Film maker wants to talk to allergy sufferers
Main Category: AllergyArticle Date: 30 Jul 2004 - 14:00 PDT
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Cicada Films have been asked to make a two-part special series for Channel Four Television (UK) about those people who are seriously affected by allergies and skin conditions. Each film will be one hour long and will be broadcast sometime in the New Year.
We hope to find several individuals to follow over the next four months in order that we can truly understand what it is like living with a potentially life-threatening allergy. We wish to use their experiences to educate people on this important issue, and to raise public awareness about the critical shortage of resources in this area.
We are interested in all types of allergy and skin condition as long as it is an unresolved case that is still causing difficulties, and can include reactions to food, chemicals, and more rarely, sun, water and touch.
We would like to follow people who are either receiving treatment for their condition, or are at the point of diagnosis, or are shortly embarking on a new phase in their lives and so will have to adapt to a new set of circumstances. We are especially keen to feature at least one child or teenager who is learning to come to terms with their often frightening and unpleasant condition, and would also wish to spend time with their whole family as we realize that living with an allergy becomes a concern for the whole household.
This is an observational series using a small, unobtrusive camera and a friendly two-person team spending time in your home at times convenient to you. It does not come with any kind of journalistic narrative or agenda - the films will be told in a heartwarming and sensitive manner by the patients that we encounter along the way, plus their families and clinician, if relevant.
Film One will show a wide variety of common allergic reactions as they are happening when we film within an Accident & Emergency department and witness people coming in for help, and then we will follow some of these cases as they seek treatment from an Allergy Clinic. In this way we hope to illustrate that the number of allergies in the UK has reached epidemic proportions, can effect people from all walks of life, and that the medical profession is under-resourced. We have already been given permission to film in Addenbrookes Allergy Clinic and A&E, and are in talks with St Mary's in London and Southampton General Hospital.
Film Two will follow people living with rarer skin conditions and allergies, such as Solar and Aquagenic Urticaria, showing how much they can impact on their lives and families.
Our team is keen to make this as powerful and meaningful a series as we can, and it is important that we speak to many individuals as we can in order that we can choose the best, most gripping stories as told by the most sympathetic and articulate people.
Many of Cicada's films have won awards at ceremonies as prestigious as the BAFTAs, New York, Wildscreen, Jackson Hole and the Japanese Wildlife Film Festival. Cicada specialises in quality television documentaries - please see our website for further information on past productions http://www.cicadafilms.com
Please help us with our research by telling us about your unresolved, severe or rare case.
All calls will be in confidence and would not commit anybody to filming at this stage.
Please contact Allergy UK for more details on (UK 01322 619 898 or E-mail us at: info@allergyuk.org
Visit our allergy section for the latest news on this subject.
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Visitor Opinions In Chronological Order (10)
Latex allergy changed me and my familys life
posted by Jennifer Cunningham(jenbry1968) on 30 Aug 2004 at 5:49 am I was diagnosed with a severe contact and airborne latex allergy in April 2004. I think it started around the year 2000, but I was misdiagnosed. During the past two years, I saw a dermatologist. He treated me for skin disorders, but never accurately diagnosed the problem.
I’ve had three anaphylactic reactions, suffered with a painful red burning rash and have had hives all over my face and tongue. I also have swelling throughout my face and arms. I’m on so many allergy meds and carry an epi pen and inhaler for allergic asthma.
This has changed my life! I was a dental assistant for thirteen years, but can no longer work. I have a six-year-old son and can no longer do the things I use to do with him.
I also developed an anxiety disorder due to the stress of having a latex allergy.
