WOW - I had no idea that Nickel was in so many foods!! As you say, a nickel free diet is near impossible. This could explain a lot about chronic health problems I have been having. I have recently discovered that I am allergic to Nickel. It's actually been a problem for many years, but it is only recently that the penny dropped and I made the connection to nickel and asked to be tested. I play the flute, and one day after playing for a good few hours, my face and neck and chest were a mess and my mouth and throat were really itchy - that's when it clicked - I'm allergic to my flute!! This is a big problem for me, because it is my job - so what to do??? However, I hadn't realised that it was in food too - oh my goodness -we are literally poisoning ourselves. No wonder I have been ill for so many years. I was told I have M.E./C.F.S., but may be it's all to do with the Nickel?? I will need to do some research. I will keep an eye on this thread. Good luck to you.

i was just reading up on the posts here and noticed a post or two where someone said they had switched to centrum regular due to it not containing nickel. I just wanted to point out that is FALSE INFORMATION. Centrums regular multivitamin as well as every other type of centrum contains 5 mcg nickel. I read another post by the person who started this thread that said equate womens formula does not have nickel. Im having problems finding the mens formula label online, but ill be stopping by my local vitamin shop this week to hopefully check. Ill update this week.

Please take note that the few post you are referring too were written back in 2006... that was four years ago, therefore, the company could have changed its regular formula since then - I always recommend that all labels be read before using.

P.S.
If I remember right I was referring to plain regular vitamins and not multivitamins as I cannot take them due to nickle being in the minerals.

My daughter was diagnosed with a nickel allergy when she was two yrs old. It started with the button on her jeans. She is now 13 and this has been a life altering allergy. I have read all of the posts and have some tips for some of you. For jewlery, go James Avery. All of ther jewlery is nickel free, even thier silver. She has been having trouble with her razors as some of you have and I found a titanium razor made by schick that you can get at walmart or target. Titanuim doesnt contain nickel, so for eyeglasses and jewlery and razors look for it. She has to put tape on the buttons of her jeans, the fingernail polish thing works but you CANNOT use clear. It has to be a colored paint. We went to a baseball game the other day and by that evening her legs were broken out in a horrible rash. We had sat on alluminum bleachers and she was wearing a tennis skirt. (its everywhere, in places that you dont even think about!) We carry a towel in the car so when we go to restraunts that have metal chairs or somewhere with metal seats she can sit on the towel. When she breaks out we first of all wash the area thouroughly (a lot of metals, especially alluminum leaves a dust on your skin that you have to wash off) then put hydrocortizone cream on it, then a big dose of benadryl. By the next day the rash was gone. I saw a post about a woman who's lips are burning, you might switch to plastic silverware. In my 11 years of researching this allergy I have found out that nickel is also in blue eyeshadow, and the green felt on pool tables. I stained our picnic table last year and she started breaking out when she sat on it. After doing some research, I found out that stain contains nickel. Even if her towel gets put on the picnic table and she uses it after getting out of the pool she will break out. Its fine to stain your furniture, you just have to put a coat of polyurithane on it. She is in shop class and deals with stain and metal all the time, but wears gloves to protect herself. I am constantly finding common everyday things that youd never think of that have nickel. Its a lifelong learning process. Anytime she breaks out we start looking at what she has been in contact with that could possibly contain nickel. Thank the LORD in heaven she doesnt seem to have any of the food issues, just contact. But, her allergy is getting worse. I was told when she was diagnosed that this type of allergy normally gets worse over time. Unfortunatly all you can do is alter your life around it. Nickel proof your home like you would baby proof for a baby. She keeps gloves in her locker and here at home and like I mentioned we always carry a towel or blanket to have a barrier between her and anything metal.

Well, I have the "eczema" like rash around my eyes, sometimes around my mouth (both things people have posted about) plus the dishydrotic eczema on my hands, and a rash on my neck and arms I am going to get a patch test from the dermatologist in July. I took my earrings out today after discovering this thread. I miss them by the way. I have also been told by my chiropractor (who does acupuncture and muscle testing) that I have sensitivity to corn and gluten. An herbalist I have been seeing confirmed this, and also told me that I should avoid rice and basically all grains. My condition has thoroughly ruined my life and self-esteem. I was on a diet of mainly vegetables, meat, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, and mozarella sticks for a month, and before that I was gluten free for around two months. The rash never went away, I had good days and bad days as always. Now I'm wondering if I could have nickel allergy, since my symptoms are so similar to many people posting on here. I don't want to wait until the week of July 12th (patch test week) to change my habits. I would like to try the low nickel diet now. Like many of you, I have looked it up and sites are contradicting each other constantly about levels of nickel in foods. Can one of you experienced with this allergy give me some basic food guidelines that have shown results for you?As for contact nickel, I have not worn make up or jewelry since the rash showed up, and I mostly stay in pajamas because I am home all the time. I will worry about that stuff when I feel better. However, cooking utensils? I have always been told to use the metal ones to avoid toxins in the coatings of the other ones, so I am confused as to what I can use

