Proof that natural isn't always good.

[Amethyst Rose]

Just a warning.... this has the potential to be a long story. :)

When I was about 12 it was determined that I am alergic to the drug Sulpha, commonly used as an alternative to penicillin (sp?). It made me extremely dizzy, and hence nauseous and sick, headachy, feverish and all out crappy. It had me feeling sick and weak for about 2 weeks.

(So, you're asking, where is this going?)

Well..... last week, a very nice client who's runs her own business manufactuing (she's a chemist) and selling natural bath/skin etc. items. She very graciously gave me a bag of bath salts harvested by hand from the salt lake in Saskatchewan (Canada). These bath salts are extremely theraputic and do wonderful things to release tension and make you skin incredibly soft. The ingredients are "potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, bromide, chlorine, bicarbonates and sulphates"

(Do you see where I'm going with this yet?)

Now, remember, these bath salts are 100% natural... harvested from the lake, which is fed from the earth (hence all the natural minerals in the water).

So I took a bath with these salts in the water and the next day I felt awful. I head a headache, I had stomach cramps, diahrrea, and my entire body ached. It has been 4 days since that bath and I still have the headache and I still have some stomach cramps and some diahrrea, although it's basically tolerable now.

I thought today that I might feel better if I had a bath. Then it dawned on me. The proverbial light went off. My head went: Sulphates/Sulpha ..... Sulphates/Sulpha..... Thinking that it must just be a coincidence that the names are the same.

Not wanting to risk feeling crappy again, however, I turned to the net and found -- Surprise Surprise -- Sulpha is manufactured from Sulphates!

So. I'm allergic to my bath salts. :( :(

Sigh......

I never thought that putting something completely 100% natural into my bath could make me so sick.......

Be extremely careful with any herbal or natural substance you use. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe.

[reanna]

I also have a severe sulpha allergy. So bad, they won't even risk giving it to my children.
My throat closes up and swells shut. It was the scariest thing I have ever expereinced in my life.

Thanks for sharing that info though. It gets my mind thinking. I will catalog in that silly brain of mine so if the need ever arises, I will not get any sulphate bath salts wither. Too much risk.

I am sorry to hear that you are still not fully recovered. I am sending thoughts your way, I hope you feel much better soon.

Take care. :):):)

[Kiya]

What works for one, may not work for another.

I'm also allergic to sulphonamide drugs, but my allergy caused me to become serverly anaemic and come out with lumps on the bones in my forearms and legs. Needless to say, I think I'll avoid those bath salts, Amythest!!

[Amethyst Rose]

Just be sure to be constantly aware of your allergy!! That was my problem. I thought of my allergy as a drug thing... it's easy to avoid medications. I never for the life of me considered that I'd be allergic to what it was manufactured from. Maybe that was a bit dense of me.
So, four rules of thumb regarding allergies:

1. Stay aware
2. Read lables
3. If uncertian, ASK
4. If still uncertian, avoid the product/food etc.

[Lavender]

Originally posted by Amethyst Rose
Be extremely careful with any herbal or natural substance you use. Just because it's natural doesn't mean it's safe.

That is SO true! So many people thinks that just because something is considered herbal or natural, you can just go crazy with it. This is a good reminder for all of us. Many of the pharmaceutical drugs got their start from herbal remedies.

Another good point here is that what's safe & harmless for one person may be dangerous to another. Whatever herbal recomendations you get, whether from this forum or books or from a friend, check it out first. Ex: Chamomile, a safe & harmless herb used throughout ages as a calming tea. Some people with ragweed allergies can react strongly to chamomile.

:p Sorry...didn't mean to sound preachy! :p

[Amethyst Rose]

That didn't sound preachy at all -- it's good information. Not enough people are aware of this kinda stuff.

[VelvetBlade]

Just be sure to be constantly aware of your allergy!! That was my problem. I thought of my allergy as a drug thing... it's easy to avoid medications. I never for the life of me considered that I'd be allergic to what it was manufactured from. Maybe that was a bit dense of me.
So, four rules of thumb regarding allergies:

1. Stay aware
2. Read lables
3. If uncertian, ASK
4. If still uncertian, avoid the product/food etc.

I suffer from chemical allergies...I'm allergic to the bases in 99% of creams and lotions that are on the market, as well as being allergic to anything antibacterial. Companies are not required to list ingredients that are in their product less than 1%. But even less than 1% is enough to make me break out! It's been an interesting journey!

