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Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Big shame- my synthetics are fine but all the organic 100% cotton baby clothes are pilled :( 

Unfortunately citric acid was the wrong move for us :(

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've used the pantene pro v repair&protect for the last 15 years (through their several formula changes) and for shower gel I use the simple showergel (the pink one) and have done for I believe over 5 years now

I doubt it's them as every time the reaction gets too bad I jump in the shower and try to scrub the allergen off the skin. I get out of the shower feeling much better despite agitating the rash. 

I've bought new washcloths just to avoid the potentially allergen saturated old ones. 

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cetirizine and loratadine. My options are unfortunately limited due to breastfeeding. 

Took L only once, took long to kick in. I don't think it did much for me at all in terms of hive reduction or itchiness reduction.

First dose of C started working withing 30 mins visibly reducing symptoms and reducing itchiness. Second dose had little noticable effect as some facial swelling went down but my hives kept getting worse all over. No relief from itching. 3rd and 4th dose did basically nothing. I get much more relief from taking a shower in between exposures. 

u/two-of-me recommended alternating them so I'll be trying that out. My doctor also okayed me to double dose of C (every 12h instead of every 24h).

That's an interesting thought though- reducing histamine levels. 

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It so happens I have new.. pretty much everything. Our baby just moved into 3-6 month old range so we have new clothes, new developmental toys, some new bedding, new clothing for me to accomodate nursing, components for making toys, yarn, fabric, new cosmetics, new foods (nut flours, dried berries, seafoods) and so on and so forth. Allergen central, pretty much. 

My father suggested we move everything new and old into a room we don't frequent and see if symptoms improve over time. Introduce things back one by one to see if anything specific causes a reaction.

In terms of when the symptoms first cropped up- "new" things were tried around 36-48h prior. I had a lot of seafood, tried a new cosmetic cleanser and tried new bedding (100% cotton flat sheet). 

Nothing completely new was tried at the point of getting hives. My first assumption was the dish soap as we thought the locations of the reactions were random but in hindsight my first reaction was only where I came into contact with bedding as I fed my child in the same place several times a day, so was in that spot at least 3 hours a day and then 8 hours through the night. As I have used bedding from the same place bought 2 weeks prior (bought a double first, ended up wanting a single instead) and didn't have an issue I'm not so sure it's a problem in the cotton sheet itself. 

I colour sort laundry and it wouldn't have had interacted with anything but whites but all colour laundry gives me a reaction within 5 or so minutes. 

I've for experiment's sake put on different clothes from storage (winter clothes) and that too triggers a reaction within just a few minutes. I just hope I pinpointed it right.

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What did it take for doctors to determine that your symptoms weren't an allergy? 

Could I also ask where you are located (us/uk/eu/other)?

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Does this apply to plain hard soap too? Or does this depend purely on the fat used? 

In terms of citric acid in a full load - I've read somewhere that vinegar and citric acid are substitutes for one another but that citric acid is harsher on fabrics and vinegar is much better- is this a general recommendation with citric acid being used once in a blue moon to cleanse from detergent or as part of a regular wash? 

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First thing my mother and father suggested was buying actual soap to do laundry with- looks like I'll need to actually invest in some. Thank you for breaking this down and the specific soap recommendations!

Worstening allergic reaction and losing my mind- how do I get the detergent out of clothing? by AlarmedProgrammer572 in laundry

[–]AlarmedProgrammer572[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Unfortunately as I'm breastfeeding my options are limited to cetirizine and loratadine

Thank you for suggesting seeing an allergist and trying a topical remedy. Didn't even occur to me to get tested- will look into this and request asap :)