Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with allergy

New Ibuprofen Allergy - Ouch!

SixteenTons — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:01:15 -0800

I've recently developed an allergy to ibuprofen...Symptoms: swollen and sore tongue. Questions: a) Is there an equally effective drug for menstrual cramps? b) Chance of worsening symptoms/permanent damage if I continue to take it? SEE INSIDE FOR DETAILS An allergy, or a side effect that didn't affect me before--call it what you will. After the first dose wears off is when it begins: my tongue, usually only on one side at a time, swells slightly and becomes very sore, both to move and to touch. It feels almost exactly like a bad canker sore or cut on my tongue, and during the worse occurrences affects my speech somewhat (due to the swelling). It lasts for a few days after the last dose is taken, and then just goes away.

My actual question is a two-parter:
1) I am of the female persuasion, and most months have moderate to severe menstrual cramps. Ibuprofen is my drug of choice for the cramps; it's the only thing that works for me (my gynecologist told me that it not only relieves pain, but that it lessens the severity of the actual uterine convulsions if you stay dosed--I've found that to be true, and it has been a blessing in 600mg doses). Is there any other drug, OTC or prescription, that does the same thing, or works well for other women? I'd prefer something that doesn't make me loopy, but beggars can't be choosers.

2) If I can't find a substitute, I may decide that having an annoyingly painful tongue for a few days is better than being incapacitated by cramps for the same amount of time. If I come to that conclusion, will I be endangering myself by continuing, periodically, to ingest a substance that my body doesn't like? Is there permanent damage that can be done?

I can't find much on the Internet about it, and no longer have insurance so I can't ask my doctor. Any feedback from MeFite MDs or people with the same experience would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Can an allergy start at 40?

LittlePumpkin — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:17:54 -0800

Can food allergies develop at forty years old? In my case, I'm getting hives (on my arm or hand) when i eat anything with dairy in it -- this has never happened before.

Anyone have a bubble I can borrow?

quodlibet — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 02:28:04 -0800

Allergy Help Needed: I am having a skin test done on Friday and have had to stop all antihistamines until then. What can I do for allergy relief between now and my test? Allergy symptoms: Congestion, Itchy roof of mouth (does this have a proper term?), Ear aches, heavy breathing through mouth, some sinus pressure. My never ending sinus infection may have returned. On a scale of 1-10 for miserable, I'm at about a 7 or 8 without any medicine. Unfortunately I still have work for the next 2 days though where I have to look/sound alive.

I have a Neti Pot. What else is out there to help me? Thanks Hivemind, even if you aren't my doctor!

My dog's really, really itchy, and my vet hasn't been much help.

shirobara — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:07:28 -0800

My dog's really, really itchy, and my vet hasn't been much help. She's got bumps, sores, and the occasional scab on her underside. Allergy treatments haven't been much help (barring prednisone which isn't really a long-term solution) nor have special skin-treatment foods. And she doesn't have parasites, either. I'm kind of at a loss. (I'm asking this for a very frustrated friend of mine...)

She's a terrier mix. I adopted her from a shelter last January, and she was doing fine for the first couple of months. Then she started to develop sores. They're more noticeable on her underside where there's little to no hair, but if you feel around on her back you can tell that she's getting them there, too. Mostly they look like little red bumps, not entirely unlike chickenpox, but occasionally she'll appear to have a scab somewhere too. Lately it's gotten really bad, where she's actively trying to bite at herself. I go through her hair with a wire brush at least once a week, but lately almost every day - sometimes little flakes of dead skin come off in her hair. If I scratch her, sometimes I even end up pulling what looks like clumps of dandruff off of her.

I've just about run the gamut of tests with her. She's been on cephalexin and prednisone, which cleared up the bumps and the itchies. As soon as she was done with the cephalexin, however, the bumps came back, and as soon as she was taken off the prednisone the itchies came back too. She's gone on the cephalexin without the prendisone, and it has cleared up the bumps, but she remained itchy. And again, once she came off of the cephalexin, the itchies came back.