I can no longer take my son to birthday parties due to balloons and other rubber products that may be their. Really anywhere I go I can get a reaction. Latex is everywhere and when you are as allergic as I am, you must take every step to avoid any contact with latex, which is totally impossible. I am missing out on so much in my life and I feel so helpless because there is nothing I or anyone else can do. My allergist has me on tons of antihistamines. There is no cure and not enough research done not many people including physicians are aware of how serious this is. My doctors call it a allergy, I call it a disease. It its very painful, it feels like someone set your body on fire. The burning is sometimes horrible, the swelling causes damage to your skin and the huge hives make you look like a monster. People need to be aware of this because this is a growing epidemic and it involves not only the person afflicted but the family as well. (especially if you have a little child ) I was such a hard-dedicated worker, wife. And mother. Now I am struggling every day to keep myself together and trying to be that person again, but this allergy has prevented me from doing so. I cannot go into a hospital, dentist office or any type of place that has latex gloves or products. No rubber bands mouse pads underwear clothing shoes with rubber soles ect. I can go on and on. You would have to go through it to understand. This is a debilitating horrible allergy and I pray to God that no one else has so suffer this affliction like I do. There is so more information that I can give you, but it will take me all day. I am currently out if work due to this still fighting for workman’s compensation because the doctor that I have worked so many years for does not carry it. Which is AGAINST THE LAW. And though my doctors have sent all my records and letters stating that I cannot work and disability has denied me. I am appealing.. My doctor says that I cannot go on like this much longer, to many reactions, but what can I do. There is nothing out there to help me or the other people as well with this allergy. Also I have pictures of my rash and swelling. Please make this allergy get out there people need to find out what can happen to them if they are exposed to latex.
Many products contain latex but are not required to list as part of the ingrediance.
This is very dangerous for latex allergy people. We can die from this and it is very scary. Please help get this out. Do more research there is a lot to learn about this.
I will try to send you some info about this, please take the time to read I
Thank you,
Jennifer Cunningham
Philadelphia PA>
Latex Reaction Can Cause Paralysis
posted by Linda D. on 10 Oct 2004 at 5:09 pmI read the article by Jennifer 8/30/04 and sympathize and hope workers comp rules in her favor. I don't understand why the doctors she worked for are not held financially accountable. Latex gloves cost a penny or two more than vinyl or N-Dex accelerant free gloves.
Sometimes it's more than the latex protein that is causing the reaction; it's the chemical used in the manufacture of rubber products. http://www.immune.com/rubber/not.necessarily.rubber.html
On medical questionnaires, they ask if you are allergic to latex. Many people don't know if they are. If they would ask have you ever had an immediate or delayed reaction to elastic, rubber products, or foods like banana, avocado, kiwi, peanuts, etc., they would get a more accurate response.
Latex should not be used in any medical setting. As far testing goes, IgE immediate reaction results are only 40% accurate, and doctors don't bother testing for Type IV IgG delayed reaction which involves the entire immune system that fights against bacteria and viruses.
See if you get a reaction within 72 hours to a latex bandaid would probably be the most accurate. I reacted for years to bandaids and never knew it was the latex.
Their profits are high enough that they can afford to buy latex free/accelerant free if they truly care about the health of people. From my personal experience, I have reached the point in latex/rubber/accelerant reaction that I need to wear gloves to protect my hands from the steering wheel or I get shooting pains in my hands and get sick systemically within 48 hours with rashes everywhere.
I have had a reaction in the past and flu like symptoms. The immune system has a memory, and an allergen triggers a reaction like turning up the dial on everything to which you are sensitized. In the past year I have suffered paralysis of my face and tongue from dentists exposing me to latex.
The one dentist never even apologized.
I go through a cycle of fever, rash, swollen glands, cramping and bleeding, and feeling awful. I get a palsy in my eye that lasts for weeks. Some latex related foods will cause a reaction, but not paralysis, yet, knock on wood. I've been told that Type IV can evolve into a Type I reaction, which I don't want to think about.
As it is now, I face paralysis and dark brown scars after the vesicles dry up. My x-doctor misdiagnosed me for years telling me it was shingles and never following through with a culture or blood test.
Before that, he told me my rashes were yeast infections. He finally decided I had a rubber sensitivity all along. I wonder how many people are being treated for latex caused rashes (especially in hospitals) that are treated by slathering on anti-fungal creams and lotions or anti-bacterial medications.
To a doctor, I would say, "Don't guess--verify your hypothesis."
