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What's going on, allergies or something?

Abstract

Abstract

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
Dec 27, 2002
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So last night I was a bit itchy near my left underarm, so I scratched it. I have been using the same deodorant for awhile now, and it never had a negative effect before. I remember having a similar reaction many years ago with another deodorant (Arm and Hammer "Sport") I used for over 3 years, but I had to switch deodorants after I moved countries since it wasn't available to me anymore.

Anyway, after scratching near my itchy left underarm, I develop an itch elsewhere. Eventually, the itch moved to my neck, close to my left bicep, my inner and outer thighs, my groin, ass, my calf muscles, right bicep, my back, random parts of my chest, and even my right underarm area. Needless to say, i had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night. I took 2 showers and changed t-shirts after hell broke loose.

I mean, after looking at the areas just listed (ie: groin, ass, neck), these are places I likely scratched after touching my left underarm! :D So am I allergic to my deodorant or something? Is that possible seeing as how I use that stuff every day with no effect before? Could it be cause by something else? Maybe I believe it has to do with the scratching my left pit when in fact it's not related to the scratching whatsoever. :confused:

I don't know if this is considered a "rash" or "hives," but there are red itchy areas all over my left shin right now, and it's really really itchy. The area is not just red. Entire areas are slightly "raised" relative to the rest of my skin. :confused:
 
What about new...

-Soap
-Shampoo and Conditioner
-Lotions
-Laundry detergent


Did you take a shower somewhere where you don't usually take a shower?
 
Yeah, Thailand. :p

I got back 2 days ago, though, so if I was to have a rash from showering in Thailand (where water isn't so clean, mind), I think it would have started when I was there, or the day I got back. However, I did manage to eat some dodgy food at Bangkok airport, and when I got back, I threw up 3 times on my first night back. Good times.

New laundry detergent? Well, I'm in Hong Kong right now at my aunt's place, but I don't think it's the new detergent since I've been here for around 2 weeks now and it has never proven to be a problem before.

@Mad Jew: Hmmm.....maybe I'll take an anti-histamine to see if the hives go away. From your link, if this outbreak was caused by allergies, then an anti-histamine will work on the histamines released, but if it's not allergy related, an anti-histamine won't do much.

As far as I know, I'm not allergic to anything other than ragweed, as was discovered in an allergy test taken 5-6 years ago. :confused:
 
It could be an allergy. I used this one anit-persperant for 3 years and it took me that long for me to realize that it was the deoderant that was the problem. Mostly because the rashes were so infrequent and oddly spaced out that it was a streatch to connect it to the anti-persperant
 
You can actually become alergic to things as you get older. The same thing is true for groming out of allergies.

An Example:
When i was born i was allergic to milk so my mom and dad had to give me soy milk. Also when i recently went for an allergy test the results came back that i am now allergic to a certain tree i was not allergic to before.

I am no professional but my suggestion is to go and have an allergy test done again. I use to have them done about every three years. i also use to go get allergy shots every week, now i rarely have to go and have them. All i need now is some prescription allegra or clariten.
 
prostuff1 said:
You can actually become alergic to things as you get older. The same thing is true for groming out of allergies.
Click to expand...
Definitely true. I had never had an allergy in my life until about 3 years ago (when I was 24 years old)....and I started getting migraines all the time. After a long year I finally realized I had developed a very bad allergy to pasta and minor allergies to onions and peppers. So you may just start keeping track of the things you eat and the cleaners/shampoo's etc. that you use.
 
Sounds like a food allergy. Alcat is a good test that I use. They will send someone out to your house to do the blood draw, so you can avoid paying an office visit to your doctor.

www.alcat.com
 
Could be one of so many things that caused it. For right now, if it gets worse (or doesn't get better) see your doctor. If it starts affecting anything else (such as breathing) see your doctor SOON.
Since you just got back from a foreign place, it could have been the food, or water, or different plants they have there (that you wouldn't be used to).

In the future, as others have said; get a thorough allergy test done, and possibly see an allergy specialist.
 
Sorry, I lost your mom's number a while ago. :p

(joking as well.... *chuckle* )

Golden_315 said:
It could be an allergy. I used this one anit-persperant for 3 years and it took me that long for me to realize that it was the deoderant that was the problem. Mostly because the rashes were so infrequent and oddly spaced out that it was a streatch to connect it to the anti-persperant
Click to expand...
Come to think about it, this isn't the 2nd time this has happened. This is the 3rd time, and the 2nd time with this particular deoderant, I think. It happened with this deodorant a long time ago, so like you, I'm not really sure if I should connect my rashes/hives to the deodorant since I use it everyday. Hell, I'm using it right now, but I don't have a rash under my right arm anymore at all. Its still on my left arm, along with both my calf muscles and near my perineum (which is the skin between the ding-dongs and the dirty hole, if you didn't know).
 
Abstract said:
Sorry, I lost your mom's number a while ago. :p

(joking as well.... *chuckle* )
Click to expand...

touche'!