She's on a monthly Advantix treatment for flea and tick prevention. I took her off of it for a month or two just to see if she was having a reaction to it, but that hasn't helped. (She's back on it now.) Her vet has done skin scrapings and deep skin scrapings as well, and has not found any parasites. I switched her over to Royal Canin Skin Support for a couple of months; not only was it prohibitively expensive but it didn't do anything for her, either. (She currently eats Dave's Naturally Healthy.) I've tried giving her benadryl three times daily, but that hasn't done anything for her, either. I've even tried adding a little cod-liver oil to her food; all that did was make her breath stink.

Is she just allergic to *something* in my apartment? I keep the place fairly clean, trash goes out when it gets full, etc. There aren't any plants or any toxic substances or anything she might be getting into, either. She gets a bath once per month with a basic oatmeal shampoo, and resumes scratching a few hours after she's done. She goes for a ten minute walk every day, and a much longer one once every week or so, and there's plenty of room for her to bomb around in the main living area, so I don't think it's a psychosomatic response brought on by lack of exercise.

She has a great life otherwise, and it makes me sad to see her so uncomfortable. Can anybody offer any advice?

casein & lactose levels in "caseine & lactose free" foods

Mimidae — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 17:25:46 -0800

Can someone tell me the minimum safe level of casein and lactose found in "casein free" &/ or "lactose free" foods that would not trigger an allergic reaction. (In ppm.) i.e. the lowest safe level allowed if you were trying to produce such a food product. (It will be for ghee, which has the milk solids removed, but residual trace amounts could potentially remain.) In striving to get it as low as possible, what would be an acceptable level to not trigger allergic response? We want to safely label the ghee as "caseine & lactose free". From my research, the FDA doesn't currently have any law defining this or offer any guidelines, but we would like to know if their are acceptable levels which would be safe for people who are allergic to these substances.

TIA

Should I be taking vitamins to make up for my fruit allergies?

stleric — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 13:15:15 -0800

I'm allergic to most fruits. Should I be taking some sort of multivitamin? I am allergic to varying degrees to a variety of delicious and nutritious foodstuffs. I'm most allergic to bananas, kiwis, mangoes, and avocados (not to a hospitalization/EpiPen extent, but I usually would stop eating only a few bites into any of the above), and am somewhat more mildly allergic to apples, oranges, berries, grapes, as well as carrots and a few varieties of nuts. I can eat probably about half of an apple or orange before the throat swelling/tingling/itchiness really starts to get to me, but I usually just don't eat said fruits so that I can avoid the allergic reactions altogether.

I don't think that it's due to pesticides, since I usually wash fruits fairly thoroughly. It seems like cooked fruits either don't give me allergic reactions or diminish the reactions, but it's not always convenient for me to be cooking everything.

If eating raw fruit is usually out of the picture, is there some sort of vitamin or multi-vitamin that I should be taking to pick up the slack in getting the right vitamins and minerals in my diet? If so, is there anything in specific or any vitamins and minerals that I should be looking for to replace what I would have been getting from fruit (especially the bananas, mangoes, etc.)? Should I just be eating a lot of processed pre-cooked fruit products and crossing my fingers that I don't get a reaction?

Thanks, everyone!

Help me give relief to a friend's dog.

Pseudology — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 22:28:32 -0800

I have met some new friends recently and they have a 10 year old golden retriever who is suffering from a list of allergies so long it could fill a book. Removing the exposure to allergens is impossible. I want to help them reduce the strength of the symptoms. So from what I've been told the dog is allergic to pretty much any and all food as well as grass and cedar (which is *very* common here). It would probably be shorter to provide a list of what the dog isn't allergic to.

They tried an anti-allergy medication for dogs and the side effects were so serious the dog had to be taken off of it.

Right now they're trying to feed the dog raw food. This provided noticeable relief initially but the symptoms have returned.