What I learned is that anything that suppresses the immune system temporarily helps, but then the immune system roars back like an angry tiger. To the Jennifers out there, I would say try wearing accelerant free gloves made by http://www.bestglove.com who make a 4-mil disposable, acccelerator free nitrile powder free 7705. And avoid foods that are cross linked to latex. Here's a link: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_o/m0822/11_100/67880589/print.jhtml
Some day there will be more awareness of latex, just as there is more awareness of smoking and changes will be made to protect people. I don't think a lot of people realize how sad and isolating it is to stay in your home and when you do go out, be afraid of latex/rubber/accelerant exposure.
Linda D.
Not Just Latex Allergy
posted by kacie esparza on 26 Jun 2006 at 11:09 amI was diagnosed with latex allergy in 2000. I was 20. I had been working in food service since I was 14. I had little symptoms here and there but never thought anything of it. Especially during condom use. Sex became so painful that I did't even want to partake anymore. Finally one day at work, while wearing a pair of latex gloves I started to get a nasty rash. Next thing I knew I broke out in hives on both hands. I tried washing my hands, using soap and lotion. I thought that maybe my new ring was nickle and didn't know it since I was already allergic to nickle at that time. I took of the ring but continued to wear the gloves not knowing.
After 2 or 3 days of the rash getting worse, and me scratching it so badly that my skin was starting to crack and bleed, I finally went to see a dr. Both hands and wrists and parts of my lower arms were getting the rash. The dr gave me a presciption for some allergy medication and told me buy some benadryl and never wear latex gloves again. She told me it was very easy to see that by the way my hands looked and knowing that the only thing that I had come in contact with were latex gloves that this was the problem. When I went back to work I found some non-latex gloves and the rash slowly started to disipate. It took over a week for my hands to return to almost normal. I left that job and entered the military.
Upon my screening I told the Dr that I had a latex allergy, but that apparently didn't mean anything as they used latex gloves, bandaids and other latex materials during my physical screening process. I've been in the military for almost 6 years now and to this day, even though my file says I have a latex allergy, I am asked how bad it is. My response is always the same. I don't want to find out. Over the past few years though it appears that I am not only having problems with latex gloves but synthetic rubber gloves as well. First time was when we were picking up trash as a community project. The gloves were marked as Neo-prene, yet within 15-20 min of putting the gloves on I starting having a smiliar reaction like that of my first latex reaction. It didn't spread as fast and about 3 hours after taking the gloves off the itching and redness subsidded. I thought that maybe someone had put some latex gloves in the box but didn't tell anybody.
Finally, we had a Military exercisse recently where we had to wear our Chem suits. With this we must wear rubber gloves and boots and Gas masks made of rubber. This was not the first time I had worn the gloves, however it was the first time that they had come in contact with my skin as I had always put them over my BDU blouse but under my Chem Jacket. After about 2 hours of wearing the gloves I developed a rash and hives that started around my wrist and spread to my hands and elbow. I quickly took the gloves off. Like with the last reaction approx 3 or 4 hours the redness went away and itching slowly subsided, but the next morning reddish-purple blotches and some bumps were still present.
A dr came and released me that night but now, I am being told but my superiors that because the gloves are rubber and not latex that I must have just had a heat rash. They also say that if that was the case I should have had a reaction to the gas mask as well. I may not have hives or redness, but I do have a constant itching around my face, congestion (and I was doing great before had with the allergy medication I was using) and acne like pimples that only appear when I wear the mask. This usually lasts a couple of weeks and then subsides. I don't think those who have never had to experience what it's like to have this sort of allergy and how horrible it is to not be able to do certain things. There are so many things that I enjoy doing and don't want to give up, and especially with young kids at home, but not sure how much more I will be able to do. Now because of this new type of reaction I risk losing my job. The only good that will come is that I may be entitled to compensation from the military, if they determine that this new onset of reactions was not present before I enlisted.
Unfortunately though, at this moment, I have my supervisors threatening to do paperwork against me if my dr doesn't come back saying that I do indeed have an allergy to both. Either way, My military career is over. All I can hope for is that it is said that I have the allergy to the non-latex gloves and can recieve disability for it.
Kacie E.
