22/07/2009

allergies

Isn't it funny how your body works? And how randomly it will develop allergies to even more random things?

I have a few allergies: melon and almonds make my tongue and throat swell, and tomatoes make my hands itch (but I can eat them...)

But the weirdest of all is my toothpaste allergy. In fact, it's not even to toothpaste that I'm allergic (aren't you glad) but rather to a chemical commonly found in it called sodium lauryl sulfate.

SLS is highly effective surfactant used in any task requiring the removal of oily stains and residues. For that reason it's found in a lot of cleaning products as well as hygiene product such as tooth paste, shampoo and other foamy things.

Pretty random isn't it? Now here is how I found out that I was allergic to it. I've always had a big problem with canker sores, I would get them all the time. Then, around this time last year, I got the biggest canker sore I had ever had, and it just wound't go away. I tried everything, and still it hung to by inner lower lip like you won't believe it.

So I decided to search the good ol' world wide web and see what I could find. Lo and behold I found out that SLS dries up the skin inside your mouth and the protective layer of the oral tissue, making it more vulnerable to different irritants such as acidic foods.

After reading that, I decided to test it out. So I didn't brush my teeth for a whole week. Just kidding. I just didn't brush it one night, and what do you know, in the morning, the sore was gone!

And that is when I switched over to SLS-free tooth paste. Not an easy taks however, there is only 1 (ONE) toothpaste that doesn't have SLS. And yes, I did check all of them. But since I made the sitch I haven't had a single canker sore!

Not too long ago, I used to work in the English department here at the school. And everyday, I would fill a little jar up with mixed nuts. And everyday there was a certain teacher that would come bay after his classes and grab a hand full of nuts. Until one day when 5 minutes after he grabbed his daily handful of nut he came back sweating, dizzy, with a swollen itchy throat and had to be rushed to the hospital. I guess one day his body just had enough of nuts... ?

So do you have any weird allergies? And random reactions to even more random things?


... I hope you all enjoyed my random shpill. I'm been working this week, and there hasn't been much to do. So today, as I was going out to buy some sls-free toothpaste... I got thinking about all this, and adding to my boredom I thought I would sharemy little toothpaste drama with you all :o). Maybe I'll start blogging about more useful things every once in a while. sounds good? or no good?

4 comentários:

Paty disse...

Girl...you may have just solved Glen's problem. He also has a big canker sore issue and he tells me almost every day how he doesn't understand why he gets them so much. Can you tell me the name of the toothpaste you bought? I think we'll give it a try right away to see if we can solve the issue. Thanks for sharing!

p.s. I don't really have any food allergies...but I started with allergies this year to something...who knows what. I cannot stand the sneezing, watery eyes and runny nose!

Roberta Pavanelo disse...

Sounds good!!! I really like this kind of post!
viu,depois te passo as medidas certinho! como faco no olho mesmo, eu nao sei exatamente, mas vou fazer de novo so pra chegar num consenso com as medidas de cada ingrediente e te mando.Eu fiquei feliz que vc gostou! Vai ser um prazer!!!!

Patrick, Adrienne, & Bella disse...

i was actually temporarily allergic to orbitz gum. i went without it for a little over a year or something and now i can chew it again. weird huh?

and when i was 16, a good 9 year after i started playing sports, i developed sports-induced asthma. now that's random.

Rebeca Price disse...

oh yeas, I have a weird allergy. I'm gonna tell you i Portuguese cuz I think its easier for me to explain it..hehehehe
Eu tenho alergia a esmalte de unha!!!! tambem foi desse jeito q o medico q me explicou: as vezes vc usa algo pela sua vida toda e simplesmente um dia o corpo nao quer amis e tem alergia!!!!
e foi isso q aconteceu comigo. Eu usei esmalte ate os 18 anos e um dia, a palpebra dos meus olhos comecaram a ficar vermelhas e descascar. DEscascava memso, como se eu tivesse tomado sol bem forte o dia todo e agora tava ficando em carne viva...
Dai, fui na dermatologista, alias, fui em duas..a primeira disse q podia ser condimento ou carne de prco, etc...um monte de ocisa q eu parei de comer e nao passou. Fiz exames de sangue e NADA!!!
ate fui em outro, e esse na hora me falou: esmalte de unha!
ele me pediu pra tirar o esmalte e esperar ate o outro dia e nao eh q deu certo!!!!! no dia seguinte, o olho tava melhorzinho...Ah simmmmm, minhas bochechas ficavam vem vermelhas tambem e descacando as vezes ou secas demais..era horrivels!!!!
Enfim, tirei o esmalte de unha e comecei a comprar um antialergico. No brasil acha mais facil q aqui..e antes de eu vir rpa ca ja trouxe alguns dos meus favoritos..hehehehe.
E o medico tambem passou uma locao especial pra ajudar minha pele voltar ao normal nos olhos e na bochecha.
Minah irma tem alergia a esmalte tambem e o mesmo medico escobriu.. Ele falou q esses sintomas (olhos descascando e tal) soh pode ser esmalte de unha!!! q bom ter um medico sabio neh???
No caso da minha irma, se o esmalte toca a pele dela, comeca a descascar e fica em carne viva...ou seja, as cuticulas ficam super feridas se ela pinta com esmalte normal..e os olhos descascam tambem..
No meu caso, nao eh soh encostar. O meu caso eh o quimico q tem no esmalte, q quando evapora, toca meu rosto e dai cria a reacao..
Incrivel neh?
pronto, ja contei demais,....afe, eu escrevo cumprido demais.

beijo
Beka