I recommended keeping up the raw food because the latest hypothesis on allergies is that they're the result of an underused immune system. I also recommended mixing their own food to see if they could actually feed their dog with stuff that it's not allergic to. Even if removing all allergenic exposure is totally unrealistic then at least taking it out of its food would help.

Google has also recommended vitamin C and E to reduce allergic reactions but I'm a little out of my depth with this.

A houmoussy kiss

mippy — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:51:29 -0800

I love houmous, but my boyfriend is allergic to legumes (peanuts, pulses and the like). Is there a similar dip I can make with tahini, lemon, garlic and something else instead of chick peas? I'm confused as to which beans are legumes and which aren't, and which would work and which wouldn't...

How to solve a medical mystery involving insomnia, chemical sensitivity, and an air purifier that seems to be an accomplice?

bross12 — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:46:04 -0800

Does anyone have recommendations for dealing with wicked, terrible insomnia that seems to be caused by something I'm breathing in (judging by my racing heartbeat, constriction in my chest, and burning eyes)? Multiple Chemical Sensitivities are a part of this, so anyone with this who has learned a trick for controlling indoor air quality - please help me!!! Here's what I think are the most likely causes:

- Formaldehyde gas exposure. I live near a plastics factory that produces a fair amount of this, so that could be one source of exposure. I've lived in this apartment for a year, though, and have had insomnia only off and on. So maybe it's happening when the factory is churning up their goodies? I know I react to clothing treated with formaldehyde, so there's no question I'm sensitive. But I pray it's not the factory, because what then could I really do about it, short of getting a really expensive industrial quality air filter?

- Possibly allergens in the air right now. But I don't have any sneezing or runny nose or itchy eye things going on, which I'd think I would if it was a regular allergy. This would be great, though, because it would be easier to address.

- Mold. We recently had a new roommate move in who had lived in a house with a fair amount of mold that she reacted to. She cleaned everything she owned before moving in, and isn't reacting now, but maybe she brought in some mold and I'm reacting to that? In the past, my reactions to mold have been a heightening of fatigue rather than a racing heartbeat, though.

A wrinkle to consider:

- I recently bought an expensive air purifier from a company called Blue Air. This purifier is supposed to be great at getting rid of mold, allergens, and tiny dust particles, has a HEPA filter, and is supposed to not off-gas anything weird (such as ozone or gases from plastic). It does not address gas exposure though. I ran it in my room about a week ago and then things got MUCH worse. I am scratching my head over this one. Any thoughts?

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

How worried should I be about my symptoms?

suncoursing — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:08:41 -0800

Should I be worried about this? I went to the doctor this morning to get checked out for cold/flu symptoms; I didn't think it was serious -- I just wanted to check that I didn't have H1N1, but the doctor told me that the treatment I'd been getting for prostatitis was "highly unusual for someone in their 20s", and he said I should immediately stop taking the antibiotic I'm on (Septra/Bactrim) because I might be having an allergic reaction to it, or possibly an autoimmune reaction. The doctor told me, in the strongest possible terms, that I should write up a description of the treatment I've received so far, with dates, and bring it to another urologist to get a second opinion. Since I won't even be able to schedule an appointment until Tuesday, and it will probably be a week or two before I can actually get in, I might as well post here to see what opinions MeFi experts (or non-experts) have about this.

About a year ago, while seeing a sports medicine doc for an ankle sprain, I offhandedly mentioned that I was waking up once or twice a night to urinate, unless I avoided drinking any water during the afternoon. She said that was just part of getting older, and that I shouldn't be worried about it. My symptoms gradually got worse, but I avoided seeing a doctor for a really long time because the deterioration was so slow, and I'd already been told it was just a natural part of getting older. Eventually, it got to the point that I was waking up every couple of hours to urinate. My life was a total disaster. I was too tired to functon at all. At that point, three months ago (6/26), I went back to the same doctor, who did a urine culture (negative) and prescribed a week of doxycycline (100 mg, twice daily). My symptoms completely disappeared for a couple of days, but they eventually reached a midly annoying steady state level (waking up every four hours or so).

