On Friday morning I was scheduled to do allergy testing with an allergy doctor that my mom recommended. I've been having some weird symptoms such as congestion, runny nose at random times, and most annoying of all a tight throat/feeling that my throat is also congested for the past few months now. I saw this doctor a couple of months ago and he prescribed Prilosec in the chance that what's been bothering me is acid reflux. I also went in a few weeks ago for a barium swallow. It was not very pleasant, and you can Google it if you want more details.
So there is a pretty long wait for allergy testing and I finally got in on Friday. I mentally prepared myself to be poked and prodded for a good 2-3 hours, but we were surprised to find that after my second poke, I was allergic to Glycerine. Because of this allergy, we were unable to go on with the remainder of the test, because ALL of the other tests contain Glycerine, so my results wouldn't be valid. The lady who was testing me urged me to go home and discontinue use of all of my products containing Glycerine, as well as any food I might be eating that contains it. After some more talk about my diet and a look at the two week food diary I'd been keeping, she also instructed me to try a gluten and dairy free diet for the next two weeks. Leaving her office, I had no clue what the weekend had in store for me!
I came straight home from the appointment and looked over the huge list of items that could potentially contain Glycerine. Everything from adhesives, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, leather and toothpaste were on the list. And as I started to go through my things, my mood took a turn for the worse. Glycerine is in EVERYTHING! I urge you to check the ingredients on a few of your personal care products to see for yourself. It can also be under the names Glycerol, Glycol, Glyceryl, and P.E.G. followed by a number. From there I went into panic mode and started to make a box of items to give away... probably hundreds of dollars worth of nice makeup, lotions, hairsprays, etc. After that, I set out to try to find replacement items.
First I hit our local Kroger that has a great natural section.... and no luck. I found one bottle of kids body wash. From there I checked an actual health food store, Target and Wal-Mart. Of all these stores the only other products that were free of Glycerine were Dove soap bars and a few different types of shampoos for myself.
Saturday we took a trip to Pittsburgh in search of Glycerine free makeup (thanks again Christiane for being my side kick and helping out with KA!) and I'm just going to make a long story short by saying that the lady at Origins in Macy's sold me $250 worth of products claiming they were Glycerine free, only for me to get home and find out that this was not the case. Saturday night was probably my worst night since Kevin's left, to say the least.
Yesterday I finally tracked down Bare Minerals make-up from Lakeview Salon and Spa in Cheat Lake. I am loving it and I'm already seeing that my skin is much less red and irritated now that I'm not wearing makeup and using cleansers and lotions that I'm allergic to on a daily basis!
I feel like there is so much more that has happened concerning this issue since Friday, but it's all really exhausting to think about. I'm continuing my search for products that don't contain Glycerine but taking it one step at a time. So far I have yet to find mascara, shampoo and baby wipes for KA, and body lotion. Please keep your eyes open for any products you might have that you could recommend to me... or if by chance you happen to know of anyone who has dealt with this allergy/sensitivity before, please get us in touch with each other! I would love to have any tips that they have to offer.
And just to end this post on a happy note... here's a cute picture of KA watching TV with her "Daddy Doll" tonight after dinner
No comments:
Post a Comment