I'm allergic to everything....

Discuss any health or dietary topics which lie outside mainstream Western medical thinking, from Ayurveda to Reiki.
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Redfaery
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I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Redfaery »

Hey all. I've got a problem. I'm allergic to just about every single beauty product on the market....no, not cosmetics. I don't do makeup. I mean...soap, shampoo, lotion. The simple stuff. Why? I've got the triple whammy: mineral oil (common moisturizing ingredient in lotions), cocomides/coconut oil (haven't been able to find a SINGLE shampoo without coconut-derived ingredients in it), and palm oil/laureth sulfate (seriously. IT'S IN EVERYTHING).

I'm fortunate that my reaction isn't serious - just a rash. But it's gotten really bothersome over time, and I can't find a way to get away from it. My scalp itches, my hair is brittle, and I have a rash down my back and across my shoulders. I'm hoping to see a dermatologist at some point, but in the meantime, does anyone know of any first aid treatments for allergic skin rash? I really am at the end of my rope trying to deal with the itching and burning.
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Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
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Kim O'Hara
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Kim O'Hara »

That combination of allergies sounds like it would make life difficult! It could be worth seeing if you can make soap yourself, out of ingredients you're not allergic to. As far as I know, making a simple soap isn't hard. It used to be one of those things radical self-sufficiency folk always encouraged people to do, and goooogle knows everything so a recipe is probably only a few key-strokes away.

:stirthepot: <---- soap mix

:namaste:
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Seishin
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Seishin »

I also have a skin allergy which is made worse by all soaps - my solution? - wash with just water (accept the unmentionables!) and it really works. It'll take a few weeks for your body to adjust but it's worth it in the end.

In gassho,
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Ayu
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Ayu »

My son has this problem with soap and perfume also. He also does'nt use any soap, shampoo or perfumed washing powder. Instead he takes baths with salt. He says this feels good for the skin.
As shampoo he takes a certain anti-allergic non-perfumed shampoo for babies. He had to test many different to find.

My silent suspicion is: if he was more nice to himself and more confident about his life, the skin would relax. He is 16 years old and has to find his way in this period of his life.... :shrug:

But I find it astonishing how less these soap products are needed. He has this problem since two years or more and he is fine with the alternatives he found.
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Grigoris
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Grigoris »

Natural olive oil soap.

Get the plain, off-white coloured stuff (ie without added scents and/or colouring). It is hypoallergenic, cheap and effective.

If you grate it and slowly add boiling hot water while vigorously stirring it, you can turn it into a shampoo/liquid soap. I sometimes add some essential oil of mint and lavender to this, both have a soothing effect on the skin.

As for the rash: Aloe is probably the best thing. Just buy a cactus (make sure it is fairly large as the aloe has to be 2-3 years old to produce its beneficial ingredients). Split the leaves and apply the gel directly onto the skin. Try to avoid contact with the fibrous part of the plant when applying it onto the rash.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
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Nemo
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Nemo »

Personally I would try low doses of naltrexone for at least a month. The reduction in cytokine production can be quite curative in many autoimmune disorders. That would be the most effective.

Other thing I would try is B6 injections. 1 ml every 3 or 4 days. No St. Johns Wort or tryptophan. Kynurenine is proinflammatory and though a long shot worth a try. Most especially if you also have sore joints or peripheral neuropathy.

Disruptions in the gut flora are implicated in many forms of allergies now. Antibiotics kill many of the beneficial strains like clostridia. Oh the irony of moms being right about eating dirt. (clostridia's natural habitat) There are so far no good commercial strains of most gut flora. 85% of the probiotics you buy in the store contain no living organisms. Neighbor worked for health Canada, looked at them under a microscope for years. Taking them is mostly a waste of time.
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Grigoris
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Grigoris »

Nemo wrote:There are so far no good commercial strains of most gut flora. 85% of the probiotics you buy in the store contain no living organisms. Neighbor worked for health Canada, looked at them under a microscope for years. Taking them is mostly a waste of time.
I was given a sour/butter milk culture and make my own. ;)
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Ayu
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Ayu »

Sherab Dorje wrote:
Nemo wrote:There are so far no good commercial strains of most gut flora. 85% of the probiotics you buy in the store contain no living organisms. Neighbor worked for health Canada, looked at them under a microscope for years. Taking them is mostly a waste of time.
I was given a sour/butter milk culture and make my own. ;)
You cultivate that with cow's milk? I heard goat's milk is best for the skin.
But in my country that is quite expensive. And it requires getting used to the taste.
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Redfaery
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Redfaery »

Thanks for the hints, everyone. I really need shampoo suggestions more than anything, since rinsing thoroughly every day is actually quite adequate to keep my skin clean.