After going off the doxcycline, my symptoms started getting worse, and I got a referral to a uroligist, who did a urine culture (negative), and a DRE (inflamed prostate). He put me on a month of Cirpo. My symptoms cleared up after a few days on Cipro, but after a week or so they went back to the same steady state (waking up every four hours) that I had when i was on doxycycline. After the course of Cipro was up, my symptoms got worse, and I went back to the same urologist (on 08/19) who did another urine culture (negative), a semen culture (negative), and perscribed a month of Septra (800 mg/160mg, twice daily), and gave me some samples of Enablex to "experiment with". The same thing happened again: my symptoms initially went away, and then they came back, but weren't as severe as they were when I wasn't on antibiotics.

I started the Enablex last Sunday (8/30), but stopped last Thursday (9/3) when it didn't seem to help.

And now for the symptoms that really seemed to freak out the doctor I saw today. Three days ago (9/23), while applying sunscreen, I noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck were tender and swollen. I also had some mild eye irritation that I'm not sure how to describe. It felt really uncomfortable, in a weird way, if I moved my eyes to an extreme position (e.g., if I tried to look right without turning my head).

You know that gunk you sometimes have in your eyes when you wake up? My eyes kept generating that stuff all day Friday, and by the end of the day, my eyes were really watery and bloodshot. It looked like I'd been crying all day, but it wasn't affecting my vision. This morning, when I woke up, I had a mild fever, a sore throat, my lips felt like they were burning very mildly, and my eyes were tearing up enough that my vision was just a tad blurry. Like I said above, I went to see a doctor to make sure I didn't have swine flu, and after giving the above description to the doctor, he sounded really worried and told me to stop taking Septra immediately, and that I should see a different urologist as soon as possible. Also, he gave me Erythromycin ointment, in case I have an eye infection, and Optivar drops for the eye irritation.

Since this morning, things have gotten a bit worse. For a while, my eyes were watering so much that tears were streaming down my face. It's not quite so bad now, but my vision is still blurry enough that I wouldn't feel comfortable driving, or even cooking The burning on my lips is a lot worse; I can see skin blistering off my lips and the inside of my mouth, and my ears are red and warm to the touch.

Just as an aside, the urologist I'm seeing seems poorly organized. I called them up this week when I noticed this pattern of my symptoms getting better and then worse again every time I started a new antibiotic, and the nurse I talked to told me I should give it time since I had only been on Cipro for a week (when I had actually been on Cipro for a month), and that I had only been on Septra since last Monday, barely more than a week (when I'd actually started the Septra two Wednesdays ago). The last time I called, asking if I should refill my prescription of Cipro after two weeks, the nurse responded to all my questions with "you should come in and see the doctor", but when I did, he spent about thirty seconds with me before writing me a another prescription for two weeks of Cipro, which I didn't even need, since my previous prescription was refillable.

Sorry for the typos and grammatical errors; it's hard to proofread when my vision is like this.

Also, can anyone recommend a urologist in Austin? The doctor I saw today avoided recommending a particular urologist, telling me I should call my primary care physician for a recommendation, but who knows if they'll even be around on Tuesday?

Looking for a dustrpoof pillow cover that isn't annoying.

Fleebnork — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:27:35 -0800

Allergyfilter: Need recommendations for a dustproof pillow cover. I used to have a dustproof pillow cover, but a couple years ago, we got a king sized bed with king sized pillows, and I haven't bothered to get a dustproof pillow cover sized for king sized pillows.

One of the things I never liked about my pillow cover in the past was the "crackly" stiff fabric. It made noise and crackled when I moved my head, sort of like a muffled paper bag.

Can anyone recommend a brand of dustproof pillow cover that isn't "crackly" like this? Do they exist, or is it simply the nature of the dustproof covering?