I recently got a bad sunburn on my back...and bought aloe spray with lidocaine in it. I now have a MAJOR rash on top of my sunburn....ever scratched a sunburn? OUCH....luckily I can take benedryl..and it helps some.

So, please, make sure you read your labels, and natural does not mean you won't react to it. But also note, not all ingredients may be listed on the label...

~AW

[Demeter]

If you're allergic to sulphate and sulfa drugs, watch out for salad bars and wine. Wines are very frequently treated with sulphite agents, as are the vegetables in salad bars, to keep them from browning. A friend of mine is allergic to sulphur, and was trying to eat healthy, but whenever she ate from a salad bar she got sick to her stomach. The sicker she got, the healthier she tried to eat ... you can see where this is going ... she finally figured out it was the suphiting agents applied to the salads, and now avoids salad bars. Dried fruits may also be sulphited.

[Amethyst Rose]

Oh yeah, red wine has higher levels of suphites than white wine (but the both have it), it's even listed on the bottle. I get a doozy of a headache the next day after drinking wine. I just thought it was a regular hangover, untl I noticed what it said on the bottle, and then it was like, "ohhhhh!"
I had no clue about the salad bar though...that's just odd.

[MoonRaven]

Every time someone says to me "but it's all-Natural" or "it's plant-derived," I always tell them so's Belladonna, so's Poison Ivy, so's Fly Agaric. But you certainly wouldn't put THOSE things in your food and on your skin.

I think the words "100% All-Natural" are way overused.

[Kimberlily]

Sorry about your bath salts, Amethyst. How awful!

Another thing to mention is that when you're eating out, do NOT trust the menu or what the server says is or isn't in the item. For our anniversary, my husband took me out for a lovely dinner. For desert, I had something called a "turtle" that had pecans, fudge, whipped cream and chocolate & caramel sauce. And, unfortunately for me, macadamia nuts, which I am very allergic to. The waitress said "oh, we don't even have macadamia nuts in our kitchen" but when we talked to the manager, she told us that the desserts were all made by a bakery elsewhere. If I eat macadamia nuts, my throat swells up and my mouth feels like I've been eating glass... it is scary. I did have a reaction, but not a serious one. I also can't use skincare products with macadamia oil, as it gives me a nasty rash.

[MzNeko]

Every time someone says to me "but it's all-Natural" or "it's plant-derived," I always tell them so's Belladonna, so's Poison Ivy, so's Fly Agaric. But you certainly wouldn't put THOSE things in your food and on your skin.

I think the words "100% All-Natural" are way overused.

Heh... Yeah, I've been known to say "So's snakebite, so's bubonic plague, so's salmonella, so's dying... all those things are natural, too."

I don't have any life-threatening allergies, but I do get a very unpleasant reaction if I over-indulge in citrus fruit. Well, during cold/flu season one year, someone recommended to me some super-high-concentrated vitamin C pills to prevent getting sick.

Did you know that vitamin C pills are mostly citric acid? Well, it seems that citric acid is the component in citrus fruit that bothers me... urg. :(

Fortunately, it's not that I can't have any vitamin C, (scurvy would suck). I can have the 100% RDA recommended dose, but no more super-high concentrated stuff for me. I can have an occasional orange juice, but if I had one every day, in about a week I'd be hurting.

:)

[Kimberlily]

MzNeko, that reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, my dad felt a cold coming on, so he took a ton of Vitamin C... and when he woke up the next morning, he had a nasty rash, all over his body. He went to the doctor, and was told that because your body doesn't store C, it has to get out somehow if you take too much, hence the rash. It worked though - he didn't get sick :lol:

[Flutterby_whispers]

This is a good thread & a good reminder :) I find soooo many ppl correlate 100% safe w/ anything that has "natural" on it and I find that such a scarry mentality.

I work w/ herbs, oils, scrubs all kinds of things on a daily basis w/ my massage therapy and the other modalities that I work with and in doing so I have grown a great respect for the wonders that this earth has provided, but I've also seen the negative side effects that they can have when not properly used OR used and then to find out your allergic to it or something that's in it.