Chemical Accelerants May Be Problem
posted by Linda Del Favero on 5 Oct 2006 at 7:49 pmIt sounds like you may have both an immediate Type I allergy to latex, which is really natural rubber latex, and a Type IV reaction. Type I is IgE mediated, and Type IV is linked with the chemical the latex rubber is treated with during processing. Latex is rubber, and vice versa. Neoprene is a synthetic rubber. What they have in common are the chemicals used to process both of them.
For years I did not realize that elastic is also NRL and was the cause of my painful burn like rashes, not heat rash or detergent reaction. Spandex is free of NRL. Yet latex is still used in the thread to sew spandex garments together. That's all right as long as the thread does not make contact. For me, dental exposure causes fever and sore throat and swelling of my face and tongue and temporary paralysis with painful scars from the allergic rash. I am sick for weeks from the immune reaction.
Neoprene allergy is real, and some divers have had severe reactions to the neoprene in their wet suits. I was thinking that the compostion of the gloves you reacted to is not the same as the face mask and that's why it was milder on your face. Plus your hands and arms are supersensitized from previous reactions.
Moisture and perspiration seem to make the reaction worse. I'm surpised that the military doesn't allow for non latex chemical free gloves and face masks for soldiers who have become sensitized. I'm adding some links that might help you. Hang in there. You may have lost your military career, but a anaphylaxis or anaphylactoid reaction could a have ended your life. Thank goodness for vinyl gloves and accelerant free nitrile gloves.
http://www.uam.es/departamentos/medicina/anesnet/gtoa/latex/path.htm
http://www.lgm.gov.my/latex_allergy/HCSANRL.html
http://dermnetnz.org/dermatitis/rubber-antioxidant-allergy.html
http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=51923
Not Just Latex Allergy
posted by Kris Owen on 9 Nov 2009 at 8:45 pmI am so sorry for what you are going through! I had a cleaning business and used a lot of bleach in order to do a thorough job. Now I'm beginning to think that the use of that type of cleaner has caused me to become allergic to rubber products as bleach and rubber share the same protein chemical. My prayers really do go out to you!
Kris O
Latex Allergy - Type I
posted by Debra Tanner RDH on 16 Dec 2009 at 8:18 amHi, I feel for all of you. I was diagnosed with Type I in 1997, by a blood test. The Dr. said they don't get false positives and suggested that I find a new career. Still for the money I tried to work as much as possible. I took my own latex free gloves and masks and avoided latex.
But still I was in the office. I would get anxious from being around latex, not thinking of it. Now, I'm still trying to find that latex free office where I can do the work I loved. And trying to reinvent myself at 51 years old.
I won't enter an office with latex if I can help it, I don't want this to get worse, too many horror stories.
Not Alone
posted by DeDee Wolfe on 14 Jun 2010 at 10:39 pmI just read your post regarding your latex allergy. I am so sorry to hear all the problems you have, I also have a severe allergy to latex or any rubber product. I suffer constantly from terrible rashes and hives on the palms of my hands because I keep coming in contact with items that have some sort of rubber. Its just impossible to avoid everything. You are the 1st person besides myself that I have read about with a allergy ass severe as mine. Good luck in all you do, my thoughts and prayers are with you.
Latex And Your Immune System
posted by Marie on 16 Jun 2010 at 10:06 amI too have a latex allergy that is worsening over the years. I can understand how people develop anxiety disorders with this allergy because there is latex in everything around us. I had a blood test to verify that I had a true allergy to latex. It confirmed that I have a severe allergy. I recently discovered I also have problems with lots of fruits and vegetables related tot he latex-fruit syndrome. I am going to a natural health doctor to try to get my immune system functioning properly to see if I can reverse any of this. All the info out there says there is no cure or hope, but I refuse to accept it.
Curious About This For A While Now
posted by JoAnn on 3 Aug 2010 at 2:59 pmI had a rash on my face for some time. I did a lot of research to find out what might be causing it. I concluded that I may have an allergy or sensitivity to fluoride and the whitening agents in toothpaste. There were also some chemicals I read in foundation and facial moisturizers that also may contribute to my rash. The rash seemed to get worse as the months years went by. Nothing I did really seemed to help, and there was never an over night improvement....although I continued doing everything I read to do to avoid the contact dermatitis from getting worse or spreading. I was never sure if stress or hormones made it worse.
