Hi Rhapsody,

I have the very allergies that you do and probably a lot more. I am also on an impossible diet. I am allergic to nickle, cobalt and chromide(?)--I would have to go back and look on my papers to get the correct label for the chromide allergy. I am allergic to other grains and have food sensitivities to meat, dairy and gluten. I should really live on air and water. The only food that has given me comfort is sweet potatoes, eggs, and bananas. I suffer from constant indigestion, bloating, gas, chronic sinus problems, coughing, asthma, ezyma, migrains, etc. When I can be really good on this diet, I feel great--like a new person. However, keeping on this tremendously strict diet is so challenging.

I have been eating quinoa, but don't really like the taste. I wished I did because living on this unreal diet gets real boring and cooking for my family has been extremely challenging. I used to be a very good cook, now I don't even want to look at the kitchen. Eating out, forget it. Eating at friends homes, well, I bring my eggs and sweet potato otherwise I will be sick for days. Also, I love outdoor sports, but eating sports bars are out of the question. I wish I could help you out, but I'm feeling stuck my self. However, I would very much like to keep in touch in order to exchange information about the food allergy and if you get any break throughs.

Thanks for the reply and for letting ME know that someone else out there understands what I am going thru.... from personal experience, for I too suffer from headaches (migraines), couching, head & neck pain and sinus problems.

I too have become sick of FOOD for it often leaves ME SICK (for days) and I can hardly eat out, for when I do I am usually hit with nausea and body swelling & rash.... drained of all enegry. Yuck - Phooie Spit Spit

Please do keep in touch and maybe together we can find some relief.... right now the only thing that I have found is Centrum Vitamins that are without Nickel in them if you buy the regular type for adults.

Plus I am trying to fight not wanting to eat out of FEAR of being SICK but once again....

Rhapsody,

Boy am I glad to find you. What a familiar tale! I am also a 40 year old woman who is allergic to nickel. It doesn't seem to be "contact dermatitis" for me (meaning, I don't have rashes on my skin from jewelry - although I don't think I wear any jewelry with nickel in it - though my wedding ring is 14k gold, so maybe I do).

My problem is that my lips hurt/burn 24/7. It's taken me over a year to identify nickel (in my diet) as the culprit. I'm at day 10 of trying out a nickel-free diet in order to confirm that it's the nickel making my lips hurt. The problem is that, when researching which foods contain nickel online, the lists don't agree. They all agree as to the worst offenders, but then there are some foods on the "ok" list on some sites (corn, beer/wine, lettuce) but the same foods are on the "avoid" list on other sites. Some have trace amounts, and for fruits/vegetables, I think it depends on the soil they're grown in.

The lists all agree that the only foods that are pretty much 100% nickel-free are meat and dairy (including eggs). So 10 days ago, I started eating nothing but meat and dairy (and drinking nothing but distilled water, since tap water has traces of nickel in it). Pretty severe, yes, and don't worry - I don't plan to do it more than 2 weeks.

Results so far (besides losing 7 pounds in 9 days, which was really quite cool after the holidays, albeit alarming at the same time) - my lips feel better than they have since this burning sensation hit in Sept. 05. I'm disappointed, though, that they don't yet feel 100% normal. My plan was to wait until they felt normal and then add back the "low nickel content" foods one by one so I can find out which of them bother me the most/least. I may have to move forward with that even though my lips aren't 100% because I don't know how much longer I can do this severe diet. It can't be good for me.

Today I realized that the couple of days I've worn lipstick during this test, my lips have felt slightly worse, so lipstick may have to go as well. I'm trying to keep really good notes on everything I do.

Rhapsody, I'd love to continue to compare notes so we can learn from each other. I keep searching the web thinking surely someone has already done all this hard work for us!

hi stacey and welcome to neurotalk.

i'm short on time...but thought you might want to check the lipstick case. if it has nickel..your lipstick can absorb it or you might get the nickel from just touching it.

aol just had some articles on toxins in makeup.

edited to add: here is a link i found with some good info. i hope it helps. http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/nickel-allergy.html

While I am not happy (at all) that I can no longer wear the wedding set I have worn for 20 long years.... I can report that I just purchased a new wedding set made from Platinum (as suggested by doctor) and so far all is good.

Who would of thought that a Nickel Allergy would have been the solution to a bigger and better Diamond, not to mention the two-sided diamond band my NEW engagement ring can slide into -



HAPPY!! HAPPY!! HAPPY!!

LoVe,
Rhapsody -

YES, by all means please keep in touch and together we can learn and teach each other as we are educated on this allergy of Nickel.

As far as the make-up thing goes might I suggest that you look into the new line created by Laura Hutton - while I rarely wear make-up any more I do use her line of products on special occasions.

LINK: http://www.laurenhutton.com/index.html


Good Luck.....

Your NEW Friend,
Rhapsody -

I have an allergy to nickel. I am 20 years old and within the last year, my nickel allergy has gone from bad to worse. It started out with having rashes after wearing cheap jewelery and has now spread into body rashes from food containing nickel. I also have a hiatal hernia, constant heartburn, migraines, coughing, and sinus congestion. I have been on Zantac for about 6 months to help w/the hernia and heartburn. I have also been on a preventative headache med. I have my wedding coming up soon and am embarrassed by all of my rashes. I have tried the nearly impossible to follow, nickel-free diet. The rashes take forever to go away, even with the use of aloe vera. I am so grateful to hear of the suggestions that have been made. I will try all of them and hopefully by the wedding, my rashes will be gone!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
Maggi86

Have you seen a dermatologist?

Did you get a systemic nickel allergy diagnosis?

I ask because some chronic skin conditions can be due to diet..and
food intolerances.

Gluten is the most common one:
here are two websites to read:

http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/646/main.html

and
http://www.csaceliacs.org/dh_symptoms.php

With your GI issues, it would be a good idea to consider Gluten intolerance.
We have a board here that can help you with that.

Good luck!

I also am very allergic to nickel. When I first got my wedding ring my finger blistered. I was proposed to on Friday and by Sunday my finger was so blistered that I could not put my ring on. Luckily my jewelers had dealt with this before. They plated the inside of the ring with rhodium so my skin doesn't actually touch the white gold.
New rings made from White gold typically come already plated with rhodium. My ring was my grandmothers that she had made in 1975, so apparently this was not a common practice back then. You should be able to have your jeweler plate your ring for about $50-$100. My jeweler said that you should probably have your ring replated about every 10 years or so because it will wear off.
So luckily you can still wear your wedding ring!

Does anyone know of a brand of razors (especially for women) that do not contain nickel?