Am I allergic to my cold medication?

alona — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:11:01 -0800

Is what I am describing an allergic reaction? Sometimes (think once every few months) I get this itch that starts in the soles of my feet and the palms of my hands and spreads to my whole body. It's an intense itch that is very unbearable but as far as I have noticed there is absolutely no outward sign of it - no redness or anything.

I used to think this was psychosomatic but the past two times I've taken a cold medicine (yesterday and the day before) this has happened. These pills are composed of 500mg paracetamol and 25mg pesudoephedrine HCI. I've read about reactions to pseudoephedrine but they all sound very different from what I'm experiencing.
Anyone have any idea if this is an allergy?

And yeah, I know YANMD.

Wheat-free deliciousness?

lizbunny — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 07:01:29 -0800

Wheat-free cooking ideas? I've got a friend who's allergic to wheat (gluten) and he wants to host a potluck dinner tonight. I'm pretty good at Japanese and Mexican Cuisine, but I can't help feel like I'm burnt out on ideas for what tasty dish to make. I also intend to take the opportunity to cook for him more often, so please give me any of your favorite recipes that are wheat-free, especially desserts!

Also, what kinds of gluten-free flours are good for baking besides bread? Does anyone have recipes for cooking with those? Thanks!

What's normal for a bee sting?

bookish — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:24:29 -0800

How much swelling is normal after a bee sting? And is a lot of swelling indicative of anything troublesome? I was stung by a bee on the top of my foot yesterday, near my big toe. It's been gradually swelling and now the whole front half of my foot is swollen, painful and itchy, and it hurts to stand or walk. I had periodic chills after getting stung but they disappeared by yesterday evening.

Is this within the range of "normal" reactions to a bee sting? Some googling turns up advice to see a doctor if the swelling is bigger than several inches, but then elsewhere folks say it's not a big deal, if you don't have hives, a fever, or trouble breathing.

The pain is a bitch but I can deal. What concerns me is that my mother had a deathly bee allergy and once almost died while she was mowing the lawn, and I wander if this is a harbinger of more serious allergic responses in the future. Or am I just being paranoid?

I really would like to avoid the doctor, as I have no insurance and no money. Like, I would have to borrow money to go to the local clinic before my next pay check, or else show up at the ER. And I'm not going to do that if all the doc is going to say is, "Yep, that's a bee sting, take some Benedryl."

But I love snap peas :(

downing street memo — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:06:48 -0800

Recently, after eating raw sugar snap peas, I've been getting tender spots on my lips and my throat gets dry and slightly sore. It goes away after a half hour or so. What is this? An allergy?

What caused a sudden facial and joint rash?

vickyverky — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:55:05 -0800

Sudden facial and joint rash after taking vitamins with food. Allergy, or cross-reaction? Last weekend I had what I thought was a hot flash (I'm female, 42, but have never had a hot flash before as far as I can tell) around lunchtime.

My face suddenly felt burning hot, like sunburn, and went bright red. My arms and legs and chest also developed a hive-like rash, concentrated around my elbows and knees. It burned like mad for about half an hour, and then faded.

The exact same thing has just happened, and I'm now wondering whether it's linked to the vitamins I just took before lunch (as I did last week). Is it an allergy? Or could they be reacting with the food?

Vitamins I took each time: Rainbow Light Women's One Multivitamin/Mineral, Finest Natural Natural Vitamin D 1000 IU, and Berkeley Bowl brand of Niacin 100 mg.

Last week I took them just before eating a bacon and tomato sandwich. This week I took them just before eating a salmon and cream cheese bagel. I drank just water both times.

I'm not allergic to any foods, as far as I know, although I once ate some roasted chestnuts and came out in an all-over rash for two days.

Could this be a case of the vitamins and supplements reacting with each other, or is it some other sensitivity? I'm not very good about regularly taking my vitamins, and often forget to take them during the week (which is why I noticed this reaction now). Should I take them after eating, instead of before?