For the past two years I cleaned a friends house weekly to earn extra income. This was also the period I now realize this rash started to develop and get worse. To most people, it might appear to look like I have a blemish problem, adult acne but nothing real bad. To me it really bothered me. I ALWAYS used the purple latex surgical gloves to clean to protect my hands from injuries and avoid the harsh chemicals. I don't like the average rubber gloves as they were too bulky & combersome.
I did start to notice, often times once I put the gloves on, my nose would start itching right away, ridiculous itchy, where I'd have to stop cleaning just to scratch my nose or wash my face to stop the itching and nothing helped. It was annoying. I never put two & two together but it seemed to me that my rash was always around my chin, nose, upper lip etc. They were like watery clear pimples, the skin would break and then it would scab over but remain for a long time and then a new set would pop up, and it was a vicious cycle. Assuming it was sensativity to the above products I discontinued everything, but nothing helped to improve. A couple months went by and no change.
I quit cleaning my friends house over 2 months ago, stopped needing to wear the purple latex gloves, coincidentally my rash COMPLETELY cleared up and I have had NO problems for two months.
Assuming it was the latex causing it, I made sure to only use rubber house cleaning gloves at home...so far so good. I cheated a few times and used my husbands toothpaste and mouth wash assuming it was still safe...so far so good.
Then I dyed my hair at home 2 weeks ago. I always use the latex gloves over the cheap plastic pair they provide. I only dye my hair every 6 weeks using the latex gloves, but this time I went back a few days later to add a few high lights, using the latex gloves again. This last time, right away my nose started itching, so several times I rubbed my nose with the back of my hand touching the rubber glove on my face trying to scratch the itch.
A few days after I developed one little red bump on my upper lip, it behaved just like all the others in the past. Then two more little bumps. Now I have about 5-6 of these long lasting festering type spots that take forever to go away.
So I don't know if it's a just a coincidence the rash came back from using latex gloves twice in one week, and rubbing my face with the latex glove, or if using my hubby's toothpaste & gargle triggered it or both?
I also noticed that in the past if I used sun screen on my face I got the same annoying long lasting water blisters that scabbed over & took forever to heal. I did go to the beach last week and applied sun block to my face. Ugggg!!
I don't know. What do you all think?? Help.
JoAnn
Allergy Issues Escalating
posted by Kacie Esparza on 4 Feb 2011 at 8:04 amIt's been a few years since I posted here. I've since left the military. I've limited my exposure to latex, and I do so very well since I work for an Ambulance Company. However, the last couple months, I've been having odd reactions to foods I've never had before. I've been thinking all this time I could be lactose intolerant, or have developed an allergy to dairy.
Or maybe I have a problem with gluten. After going back through these posts and looking at what foods share some of the same proteins with latex, I'm astounded. I love pizza and pasta. We eat lots of it in my house. I use grains for almost every meal. What I noticed is that after every meal I would get severe pains in my abdomen, behind my kidney's and up under my ribs.
I know that to much Orange Juice can make me feel like I'm suffering a bout of seasonal allergies....stuffy nose, sore throat, congestion, sometimes even swollen glands or throat.....so I limit my intake of that. What I did not know was that potatoes, tomatoes and wheat can also carry these proteins. I cut out dairy completely....seemed to help....but when I did that I also cut out things like pizza and pasta, because I use lots of cheese in those.
Could it be possible that I'm having adverse food reactions to these items, not knowing, and thinking it's dairy because I used dairy products in almost every recipe I made. I'm still having some issues, not nearly as bad as before, and maybe it's the combination of the diary with some of these foods. I don't know. I have an appointment with my dr in a week, and I am anxious to find out, because frankly, I would love to be able to know what I can and cannot eat. This is getting more and more ridiculous. All along I've been thinking foods like mac and cheese would make me sick because of the dairy, but could it be the wheat in the pasta? I'm only 30 years old.....sometimes I feel like I'm held prisoner in my own body....all I would really like are some real, honest, TRUTHFUL answers.
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