For a month and a half, I had an itch that wouldn't go away. The symptoms included raised red bumps all over my body, constant itching that got worse at night, difficulty breathing, and difficulty sleeping. I truly feel for you, if you're having to deal with hives/dermatitis.
To cure the itching, I tried everything! I tried refrigerated Cetaphil lotion, J&J baby lotion, ice packs, Allegra, Benadryl, Zyrtec, rubbing Guava leaves on my itchy spots, eating Eastern medicines (gross tasting btw), meditation, and switching to an organic diet. These attempts temporarily calmed my symptoms, but they kept coming back. My body was reacting to something, and no amount of medicine or lotion would cure it.
It turns out I had hives due to my laundry detergent, Tide Clean Breeze. With every wash, my clothes would be coated in allergen causing my skin to severely react. The difficulty breathing was from drying my clothes, and the detergent residue would get shot into the air from the dryer outlet, which I would then breath in and react to. From what I read, the itchyness gets worse at night because our body's natural defense goes dormant where its less active than during the day.
I've used Tide for many years without any reaction, but either my body chemistry changed, or something in Tide's formula changed. I switched to a 100% Natural detergent from Costco. Then I rewashed all of my clothes and bedsheets. 3 days later, my symptoms improved dramatically. No more bumps, and no more itch! If you're dealing with the "Itches," hang in there. I wish you strength and resolve.
thank you for posting this. i broke out in hives about 14 months ago (late august 2010) and im highly suspecting the cause was changing over to Tide detergent. i moved into a new house in February and began using home-made detergent of 1 cup dr bronners peppermint all-purpose magic soap, 1 cup of baking soda, and 2 cups of h20 (i put this in a container and use about 1/4-1/3 cup for each large load of laundry) i was so paranoid this past year because i was diagnosed with severe allergy to nickel (which im sure wasnt the main issue because ive been wearing costume jewelry from forever 21 and though they will cause itchy rashes if i wear them for a long period of time i sweat..otherwise ive been fine wearing them) i recently did a load of laundry at my new boyfriend's house (uses Tide Clean Breeze) and for the first time in months, it felt like my esophogus was closing up.. i had trouble breathing and the clothing i was wearing from that batch of laundry caused me to break out in rashes on my bottom which i thought were a spread of the molluscum contagiosum (poxvirus) i am also battling simultaneously. i do believe the tide caused all of this. i was allergic to it, the smell, touching anything that had been washed in it, it dried out my skin, caused it to itch, therefore leaving room for pathogens/virus to get into the cracks of my dry skin and that is probably how i picked up molluscum (a type of HPV that can last anywhere from 3-24 months).. this is insanity. im glad i know what the cause is now. thank u for posting this. i think ill be able to sleep better knowing that as long as i re-wash this load of laundry chillin in a big bag outside.. i can go back to getting better from my molluscum and not having to deal with these outrageous symptoms i was so sure were morgellons for the longest time..
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your story. The difficulty breathing can be alarming. I can relate because I thought I was having a heart attack or something when my allergies were at their worst.
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you figured out the culprit (Tide Clean Breeze), and I sincerely hope your allergies have gone away. Best wishes, Tri.
Thank you for posting Tide pic under "pics of itchy red dots". I've made recent changes for my kids with their detergent and switched scents on my Tide, since hen I've been breaking out all over my upper body (which seems to be the most senstive to change). I've been doing some process of elimination and stopped using my kids detergent (which I used on all of our whites, including my delicates :), come to find out it's Tide Clean breeze... I've been using Tide (with lavender label/scent & sport) for years, but there must be something about the Clean Breeze. Thank you for helping claim my sanity!
ReplyDelete