I have an allergic reaction that has come on in the past couple of years. Basically it's a skin rash, mainly on my neck and occasionally on my scalp and random areas of my body. I've been to a dermatologist twice. She ran some tests. I'm allergic to nickle and, she thinks, red dye 40. I avoid both of those things (don't wear necklaces, read food labels) and I still am regularly broken out.
Is this normal? Do most people who are allergic to food/substances know what they are allergic to or is diagnosing it kind of a crapshoot??
I break out in hives occasionally. No idea what I'm reacting to, but since it typically happens at home, I'm guessing I'm allergic to our house and need to move.
I am allergic to: Bermuda grasses (going onto a golf course around here just about kills me), Johnson grasses, dust mites, and cockroaches. Fortunately, they're well under control with Allegra and steam and keeping the pillows clean.
A red skin rash mainly on face and scalp could be an allergy to sodium lauryl sulfate. DH has that. It's the ingredient in skin care products that makes it foam. DH quickly gets a red sore rash whenever he's exposed to it. It's in toothpaste too, it makes his mouth ache. We switched to SLS-free products years ago, and he hasn't had the rash at all since.
Post by jeaniebueller on Oct 9, 2015 9:04:09 GMT -5
I was allergy tested about 4 years ago and learned I am allergic to basically every kind of local weed/pollen except grass. And also allergic to dust mites and pet dander. My doctor described me as being a "highly allergic person." For the most part, as long as I use my eye drops and allergy meds I feel okay.
The only thing I'm allergic to are Sulfa antibiotics. Thankfully they are easy to avoid. Although every year I get nasty and congested in the spring and fall, si sometimes I wonder if I have a pollen/whatever allergy.
A red skin rash mainly on face and scalp could be an allergy to sodium lauryl sulfate. DH has that. It's the ingredient in skin care products that makes it foam. DH quickly gets a red sore rash whenever he's exposed to it. It's in toothpaste too, it makes his mouth ache. We switched to SLS-free products years ago, and he hasn't had the rash at all since.
Thanks for the tip! I'll look into cutting those out.
I know I get terrible respiratory allergy symptoms during weed pollen season, but I don't know which weeds are the problem. Zyrtec takes care of it so I haven't pursued further.
I know what I am allergic to (did a patch test years ago). Any sort of perfumes, gold, and propylene glycol were the big ones. For the most part, my skin can be controlled with steroid cream and zyrtec, but sometimes I have random flare ups. Mainly when I am stressed.
I'm allergic or have sensitivities to basically everything. Such a delicate flower, lol. Seriously though, it's been a long, difficult journey. I know that alternative medicine gets side-eyed a lot on these boards, but it's the only thing that has truly helped me figure out what I react to and get relief.
Can you expand on this? What helped you? I'll admit, I question alternative medicine to a point, but I'm willing to try nearly anything.
I have had weird skin reactions. My sister does too, and was diagnosed with seborrhaic dermatitis. She reacts mostly to citrus, redbull, and sun. I haven't figured mine out as it's less frequent, but seems to be makeup/lipgloss often.
I get random rashes and some weird swelling (my upper lip most often, other times it's my waist area) and the only thing that works is Allegra regularly. Of course, I sneeze a lot during spring and fall. I have also recently come up with weird potential food allergies - banana, avocado, red life savers, and kale or escarole (I just avoid both to be sure, it was the greens in OG zuppa).
I haven't been tested. Nothing has been anaphylactic. I had swelling in my mouth and tongue controlled by Benadryl or just massive intestinal distress for bananas and avocado. My Dr didn't want to subject me to scratch tests since it's easy enough to avoid and hasn't been something I had to go to the ER for. She gave me a script for blood allergy testing but didn't think it would be covered and I never did find out.
You have what I have for food - it's called Oral Allergy Syndrome or Pollen Food Allergy: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_allergy_syndrome. I self-diagnosed myself with this a few years ago when I started having a lot of itchy reactions to certain raw foods, and I saw an allergist recently who confirmed it. I have terrible seasonal allergies ever since I moved to Texas. I got the skin prick testing for 46 common local allergies and there were only 4 that I didn't have a reaction to. One look at the reaction bumps on my arms and the allergist was like "I'm certain you have Pollen Food reactions". I get minor reactions to a LOT of fresh fruits and vegetables, but cooking them makes them safe for me to eat. One of the tricky parts of figuring out what foods to avoid is that with OAS you don't always get a reaction, but it can get worse the more you eat it.
Post by asoctoberfalls on Oct 9, 2015 10:24:28 GMT -5
I know what some of mine are, and some of them are a mystery.
I used to have a TON of issues - random, painful, extremely itchy rashes all over my body. My hands were always the worst - red, bleeding, itching, infected.
I went to 3-4 dermatologists and no one could figure it out - they kept calling it eczema and giving me steroid cream. The steroid cream would help, but never eliminate the issues, and I was on it all the time for years.
