The skin is gently pricked, and your provider watches for a small raised bump.
This test can help identify foods that may be triggering an IgE-mediated allergic reaction (the type of allergy response that can happen quickly after eating a food). A positive result does not always mean you are truly allergic, so your provider will review the result along with your symptoms.
Blood Testing
Blood testing may be used to measure food-specific IgE antibodies. This can be helpful if skin testing is not the best option, such as when certain skin conditions, medications, or reaction history affect testing choices.
Blood testing can provide useful clues, but it is not meant to be read alone. Your provider will explain what the results do and do not mean.
Oral Food Challenge
An oral food challenge may be recommended when your history and test results do not give a clear answer. During this test, you eat small, increasing amounts of a specific food in a medical setting while your care team monitors you closely.
A medically supervised oral food challenge is often considered one of the clearest ways to confirm whether a food causes symptoms. It should never be tried at home.
Food Allergy Management
Testing is only one part of care. Once your provider understands your allergy risk, the next step is building a plan you can use in real life.
Avoidance and Education
Food allergy management may include:
- ✓ Learning how to avoid confirmed trigger foods
- ✓ Reading food labels with more confidence
- ✓ Understanding cross-contact risks
- ✓ Knowing what symptoms to watch for
- ✓ Talking through school, work, restaurant, or travel concerns
The goal is to help you understand your triggers without making food feel scary, so you can lower your risk of reactions.
Xolair® Biologic Treatment
Xolair® may also be part of food allergy care for some patients. This injectable medication, also called omalizumab, may help reduce the body’s allergic response after accidental exposure to certain food allergens. It is not an emergency treatment and does not replace food avoidance, an emergency action plan, or prescribed rescue medications. Asthma & Allergy Specialists can help determine whether Xolair® is an appropriate option based on your allergy history, test results, symptoms, and overall risk.
Emergency Planning
If you are at risk for a severe allergic reaction, your provider may recommend an emergency action plan. This may include when and how to use epinephrine, when to call 911, and how to explain your allergy to family, caregivers, schools, or coworkers.
Although there is no cure for food allergies, some children outgrow their allergies to milk, egg, soy, and wheat. However, peanut, tree nut, fish, and shellfish allergies are more likely to continue into adulthood.
Patients should follow their personalized plan from their allergy provider.
Food Allergy Care at Asthma & Allergy Specialists
Food allergy care at Asthma & Allergy Specialists is available in Charlotte with Dr. Thomas Offerle and Sary De La Rosa, MSN, FNP-C.
Dr. Offerle is a board-certified allergist who cares for adults and children with food allergies, environmental allergies, asthma, eczema, hives, eosinophilic esophagitis, and related allergic conditions. Sary De La Rosa, MSN, FNP-C, cares for adolescents and adults with food allergies, environmental allergies, hives, eczema, and asthma.
“One of the biggest misconceptions about food allergy is that not all symptoms that come from food necessarily mean allergy. It really takes a full evaluation to not only get a sense of what is going on, but also how to best navigate that. It really takes a specialist to look at the whole situation and the whole patient to figure out how best to treat what’s going on.”
For patients who also have seasonal or environmental allergies, the team may discuss broader allergy testing options or related treatments such as allergy shots when appropriate.
Before Your Appointment Checklist:
- Write down the food you suspect
- Note how soon symptoms started after eating
- List all symptoms
- Bring photos of rashes or swelling if available
- Bring a list of your current medications
- Do not stop medications unless your care team tells you to
Schedule a Food Allergy Test in Charlotte
If you have had symptoms after eating, have been told to avoid a food, or are unsure whether your reaction is an allergy or intolerance, schedule a visit with our Charlotte food allergy team.
Food allergy care is available at our Arboretum, Mallard Creek, and Steele Creek offices in Charlotte with Dr. Offerle and Sary De La Rosa, MSN, FNP-C.
Food Allergy FAQs
What is the best test for food allergies?
There is no single best test for every patient. Skin prick testing, blood testing, and oral food challenges may be used based on symptoms, patient age, and history.
Can adults develop food allergies?
Yes. Food allergies can develop in adults, even if the person has eaten the food before without symptoms.
Is a food allergy test enough to diagnose a food allergy?
Testing helps guide diagnosis, but results should be reviewed with symptoms and medical history.
Where is food allergy testing available?
At Asthma & Allergy Specialists, food allergy care is available at our Arboretum, Mallard Creek, and Steele Creek locations.
