serial muse Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 Hi all. I was just thinking about this because I need to start taking a multivitamin again (I used to) but this time it's got to be one without nickel, which evidence suggests I'm allergic to: A lot of jewelry gives me contact dermatitis; I can't really wear earrings anymore because my ears get all red and swollen and the last time I took a multivitamin that contained nickel (for a few weeks) I developed a lingering case of eczema that only stopped when I stopped taking the vitamin. :sick: However. I do want to take a multivitamin, for general health reasons. So I was just wondering if any of you fine LS healthy people has dealt with this and has any tips or favorite nickel-free vitamins. Link to post Share on other sites
Calutaxi484 Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 My brother had a nickel allergy. AFAIK though him taking a multivitamin didn't cause any problems. He found out about his allergy when his dogtags gave him a rash. Generally eczema isn't a sign allergies at all. If you ingest something you're allergic to you'd likely have hives, tongue swelling,difficulty breathing and all kind of other bad stuff (depending on severity). Link to post Share on other sites
carhill Posted September 29, 2011 Share Posted September 29, 2011 OP, have you considered being tested by an allergist? While dogtags (as posted by the other poster) are made of stainless steel of which nickel is an alloying element, most jewelry metals (sterling silver, gold, platinum, etc) have none to trace amounts of nickel in them. In some areas, white gold is made with nickel, but generally is made with other alloying elements instead, like palladium or silver. You may have multiple metal/chemical allergies. An allergist would likely be your best source of information. Myself, I was exposed to toluene and xylene at a young age and experienced a marked (had to be treated with steroids) allergic reaction. That led to the discovery of a whole host of petrochemicals which are triggers, so I have to be watchful of what I use in the shop since I work with petrochemicals in my business. Education was really helpful. If anything new pops up, it's easy to get tested and adjust accordingly. Good luck Link to post Share on other sites
Cypress25 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 most jewelry metals (sterling silver, gold, platinum, etc) have none to trace amounts of nickel in them Cheap jewelry is made with nickel or coin silver. When I was a teenager, I used to wear rings that left itchy red bumps around my fingers. This allergy can come in handy though. Once I saw a jewelry kiosk at an outdoor flea market, and I asked the guy what the rings were made of. He said sterling silver. I was like "Ha! We'll see about that." I tried on a ring for 5 minutes and when I took it off, I had those itchy red bumps around my finger. Sterling silver my ass! Never had a problem with any multivitamins though. As far as I know, it's a skin allergy. Link to post Share on other sites
Calutaxi484 Posted October 1, 2011 Share Posted October 1, 2011 Cheap jewelry is made with nickel or coin silver. When I was a teenager, I used to wear rings that left itchy red bumps around my fingers. This allergy can come in handy though. Once I saw a jewelry kiosk at an outdoor flea market, and I asked the guy what the rings were made of. He said sterling silver. I was like "Ha! We'll see about that." I tried on a ring for 5 minutes and when I took it off, I had those itchy red bumps around my finger. Sterling silver my ass! Never had a problem with any multivitamins though. As far as I know, it's a skin allergy. Good point I totally forgot about coins. To see if you have a reaction to nickel simply just hold any silver U.S. coin. I'm not talking about the real silver ones, just the ones that "appear" to be silver. Dimes,Nickels, Quarters, and half dollars all have nickel. Link to post Share on other sites
Author serial muse Posted October 13, 2011 Author Share Posted October 13, 2011 OP, have you considered being tested by an allergist? While dogtags (as posted by the other poster) are made of stainless steel of which nickel is an alloying element, most jewelry metals (sterling silver, gold, platinum, etc) have none to trace amounts of nickel in them. In some areas, white gold is made with nickel, but generally is made with other alloying elements instead, like palladium or silver. You may have multiple metal/chemical allergies. An allergist would likely be your best source of information. Myself, I was exposed to toluene and xylene at a young age and experienced a marked (had to be treated with steroids) allergic reaction. That led to the discovery of a whole host of petrochemicals which are triggers, so I have to be watchful of what I use in the shop since I work with petrochemicals in my business. Education was really helpful. If anything new pops up, it's easy to get tested and adjust accordingly. Good luck Hi carhill, Yep, I've been tested by an allergist before - but that was before I became aware of this sensitivity. I did the whole grid-on-your-arm thing where they inject you with various essences-of-allergens (some of which are pretty gross if you think too hard about them). But they told me everything that they tested on me, and metals and chemicals weren't among them. It was mostly pet dander, dust mites, other insects, and assorted plants (trees, grasses, etc). So it would be interesting to go back and do it again with chemicals...it's been nearly 20 years since my last allergen test. Yikes, I'm getting old. Yes, I guess I should probably go back and see what's what these days. Oh, to the poster who mentioned the eczema - it really is triggered by reactions to allergens - this comes directly from several allergists I've seen over the years. When I asked them if there were ways to minimize eczema outbreaks, they basically told me to just try to avoid those environmental triggers as much as possible. (Thanks, dudes, no shxt!) Link to post Share on other sites
Eclypse Posted October 13, 2011 Share Posted October 13, 2011 I just had an exam yesterday of which Type IV (delayed) Hypersensitivity was a part of. I can give you heaps of technical information on it, such as it is mainly a CD4 response skewed toward the Th1 phenotype and that the effector cells in this case are macrophages. But practically the only thing you can do is avoid the antigen since your body is reacting to it unfavorably. On the plus side at least you can do that. I have hayfever and feel pretty miserable Link to post Share on other sites
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