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Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Allergy to Lotion

Bee has a new allergy....

Calendula!!!

It took me a couple days to get this one figured out.

We had been trying a new lotion because Bee was having more eczema break outs.  This lotion was designed for those with eczema (just not for Bee, as we would learn).

After her shower and jammies, Bee became very itchy.  At first I suspected the soap, because our store had been out of our regular soap and I had to buy one that was a different fragrance.  I doctored her rash and gave her Benadryl and put her to bed.  The next night, I was ready with a different soap that we had used before.  Round 2 of itchy, rashy, hives.

That's when I realized it had to be the lotion.  I put Bee back in the shower and scrubbed her under cool water.  Then I grabbed our old lotion and started covering her.  I mixed in some anti-itch cream and gave her Benadryl.  Within 30 minutes, she was looking much better and was able to go to sleep.

We used the lotion for a week before we noticed any real issues.  Apparently her body had been slowly building histamines against this lotion, until after a week, the constant exposure to the lotion made her break out in all-over hives.

We're back to our old soap and old lotion and we've had no more issues.  That's what we get for trying something new!

So, what's wrong with calendula?  It's a flower and related to the daisy and aster family-also related to the ragweed family.  Bee hasn't been tested for ragweed allergies, but I'm betting she will test high when we test her environmental allergies in a year.  If you're allergic to ragweed, calendula might not be your best option.

Now we have 2 more things to add to our list........

3 comments:

Kim said...

I'm allergic to cetaphil lotion...I was told by someone it looked like a tiger had clawed my face after using it. I'm not sure exactly what is in it that I'm allergic to unfortunately.

Just want to say I enjoy your site. I stumbled across it at work (down time!)I have celiac's disease, casein intolerant, severe soy allergy, and minor allergies to coconut and buckwheat, and an oral allergy to kiwi (makes my lips bleed)
You do a great job with your kids and their allergies, especially Bee. It can certainly be challenging at times.

Lexi said...

Thank you! We work hard to find things we can eat. It's definitely not fun!

I hope you figure out what made you break out in that lotion. Sometimes we never know what caused an outbreak. We're still working on it!

Unknown said...

Hi,

I am looking for baby[toddler body wash for my 6 year old who just got diagnosed with phytphodermatitis and i believe also has a sensitivity to calendula. I cant seem to find any natural shampoos that dont have it in there, any suggestions? Also, i am using bagder sunscreen but thought to ask if you have had any other success in that derpartment. any help is much appreciated since i am new to all this.

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