I really like what you had to say about keeping aware Amethyst Rose ~

1. Stay aware
2. Read lables
3. If uncertian, ASK
4. If still uncertian, avoid the product/food etc.

I agree 100% :)

[MzNeko]

MzNeko, that reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, my dad felt a cold coming on, so he took a ton of Vitamin C... and when he woke up the next morning, he had a nasty rash, all over his body. He went to the doctor, and was told that because your body doesn't store C, it has to get out somehow if you take too much, hence the rash. It worked though - he didn't get sick :lol:

Oooooh, ow! :eek:

I only get the rash in one localized place, I can imagine how horrible an all-over one would be. And ironically enough, I still got sick anyway... sigh...

[Scarlettvixen]

another allergy to be very aware of is penicillin allergies
do u know that penicillin was first manufactured from mouldy bread?
i am so allergic i cant even tear a bit of mould off old bread to use - makes me sick as

[Anjanie]

If you are allergic to sulfa type drugs, you can't take Celebrex either.

AngleWitch: I'm allergic to a gazillion things too, testing positive for Balsam of Peru. The chemicals in it are Sodium Benzoate, Benzoic Acid, Cinnimyl, Cinnamate, Vanillin, etc.....These chemicals cross react with things like PABA, Aloe, Lidocaine, Cinnamon, cloves, and so on....It turns out that many perfume sensitive people test positive to Balsam of Peru, So it's possible it could have been both the lidocaine and the Aloe.

[Sylvan]

Excellent info here. I had taken sulpha a while back and all was well, and the same illness came up again and I was prescribed it again.
Even if it's safe once doesn't mean it will always be safe.
I took the stuff for two days before realizing it was a reaction. I had pounding headaches, was cold, then hot, nauseous, and all my joints ached like I was 90 with arthritis. And I had to fly to Oklahoma in two days! Got a new prescription and got better, my head didn't explode on the flight (as I'm sure it would have if I had stayed on the sulpha), and am now aware of this new allergy.
I don't have problems with wines or salad bars, but then I don't drink much wine at all and we don't go to too many salad bar restaurants, either. I'll keep in mind the bath salts thing, and the Celebrex.. Though I doubt those will come up, it's good to know.
I don't *ever* want to feel like that again!

[Amethyst Rose]

Excellent info here. I had taken sulpha a while back and all was well, and the same illness came up again and I was prescribed it again.
Even if it's safe once doesn't mean it will always be safe.
I took the stuff for two days before realizing it was a reaction.

When I was little, I had a very bad sore throat...tonselitis, or something. The doctor prescribed sulfa and the infection cleared up, then came back. So he prescribed the same thing again, and I had the reaction after the second pill.
The doctor said that allergies to medications do not show up until the second time you take them.... I can't remember why (I was only 12 at the time.
Be sure to tell doctors, etc. that you're allergic to sulfa, when they ask you if you have any allergies. I still forget sometimes. :)

[Hoot]

Thanks for the cautionary reminders. Like Scarlettvixen, I'm also allergic to many molds and fungi, though not as much now as I used to be. Luckily, sometimes allergies abate as mine did, but once anyone discovers an allergy it would probably be wise to always take care to avoid that substance.

[Flar's Freyja]

Back to Freyja's blanket warning:

Everything has the potential to harm....we all have different body chemistries, allergies, etc. so it never hurts to do some research.

[Illuminatus]

If you thought everything natural was good for you, you're damn lucky you haven't crossed paths with hemlock yet!

[Bix]

I also would like to point out that you should check with your doctor before you think about taking herbal supplements and perscription medicine. The herbal supplements might react quite negatively to your perscription, so be careful there as well.

[halfwaynowhere]

i have really sensitive skin, and i'm sure i'm allergic to something they put in lotions and stuff... i can't use shaving cream, not even the kind for sensitive skin, without breaking out into an itchy rash. luckily i wear pants all the time anyways, so its rare that i do shave... and then there are a lot of lotions that i can't use... i'm not sure what it is, i think maybe one day i will gather up all the products that give me that itchy rash and wil compare the ingredients, although i'm sure that there will be many common ingredients.
I like using allnatural products better than using chemicals, but i read the labels because there are a few plants that i'm allergic to... geraniums, for instance, although i'm not sure if they put that in stuff... but yeah, it helps to know what allergies you have so you can avoid products with those ingredients...