Solution for belt buckle allergy

truth1ness — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:31:56 -0800

I'm allergic to most belt buckles, what can I coat them with to provide a barrier between the metal and my skin? Every belt with a metal buckle seems to give me a rash on my stomach where it touches my skin. I'm looking for some ideas of what I could put on the buckle to keep it from touching my skin. I've tried things like clear nail polish and super glue but they seem to wear off the metal pretty quickly. What else could I try? I'd consider gluing a little strip of cloth to the back of the buckle, too, but I'm not sure what glue to use that would bond it really well to the metal. Thanks!

zit or is it?

Wroksie — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:25:22 -0800

I'm getting a strange new kind of zit (or is it?) My skin is fairly clear, but when I do get spots, they're the normal kind, small whiteheads and blackheads on my face and occasionally on my upper back. These new spots are like nothing I've ever had, and I'm worried that they might be some kind of bug bites or rash.

They're always on 'soft' parts of my skin - the side of my breast, inside of my thigh, under my arm- but never close to any kind of hair follicles so I don't think they're ingrown hairs or infected hair follicles. They're medium-to-large, sore, itchy, bright red conical bumps with a whitehead in the centre. Gross, huh?

Before you ask - I have been to the doctor. He said they're just normal pimples. They keep coming and coming, though - they're really unsightly, sore as hell, and zit cream just irritates them and makes them more red. I use a gentle exfoliant every day in the shower, and that hasn't seemed to make a difference. Aside from being on soft, relatively hairless skin, there's really no rhyme or reason to where they appear - i.e., sometimes it's a place that's always covered in clothes, sometimes not, sometimes on skin that touches other skin (inside of thighs), sometimes not. I am going back to the doctor soon to insist on a referral to a dermatologist (this is in the UK, so doing this kind of thing through the NHS can take a while) but in the meantime I'd thought I'd see if anyone else has any ideas or has experienced something similar. Spider bites (there are tons of spiders in my house)? Allergic reaction? Evil curse?

What's up with my reaction to alcohol?

Quizicalcoatl — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 18:04:47 -0800

I have a really wierd reaction to alcohol. What is it and can I prevent it without giving up drinking forever? (Details inside!) Whenever I drink I get a vicious edema (swelling) in my eyelids that lasts for 24-48 hours and my nose runs like a faucet for a several hours. The symptoms begin within a few hours of drinking. I don't have any other symptoms - no vision or breathing problems, other swelling, pain, vomiting, or itching except for my eyes.
It started when I was about 28 (2 years ago) with a wheat beer. At that point it was just one eyelid. I tried another beer and it happened again so I assumed it was an allergy to hops or barley or something. I tried several different brands and types of beers but the reaction always occurred with varying levels of severity, so I gave it up. About a year ago I had a glass of red wine and nothing happened! Then, a couple of weeks later I had another glass of wine and the eyelid swelling was worse than ever. I did a little research and decided it might be a sulfite allergy and about a month ago I decided to try liquor. I even called the good folks at Bacardi to make sure their rum was sulfite free. So I tried one whiskey drink and nothing happened. A few days later I had a rum drink and, again, nothing happened. I waited a few more days and then had 1 whiskey drink and 2 rum drinks and the swelling came back as badly as ever.
I don't have any significant allergies other than mild hay fever.
So what in the world could this be? Could it possibly be prevented?

Wasps on the mind

punishinglemur — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:01:49 -0800

Wasp problem: They're in my room, I have a phobia. What to do? It seems my dorm has developed a wasp problem. About a week and a half ago, I discovered one in my windowsill. It was moving around very slowly, as if it was debilitated. To deal with this situation, I first stumbled backwards, falling over and knocking over a fan. Then, I slammed the window shut as hard as I could and then sat around trying to cool down. My window was open in winter because the heat in this building is way too high, to the point where it's unbearably hot without an open window.