I'll have to look around for different kinds of olive oil soap. The kind I use worked great, but then I started reacting. I think it has laureth/lauryl sulfates in it.

And a friend (who is also allergic to coconut oil) told me that some lauryl/laureth sulfates are synthesized from coconut oil, not palm oil, which would explain why my reaction to it is so unpredictable.
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Grigoris
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Grigoris »

Redfaery wrote:I'll have to look around for different kinds of olive oil soap. The kind I use worked great, but then I started reacting. I think it has laureth/lauryl sulfates in it.
Get the pure stuff. It is just olive oil and some sort of alkaline substance heated together. Nothing else.
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Grigoris
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Grigoris »

Ayu wrote:You cultivate that with cow's milk?
Yes. With organic cows milk. There is a commercially available (live) sour milk available locally made from sheep milk, but the taste is way too strong for me. I despise goats milk. Just the smell of it...
"My religion is not deceiving myself."
Jetsun Milarepa 1052-1135 CE

"Butchers, prostitutes, those guilty of the five most heinous crimes, outcasts, the underprivileged: all are utterly the substance of existence and nothing other than total bliss."
The Supreme Source - The Kunjed Gyalpo
The Fundamental Tantra of Dzogchen Semde
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Nemo
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Nemo »

It's hard to get hair clean without stripping it. These looked interesting.

http://www.ingodseconomy.com/simply-nat ... hair-ever/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Punya »

I really sympathise Redfaery. I'm also prone to skin conditions. I can't say I have much faith in conventional medicine, including dermatologists.

Have you considered what you are eating? I developed a particular skin condition last year and along with the lotions the alternative skin clinic I consulted recommended cutting out tomatoes, potatoes and significantly increasing my intake of green vegetables. There was also the usual advice to keep sugar, dairy and wheat intake low. I saw significant improvements within a few weeks.
We abide nowhere. We possess nothing.
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Redfaery
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Re: I'm allergic to everything....

Post by Redfaery »

Thanks everybody! I think I've finally found a soap which will work for me and not grease up my hair (which olive oil soap tends to do). It's an artisanal goat's milk soap made locally. The great thing about the Piedmont area of North Carolina is that it's easy to find locally produced dairy, meat, poultry, soap, even wine....all from small niche producers. It's a continuation of Central North Carolina's tradition of yeoman farming!

The area where I was raised (right in the center of the state) wasn't part of the plantation slave economy like the Eastern part of the state, or (heavens forbid) South Carolina, because it was quite poor and also heavily Quaker. That is, the people who lived here were either too poor to own slaves, or religiously opposed to slavery, or both. During the Civil War, the local authorities had to deal with a lot of "anti-government sentiment" - that is, people who were pro-union. Anti-Confederate sentiment was really thick in my area. Deserters congregated so heavily in the Western section of the Piedmont that it became known as "Little Texas." Nobody wanted to fight for the Confederacy. Randolph County has only one soldier listed as having died during the Civil War. He was struck by lightning. Seriously.

Randolph County is still quite poor and still largely Quaker, though the Quakers today look just like any other Protestant. But weirdly, the far-right anti-government people tend to group up with the highly-educated transplants who come down to work at the zoo. They all demand pure, organic food that hasn't been tampered with or had chemicals added (it's odd how both sides of the spectrum are equally paranoid about the same things!). The health food store in town is run by evangelical Christians. You know what it shares space with? The New Age metaphysical store. Seriously.

So that's just my little history lesson. Thank you for reading my ramble. :namaste:
NAMO SARASWATI DEVI
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - GANDHI
I am a delicate feminine flower!!!!
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