I discovered (or re-discovered) recently that I'm allergic to Zinc.
Apparently I had a bit of bad nappy rash as a baby, and used the usual stuff to try and clear it up, but it just kept getting worse. It turned out the cream they use is mainly Zinc Oxide - so they were trying to cure a rash by using something I'm allergic to, and obviously it was just getting worse and worse.
I've always had it way back in the back of my mind that I'm allergic to Zinc (when I fill in medical forms), but it's not something I've ever really considered in real life until recently. I had a skin rash and the cream wasn't making it better - it just seemed to get worse. Lightbulb moment when I read the ingredients...
It's got me wondering now, though. I've had stomach problems for the last decade or so, and take pills for it daily, and I'm now wondering if it's the zinc allergy. Turns out seafood is very high in zinc - but fortunately I can't stand most seafoods. Beef is also quite high, and chicken has quite a bit, too. I definitely get a bad gut after eating beef, and eat chicken several times a week.
I also take piriton most days, due to itchy skin. No rash - I'm just always itchy if I go a few days without the tablets.
I also get bad acne on the back of my head. Nowhere else, really. I mean I get the occasional spot on my face, or elsewhere, but it's rare - but I always have a lot on the back of my head. Would've started shaving my head years ago (not that there's much hair these days) but the skin is too bad, so I have a #1. Turns out my soap doesn't have Zinc in it, but my shampoo does - so of course I'm now wondering if it's the shampoo causing me problems.
Wish I'd made the link a lot sooner. It's mainly niggling things (bad spots, itchy skin, and a dull ache in the stomach are unpleasant but you can easily live with them) but if I'd known to avoid zinc I maybe could've avoided the ingredient and been fine all these years.
Or maybe I'm adding 2 and 2 to get five, and me now avoiding zinc in skin products won't have any effect. (I ain't changing my diet, mind. I can live with a dull ache most days and a fairly intense pain after beefburgers. It's worth it, because I like what I eat - and once a month or so I'll get burgers despite knowing they cause my pain because they just taste so damned nice!)