Hi, it is great that I have found this site. I started having a problem with my lips chapping, burning, blistering and pretty much just in pain and feel awful. I went to my doctor who in turn sent me to my dermatologist. She did an allergy patch test, which was awful and we found that I am allergic to nickel and cobalt. I have always had an allergy to certain metals so I generally just stayed away from most metals except 14k gold. Now I have to find a lipstick that I can use that does not make my lips hurt. I made chocolate chip cookies for my grand kids and ate some, that was a big mistake. I have eaten chocolate all of my life. My doctor gave me a 130 page book an the sunject matter. What can you suggest?

First, I will mention I just recently read to make sure you don't leave any change out where a young child or pet could lick it -- that even licking it could give a dangerous nickle reaction.

Allergies can give approximately 30 different symptoms. Everyone reacts differently to an allergen. I have over 25 tested food allergies and other drug and environmental allergies. Until you read a comprehensive list of possible reactions you have no idea that some things could be allergy reactions and not separate medical problems.

Some people don't understand the extent of some allergy reactions. Some people are so severely allergic to a food that kissing someone after they ate that food can give you a reaction; for some, inhaling the odor, etc. can give a reaction. I heard someone talking about someone here that works in a bakery having celiac disease -- that isn't uncommon. From what the doctors have told me, the more I am exposed to an allergen, the worse my reactions will be. I have esonphilic esophagitis as a result of all of the allergies. Some times my food gets impacted in my esophagus.

I have had some reactions to certain jewelry and was told that was nickel reaction. Some of the foods I am allergic to do have nickel in them and I had not made the connection. The whole subject of food allergies is very very complicated - and controversial.

The FDA has tested the amounts of the different metals in foods. Go to page 129 for nickel. I made my own list of foods from lowest to highest in nickel and try to avoid anything above .08. There are a lot of foods in the list and it is very helpful. Some things like nuts, beans, chocolate and oatmeal are so high I get an immediate very itchy rash when I eat them.

*edit*

Also, I just learned that when they hydrogenate oils they use nickel to process the oils. I had already realized I reacted to hydrogenated oils and I'm guessing the nickel processing is the reason.

I'm a 42 year old woman who just got diagnosed with dishydrotic exzema on my hands due to my nickel allergy. Knew I was allergic to nickel for years due to contact issues but never imagined the foods I was eating were causing this rash. I would definitely be interested in emailing you to see what you have learned about nickel in food. Thanks!

I am a 41 year old woman and I've had serious nickel allergies since I was 5 years old (when I got my ears pierced). I can't believe that none of my doctors figured out that my lifelong battle with eczema must be related to my nickel allergy!

As a child and teenager I had chronic disydrotic eczema on my hands and feet, and I still get flareups now when I'm under stress -- in fact the outbreaks are how I know that I am too stressed out and need to slow down.

I have a huge ugly scar on my back from a bout of discoid eczema (thankfully people think it's a birthmark when I wear a bathing suit).

I have balding/permanent hair loss at my temples from the constant scratching caused by sebhorreic dermatitis (scalp eczema). I wear my hair really long and parted in the middle to cover this up.

Today, I took a look at the 'high nickel' food list and I eat them ALL in abundance: I eat salmon 3x per week, eat a spinach salad every day, nuts in oatmeal EVERY morning, I adore chocolate... I've been poisoning myself all my life!

Additionally I have always suffered from gastrointenstinal distress, constipation, IBS, etc and I am wondering if it might be caused from the nickel allergy, because it's the gut that leeches the nickel out of the food that you're eating.

This is how I know for A FACT that the nickel in my food is the problem: when I went on the Adkins diet, all my symptoms disappeared.

So today I guess I will start an elimination diet to see if I can get this under control. A low nickel diet is really severe and frankly unappealing to me...