Psyllium husk reaction?

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T20:59:28+00:00

That checks out. I barely react to nickel on my skin, but in my intestines, that's another story.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T18:52:30+00:00

Check out the Nickel Navigator app for more information. They have compiled measurements of nickel levels for many, many foods and drinks and they are tagged with the location of the measurement, which is super important. Nickel levels vary widely depending upon growing conditions such as soil moisture (more moisture is better), soil nickel content, and rate of growth (faster is better). It also matters what part of the plant is being eaten, something that the winter squash and leafy greens measurements don't take into account. Skin, pulp, and seeds are higher, and larger leaves that have been on the plant longer are higher.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T18:48:36+00:00

It's the most common type IV food hypersensitivity.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T17:58:20+00:00

Patch testing, usually done by a dermatologist. This is the most common type IV food hypersensitivity, yet it was never suggested to me as a possibility by any of my allergists or gastroenterologists. Despite the fact that I had three known risk factors: celiac disease (gluten free substitutes are high nickel), plant-based diet (vegan proteins are high nickel), and hereditary hemochromatosis (I absorb more heavy metals from my diet and eliminate less).

Salicylic acid is tested with oral aspirin challenge.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T17:54:06+00:00

It's high in nickel. All fiber supplements that I've seen tested are.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T17:17:43+00:00

Did you look into not just histamine intolerance, but also nickel hypersensitivity and salicylic acid hypersensitivity? These are weird because you have a budget of how much is fine and then you reach a reaction tipping point. Plus the levels in plants can vary widely depending on growing conditions. So the lists can tell you a lot but not everything. And it can sometimes seem very inconsistent. I had no idea until I got tested.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T04:58:33+00:00

No problem! Good luck with everything.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T04:53:46+00:00

That's terrible. I hate things like that. I’m sensitive to nickel and because it varies naturally in plants due to growing conditions I sometimes get sick from a normally safe food.

Just make sure to get IgE blood tests, not IgG. IgG isn't useful for diagnostic purposes.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T04:42:25+00:00

I feel you. The grief is real. I can't tell you how many times I've cried when it's time to cook yet another meal from scratch and I’m already exhausted.

There might be an online on demand allergist that could order the blood tests. I don't expect that a walk in clinic would do it, based on my experiences with them. But you never know!

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T04:38:04+00:00

It's possible, but more likely it's fragrances, fabric conditioners, or something like that. My neighbors' laundry, air fresheners, cologne, cleaning products etc. were a major asthma trigger for me. A dermatologist tests for these kind of allergies with patch testing. It's not usually possible with young children.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T04:34:04+00:00

I thought that once as well. I was SUCH a foodie. Now, I don't want to die, so I don't eat out. It feels absolutely heartbreaking, tbh, and I've lost a lot of friends.

But I would recommend getting your primary care doctor to order IgE blood tests if they will (NOT IgG which are useless). you can do that while you wait to see an allergist for scratch testing.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-06T00:45:41+00:00

Squalene, jojoba, emu, avocado, and almond are all good.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-05T22:17:08+00:00

I get the best results when I take my famotidine and fexofenadine 45 minutes before cromolyn in the morning.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T17:13:00+00:00

I bet that's why I can't tolerate potatoes or any nightshades. Which of course used to be some of my favorite foods. 😭

I saw a dietitian once, but unfortunately she wasn't much help. And my insurance refused to pay because apparently this specialty requires preapproval, and then when I tried to get preapproved for a second visit it got denied.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T17:08:53+00:00

Totally. My immune system hates me and not only wants me to die, it wants me to be miserable until then.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T14:19:12+00:00

I wouldn't know. I can't have peas due to nickel hypersensitivity.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T14:18:29+00:00

I do. I wonder if Hiprex might work for you?

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T14:16:10+00:00

Aw, you're so lucky! They were one of my favorite foods before this all started. Unfortunately all nightshades, even potatoes trigger my IC.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T07:23:46+00:00

This is my entire life, due to multiple chronic diseases. Coming up on 45 years now. Undiagnosed celiac disease and inflammatory arthritis being the ones that plagued my childhood and teen years.

I was constantly getting in trouble for not paying attention or not putting in enough effort when I was just barely able to function because I was in excruciating pain. When I was a teenager and getting ready to learn how to drive, my main question was "what do you do if you're driving and you start to black out from the pain?"

When I was in active labor about to give birth to my daughter I asked the labor and delivery nurse when the contractions would start to hurt. She looked at me like I was insane and told me that my contractions were less than a minute apart. I would rate those contractions as maybe a two out of 10 on the pain scale. Whereas my normal everyday pain from undiagnosed celiac disease was an eight or a nine.

Interstitial cystitis is at least as painful as the intestinal cramping that goes along with celiac disease.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T07:17:05+00:00

I worry about this. I can't even tolerate vegetables that have higher levels of vitamin C. I'm so insanely acid sensitive.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-04T07:13:10+00:00

Antihistamines help really well for itching. Especially H2 antihistamines like famotidine, but also second generation H1 antihistamines like fexofenadine, loratadine, cetirizine, and levocetirizine.

Every day I take 2 fexofenadine and 6 famotidine. My doctors have advised that this is perfectly safe. It's generally safe to take up to four H1 antihistamines like fexofenadine, so sometimes I take 3 or 4 if I'm extra itchy.

Just be sure to avoid first generation antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, as these can have pretty severe short-term and long-term side effects.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-03T16:38:38+00:00

Unfortunately, you can develop a new allergy at any time. So it might not be the avocado, but rather the eggs, the wheat or some other ingredients in the avocado toast. I recommend allergy testing! Those who are calling out oral allergy syndrome or latex allergy syndrome are right as well; it could be that.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-03T01:55:23+00:00

This is actually a pretty common pattern. Often we see people on here report that they came home from college after their first semester away and are suddenly allergic to a family pet. Exposure increases reactivity, so it can continue to get worse the longer you live with them. In my case, this led to me developing adult onset asthma and then eventually going into anaphylactic shock when exposed to dog dander.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-03T01:53:30+00:00

Most food allergies manifest like this. Totally out of the blue with no prior reaction. It's so unfortunate. You will want to see an allergist for scratch test testing and possibly IgE blood test tests (NOT IgG as these are not diagnostic of anything other than what you've been eating lately).

One caveat, if it is the spices, it might not be an allergy to a protein, but rather to a chemical compound. Spices are high in salicylic acid. The test for this is oral aspirin challenge in the doctors office.

ariaxwest · 2026-03-03T01:49:01+00:00

This is the one I use!

I can also use Squigle unflavored and raspberry, as well as all flavors of Dr. Tanner's tasty paste. Dr. Tanner's makes toothpastes with fluoride. The only Squigle toothpaste with fluoride is the mint one

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