I was surprised to find a wasp because at the time it was a cold February in the midwest. I live in a small single room (all of eight feet wide, approximately). I was freaked out for a while, but I got over it. Until tonight, when I saw one flying around my room. I ran out, slammed the door, and I'm now in an, uh, undisclosed location.

This presents a problem. I'm absolutely terrified of returning to my room. It's completely debilitated me. The thought of going back is laughable. Every little movement I see from the corner of my eye gives me a jolt and the sweats -- it could be a wasp! Every little tingle or brush I feel on my skin, like when my arm brushes against my shirt, has the same effect -- it's gotta be the wasp! Even if I did manage to make it inside my room, it's still there. If I see it again, I'll flee again. If I don't that's almost worse: is it in my blankets? My coat? My shoes? Everything I touch or move is suspect.

Worse yet, I've never been stung and I have no idea if I'm allergic or not. This only serves to amplify my fears.

I have no idea what to do right now -- I feel lost and helpless. It's hard to get across in words just how completely debilitating this wasp situation is. What is the best way for me to get rid of it, especially if I can't see it? How can I convince the school to take action on this? They've said they will be getting it looked at, but more immediate action of... some sort, I don't know what, would be appreciated. Finally, how do I keep myself from dying if I do end up getting stung by this unwanted guest?

How do I deal with super-sensitive skin?

WorkingMyWayHome — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:06:18 -0800

What resources are out there for people with super-sensitive skin? I seem to develop a new allergy every month or so. My latest rash is located everywhere my bra touches my skin, so I'm particularly interested in undyed, unbleached organic cotton bras. Over the past year and a half, my skin has become more and more sensitive. I get rashes from most creams and lotions, toothpastes, makeup, soaps, perfumed laundry detergent and dryer sheets, etc., etc. The only toilet paper I can use is Seventh Generation. Now I have a problem with the bras I wear; I bought two new Barely There bras and developed big red welts everywhere they touched my skin. I went back to wearing my older Barely There bras and the rash went away, but it seems to be returning. I've been searching but haven't been able to find unbleached, undyed organic cotton underwire bras in my size (38-40 B or C). And I'm also just looking for any websites, books, or other resources you've found for people with super-sensitive skin. There must be other people that have skin problems like mine, and I need all the information and help in dealing with all this that I can get.

If I can't change my environment I must change myself.

dino terror — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:16:06 -0800

If you were once susceptible to mold and other air quality issues but have since strengthened your immunity how did you do it? I take allergy shots which are noted to be not that great for mold, I take antihistamines when I feel like I am really being hit hard but they seem to have little effect, and apparently nasal corticosteroids are another one that can help which I have started taking recently anyway for a separate matter.
I noticed that I started working out a few years back and I stopped catching colds on a bi-yearly basis. I directly attribute the exercise to strengthening my immune system against virus catching. Anything for allergen resistance?

Food allergy?

aeighty — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 10:57:01 -0800

Food allergy filter. Why does eating chocolate candy (and other types of candy) makes me break out a couple of hours later? What does that indicate?

How to prevent (dust mite) allergy attack after strenuous exercise?

dinkyday — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 01:11:27 -0800

How to prevent (dust mite) allergy attack after strenuous exercise? Although tests show I am very allergic to dust mite it does not bother me on a regular basis. However when it does bother me it is pretty severe: I can't stop sneezing for longer than a few minutes and pretty soon I'm feeling very very tired. It can take up to a full day for me to feel 'normal' again.

Yesterday I had an attack after a short but very strenuous run (24 minutes at 90% of my maximum heartrate). This has happened before but never when the exercise session was so short (usually it happens after 3 hours of cycling, for instance).

Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening, apart from refraining from exercise?

Sulfa danger?

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 09:15:38 -0800

I'm allergic to sulfa drugs (specifically known to be allergic to Septra). My boyfriend's taking Bactrim, a sulfa drug. Could I have an allergic reaction from kissing him or coming into contact with his sweat? Could sleeping next to him be dangerous?