Finally, I saw an awesome allergist who referred me to an even more awesome dermatologist who actually knew what she was doing with the contact allergy stuff. I went through 2 rounds of patch testing...even though the first round found a ton of things I was allergic to, I was still having major issues, so we knew we hadn't found the smoking gun. The 2nd round of patch testing revealed I was allergic to mint. Mint is in a TON of cosmetics, toothpaste, hair products, etc. Eliminating that made a huge difference in my quality of life.
I do still have eczema on my hands that seems to be related to food intolerances. It cleared up when I did a whole 30 last year, so I need to try it again to figure out what the problem is there.
One thing to emphasize is that the prick style allergy testing won't diagnose contact allergies. You have to do patch testing for that, which stinks because patch testing is a huge PITA and most dermatologists don't know how to do it properly. The standard patch test that most derms use doesn't even scratch the surface of what could actually be causing the reactions. My derm tested me for over 150 different contact allergies. I think the standard panel is only 50 allergens (or maybe even fewer), and there are over 3000 identified contact allerens.
The testing was worth it to me. My quality of life has improved a million times over. But you really have to find a good dermatologist - it could be SO many things. Check out the American society for contact dermatitis - they have a find a physician link on their site. I can recommend a great doctor in Cleveland if you're anywhere nearby.
I had hives on my inner forearms for 8 weeks last year. We thought it might be caused by the adhesive on the dog food bag because they would come out every morning after I reached into the 40# bag to feed my dogs. We went on vacation for 10 days and they disappeared and didn't come back for a full year. This past spring, my hives came back on the back of my neck and scalp. I've had them at LEAST 4 out of every 7days since May. And then about 3 weeks ago, they started appearing on my thighs, also.
I have had testing done, elimination diets, etc. and we are no closer to figuring out what is causing the hives. My seasonal allergies have gotten much worse during the same timeframe, so I think it may just be a general autoimmune response.
Is this normal? Do most people who are allergic to food/substances know what they are allergic to or is diagnosing it kind of a crapshoot??
I have developed a skin allergy as part of my general hayfever allergy, and I think it's also a reaction to almonds. I will get a random hive on my upper body that itches like hell for a few days, then goes away. My derm said there are 230948734 things that cause skin allergies, and it's pretty much impossible to narrow things down.
I take allergy meds daily and hit my hives with cortisone as soon as they start.
I am also allergic to almost everything. I've been tested 3 times over the past 7 years. During my 2nd testing I actually had developed 12 new allergens (even though I had just been tested a year prior), it was after my second pregnancy, so I wonder if the hormones had something to do with it..
I did immunotherapy (allergy drops) for about 5 years (it was amazing and life-changing, strongly recommend it!), but we moved and it's not offered in our new location, so I've noticed my allergens have increased again. More info here: acaai.org/allergies/treatment/sublingual-immunotherapy-slit
I've also started developing food intolerances (peanuts, nuts, eggs, sugar substitutes), which may or may not be tied to my allergies, but are very annoying. Allergies are so frustrating and while there are some helpful medications, I don't think I'll ever be symptom-free.
I don't know exactly what I'm allergic to but I know some of the products that bother me. Any laundry detergents with a fragrance makes be break out in hives all over. The only laundry detergent I can use is Tide free and clear.
Lotions also cause problems. I cannot use any Vaseline brand lotions at all, I'm not sure what is in them but I break out in hives almost instantly when I use it. Even their fragrance free version. The only lotion that I use now is Aveeno Eczema Care brand.
I have an allergic reaction that has come on in the past couple of years. Basically it's a skin rash, mainly on my neck and occasionally on my scalp and random areas of my body. I've been to a dermatologist twice. She ran some tests. I'm allergic to nickle and, she thinks, red dye 40. I avoid both of those things (don't wear necklaces, read food labels) and I still am regularly broken out.
Is this normal? Do most people who are allergic to food/substances know what they are allergic to or is diagnosing it kind of a crapshoot??
Have you been to an allergist to be prick tested? That is the only way I figured out the list of my allergies. I knew some of them already, but had no idea on others.
I have an allergic reaction that has come on in the past couple of years. Basically it's a skin rash, mainly on my neck and occasionally on my scalp and random areas of my body. I've been to a dermatologist twice. She ran some tests. I'm allergic to nickle and, she thinks, red dye 40. I avoid both of those things (don't wear necklaces, read food labels) and I still am regularly broken out.
Is this normal? Do most people who are allergic to food/substances know what they are allergic to or is diagnosing it kind of a crapshoot??
Have you been to an allergist to be prick tested? That is the only way I figured out the list of my allergies. I knew some of them already, but had no idea on others.
I haven't done the prick test, but I did do a patch test with a dermatologist, which showed a couple of allergies to various things. She seemed very uncertain with her recommendations, so I've decided to make an appointment with an allergist.
I've learned to avoid other things through experience...like, drinking pop out of a Coke can will make me break out around my mouth, but I can drink Coke from a glass with no problems. Pepsi cans don't cause any reactions. Some beer cans do and some don't. Red dye 40 is also a bad idea for me. White wine is fine. Red wine...sometimes okay, sometimes not.