What Am I Allergic To

My next mission was to find products I CAN use. I trawled the shops in our high street and well it difficult. I checked skincare, haircare and basic household products ad could not find anything that was suitable for me with the allergies Next, I tried the internet. I basically went about it this way. First, I tried the brands I knew, brands my friends used and then did a search for skin-friendly products under various search terms.  This took a long time.... even when I found the brands often, surprisingly often there were NO ingredient listings! On some, there seemed to be partial listings and a very few actually did list the full ingredients. So with many could not tell if it would be Ok for me or not.  I decided that the only way I could be sure would be to contact each manufacturer and ask them if the product would be any good for me. So I composed a letter and emailed it out to probably over 30 companies.  I have to say most were very helpful, some assigned a...

Ok so I left the dermatologist with my three sheets of information about the allergens I was allergic to and I knew what to avoid.  The sheets were very detailed and useful and also gave the other chemical names of the allergens so i knew what I had to check on every product. It was very clear and excellent information.  What Can I Use For Skincare?  When we got home we checked all my skincare, haircare and body care- not one product was any good for me- believe it or not, every one of them contained an allergen!!! So they all went into a bin liner to be given away. Next, we checked the household products- things like washing up liquid, furniture polish, bath cleaner, kitchen cleaner- again Not one I can use- allergic to them all!! Then the washing liquids and conditioner we used for clothes- Nope I cannot use that either !! We ended up over the course of two days with a massive sack of pretty much useless products. We decided to give them all away..... No wo...

I really didn't expect much at this point. I mean how could I be allergic to anything. I had never in my life before been allergic to anything! I met with the dermatologist. I have to say the staff at the hospital who did the skin patch allergy testing were absolutely wonderful! They were calm, chatty , friendly and helpful. The nurses were just great and the doctor was very understanding. I knew from the Wednesday check up when they removed the patches that had been put on, on the Monday that there had been 3 reactions...  They intensified over the next day or two and by Friday I had 3 nice red welts or as they put it 3 "good" reactions! You can see them in the photo. So it was easy to tell what I was in fact allergic to. The dermatologist explained everything and gave me 3 sheets with the allergens on them and essentially told me to completely avoid ALL the allergens for the rest of my life. She said it would mean quite a lifestyle change.... I was initial...

Early January and back to the dermatologist. I saw a different one and he said that he was so surprised my skin was still red, sore  and inflamed and that it was time we got a deeper look and he ordered Skin Patch Allergy testing.  He suspected an allergy to something and it was clear by now that it was not to the sun!  So next step skin allergy patch testing! Have to say I wasn't thrilled by this but after talking to my own GP I realised that at this stage and with my skin still pretty sore it would at least determine if I was allergic to any chemicals etc so it would be better to have it. 

As time went by I was finding it more difficult to maintain a positive attitude to my skin condition. I got down then made myself get up again emotionally. I knew however that I could not let this thing beat me!  I had been dealing with this now since June and it was now November. I was due to see the Dermatologist again in very early January.  I had to turn down party invitations, meals out, Christmas plays, theatre trips. I could not cope in anywhere that was hot or even warm. My skin looked and still felt awful. Christmas was a dismal affair, I felt tired out and drained and just fed up with the whole thing really.  This was all on top of  6 months of pain, blistering, sore red skin and missing out on the summer, being unable to drive for a long time, unable to visit anywhere or anyone as my skin had been scaling off and flaking everywhere. Even if it hadn't been sore etc i would have been so embarrassed to be out like that.  My doctor had done his bes...

The blood test was soon after my visit to the dermatologist. As you can see in the photograph, the skin on my arms was so bad still inflamed and sore and angry and weeping in places too and cracked it was impossible to take blood from my arm in the usual place. So it had to come out of my hand.  I had not been too bothered by Blood tests in the past but in the hand was sooo painful for me. The nurse was great but there was still just a lot of pain and I was glad when it was over.  Little did I know at that point that I would need several more Blood Tests in my hand but anyway...I was glad it was over for now.  The results came back quickly and Fantastic I DID NOT have Lupus! I was overjoyed at this point , at least one of my worries was over. However it was short-lived as I was not getting any better. I stayed out of the sun, I applied the strong potent steroid creams, I used the emollients, I bathed in the prescription bath lotion.  However, there was mi...

With a possible diagnosis of Lupus and a possible diagnosis of sun allergy and photosensitivity hanging over me, clearly, the last thing I needed was to be in the sunshine.  So even though it was the middle of summer at this point I avoided the sun. I kept indoors often with the blinds down as any heat or sun would make my skin sore and hurting. It was pretty miserable! If I went out I covered up as much as possible. I hated being warm anyway at this point. I wanted cool breezes, rain and clouds! I missed the summer really altogether!  I did get quite down at this point as I thought IF I was really allergic to the sun how would I live life and what restrictions would it bring.  I am an outdoor type person and love walking and being outside in the countryside, gardening etc and I was not happy thinking that I would not be able to do that. So I needed to find out more about sun allergy and how to handle it.  So I spent time reading and learning and waited for t...

Being the person I am I just had to know more about my possible risk of this skin condition being Lupus. So I researched and read and found out as much as I could.  I went for the blood test and I told my Doctor I was worried about maybe having Lupus.  He was reassuring and said it was unlikely in my case as I was not exhibiting several of the main symptoms...but a simple blood test would help us to confirm or not. He gave me a brief summary of what the condition of Lupus is and what it means anyway. So the links below are the ones I found most useful for discovering about Lupus and help available. http://www.lupusuk.org.uk/

OK so I was waiting to see the dermatologist. In the waiting room were so many people with skin conditions, even little children. I had no idea before that so many people had so many skin issues.  I was doing my best to hide my own skin as I thought it looked horrible, yet it was so sore and itchy and inflamed I didn't really want any clothing on it. You can see my skin in the photograph above.  Being dressed for me was simply agony.... When I saw the dermatologist she took a history then asked me to undress to my underwear so she could examine all my skin. This took a little time  and afterwards she came back with a diagnosis. She said I had severe sunburn! I was quite shocked by this as although we had been on holiday I had covered up, worn a factor 50 suncream, not sunbathed, and worn a hat so I really thought I had been very careful.... Anyway so in a bit of a daze i was directed how to use a steroid cream - a potent one to relieve the irritation and the inflammat...