Abstract said:
Come to think about it, this isn't the 2nd time this has happened. This is the 3rd time, and the 2nd time with this particular deoderant, I think. It happened with this deodorant a long time ago, so like you, I'm not really sure if I should connect my rashes/hives to the deodorant since I use it everyday. Hell, I'm using it right now, but I don't have a rash under my right arm anymore at all. Its still on my left arm, along with both my calf muscles and near my perineum (which is the skin between the ding-dongs and the dirty hole, if you didn't know).
Click to expand...

WHOA...too much information!
 
Is there any aluminum content in your deodorant?

Aluminum chloride
Aluminum zirconium tricholorohydrex glycine
Aluminum chlorohydrate
Aluminum hydroxybromide

Applying these chemicals to the underarm lymph nodes area, they are absorbed straight into the body in the area responsible for your immune system. If I use some of the brand name deodorants with these chemicals or similar I come out in a burning rash, though it's limited to the area where I sprayed it.

I'm not sure if that's your problem, but I thought I should post about it anyway.

Keep Aluminum for the Powerbooks. :cool:
 
Wow, wonder if that's what's been happening to me...

I went searching tonight for new ideas after about 10 months of suffering "the itchies" just like Abstract described... nearly every night. I won't list the many things I tried, but it did include everything mentioned here except antiperspirant with aluminum in it. I switched products, but they do both have aluminum. So does my beloved MacBook Pro, which is on my lap 'most every night after work, and sometimes during the work day.

It might not lead me to a solution, but I'm grateful to MacRumors for keeping this thread here. It'd be great if I found out it was just aluminum allergy. I could put a skin on the MacBook Pro, and find something to spray on my pits that doesn't have aluminium in it.

It's funny that I was searching the net for "allergic to aluminum itch" and found a thread at MacRumors, a site I check almost daily. Wish me luck! I hope Abstract's found a solution, too.
 
I suspect the Aluminum case of macbook pro can cause rash...

A couple of weeks after buying a macbook pro I began to get incredibly itchy blisters on my hands and feet. A doctor diagnosed dyshidrotic eczema. I have never had such symptoms before. They are not scabies (scabies tend to cause linear, flakey superficial lines and are concentrated in creases of the hands and feet rather than tapioca pudding like clusters of fluid filled blisters). The cause of the dyshidrotic eczema is not known but is thought to have an inherited component (genetic susceptibility/autoimmunity) and an environmental trigger. Several exposure anecdotes have been described. The medical literature notes that often metal workers who come into contact with metal rich solution suffer from this disorder. But I was shocked to find this post on Apple's website:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9289556

It describes a woman with the exact presentation and diagnosis I have with a similar suspicion that it is related to the macbook pro.

I posted also to try to find out how common this is:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2113838&tstart=0

Please login and post if you are a macbook owner and have itchy blisters on the hands and feet. I suspect that this may be a fairly infrequent response to exposure to Apples new aluminum casings in susceptible individuals.
Thanks,
Tim MD/PhD
 
exact same itch on hands and feet

don't know what itch on my hands and feet is which results in a massive rash and blisters after a while. I have a my macbook for about 7 or 8 months now and have also had the rash. Comes and goes.
 
timrand said:
A couple of weeks after buying a macbook pro I began to get incredibly itchy blisters on my hands and feet. A doctor diagnosed dyshidrotic eczema. I have never had such symptoms before. They are not scabies (scabies tend to cause linear, flakey superficial lines and are concentrated in creases of the hands and feet rather than tapioca pudding like clusters of fluid filled blisters). The cause of the dyshidrotic eczema is not known but is thought to have an inherited component (genetic susceptibility/autoimmunity) and an environmental trigger. Several exposure anecdotes have been described. The medical literature notes that often metal workers who come into contact with metal rich solution suffer from this disorder. But I was shocked to find this post on Apple's website:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=9289556

It describes a woman with the exact presentation and diagnosis I have with a similar suspicion that it is related to the macbook pro.

I posted also to try to find out how common this is:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2113838&tstart=0

Please login and post if you are a macbook owner and have itchy blisters on the hands and feet. I suspect that this may be a fairly infrequent response to exposure to Apples new aluminum casings in susceptible individuals.
Thanks,
Tim MD/PhD
Click to expand...

Hi, signed up just to reply to your post, hopefully you will still see this even though it's three years later. I started using my dad's Macbook Pro intermittendly in September, alternating between that computer and my own Macbook. Around the same time I started developing small blisters on my rand hand, but never really made the connection with the Macbook Pro. Around November I started using it exclusively and the rash on my hands and feet has now developed to where it's disabling, my hands are just one raw mass of blisters, scabs, etc. I even have some patches on my legs now. A dermatologist diagnosed it as psoriasis, saying there was nothing to do but apply ointment and wait for it to fade away. An allergy test revealed no allergy to nickel or chrome. I just looked up dyshidrotic eczema and it looks EXACTLY like what I have on my hands and feet... wonder if it might be something else in the components that I might be allergic to? In any case, I am not using that computer as of today, hopefully I will start noticing a change for the better soon. If it turns out to be tha laptop though, I am definitely writing Apple.
 
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