Coping with Mint allergy/sensitivity

[tmh359]

Am I the only one who reacts badly to anything mint?  Cause I'm sure feeling lonely...

It wouldn't be so bad, except... Mint is EVERYWHERE!   I have to order expensive toothpaste because the normal stuff stings like crazy and makes me nauseous.  Cherry tastes like medicine.  And I can only tollerate cinnamon in very small doses (like what's mixed in the sugar for cinnamon toast small).  I have yet to discover a brand of mouthwash that does not contain mint in some form or other - or else the cinnamon kind makes first burns then makes my mouth go numb.  Ditto for breath mint alternatives.  (I can't even handle a Tic-Tac in my mouth for more than a few seconds, much less chew on it or swallow it.)

Face clensers with menthol stung, and also left my face feeling greasy.  But not in the haven't washed my face often enough way.

I don't know how much money I've wasted on cough drops/throat lozenges, chapstick, lotions, etc, only to discover after application that, you got, there is mint of some sort in it.  

And sadly, avoidance seems to have only made reactions worse.  Just the smell of other people's mints (breath mints, candy mints, peppermint sticks) makes me feel ill.  And the first time I consumed any in eight years, it was an accident, had half of a mint Brussells cookie, and a stomach ache for a good twenty minutes.

Anyone else here that *look* when you tell others you and mint don't get along?  Care to share your symptoms?  Your coping/mint alternatives?  

Tiffany

[jessicaMOM]

Hello My son goes into anaphalactic shock after consuming some mint this is still new to us and he is terified to consume anything mint Halloween is a nightmare i have to sift threw all his candy with a fine tooth comb he has no trouble with toothpaste though. we have just been avoiding mint alltogether.

Jessica

[jessicaMOM]

as for chapstick try Aveno's olive oil one its quite good and as far as i know has no mint in it avoid Burts bees it has plenty mint
Jessica

[nat246]

So nice to hear someone else is allergic to mint - thought it was just me.  What toothpaste have you found?  I have had a couple and then they stop making them and I am fed up.
I avoid all other kinds of mint in anything.

[Mossy97]

I am also allergic to mint, menthol, peppermint and spearmint.  It's a pain, it used to just cause my lips to swell but it can give me a rash and make me break out.  The toothpaste I use is Toms of Maine Silly Strawberry, it's the kids brand but it words well, they also make a lemon/lime mouthwash and I don't have a problem with it.

[Brattitude]

I'm so happy to know I'm not alone in my mint/menthol crisis. I am at a loss for advice though, I use the normal toothpaste and just avoid other mint products as best I can. I can ingest small amounts usually an be ok (like mint chocolate), but I can't have gum or breath mints without a sneezing fit and a stomach ache.

[chizzle]

I don't have an allergy to mint, but as for the problems w/ dental products, try contacting your dentist office.  A lot of times, they carry in office special toothpastes, mints, gum & mouthwashes in multiple flavors, or they can order them for you.

[tmh359]

Yea!  I'm alone!

Toothpaste I use is Desert Essence - usually the Nautral Tea Tree Oil with ginger.  Have to order it on line though, as its next to impossible to find.  

[sanchin]

i started to react to mint a few years  ago(i had chewed mint gum for years). my first reaction was to a tooth pick from a chinese restaurant my lips swelled like a balloon where the toothpick was. you would not believe how many spices are related to mint,which i have not reacted to yet, such things like oregano go figure. i was using toothpaste with no mint,or so i thought, until my lips puffed up a bit. i keep benadryl in the house and have epi pens one at work an done at home but they only last like a year then you have to get new ones. i tried cinnamon tooth paste until recently as i react to that now been using baking soda but i like these other alternative toothpastes that you guys listed thanks. people don't think it is that hard to avoid mint but it is.

[Flowers_in_April]

Thank goodness I am not alone.  I thought it was mental.  My throat burns if someone chews spearmint gum.  Even someone applying spearmint lip balm triggers a reaction. I can't go anywhere without ending up with a burning throat, post-nasal back drip, headache, and general malaise. There is a mint addiction out here! Now I found more people chewing gum or eating candy with higher concentrations of mint.  I can't go anywhere, yes anywhere at all.  I have had to rush out of the grocery store or even leave movie theaters because of this.  I only enjoy open areas like the park.  

[hashroe]

i have been allergic to mint for 24 years, it iis very hard to deal with. it burns my skin and if i eat it i blow up like a blow fish and then go into anaphalactic Shock. If someone is eating mint around me, i start to get dizzy, and my skin goes red and i feel very sick.

it is very uncommon to be allergic to mint and alot of people don't believe you can be. but there are a few people out there.

good luck to you all

[johnlessmint]

I am a 48 year old Male on November 11, 2008 and I never before had a mnt or salicitate problem, until now I belive anyway.  I went to the allergist because I indicated that the last two times I had mint I had a swollen lip and the secodn time was painful as my lower lip swelled and hardened.  I had to take benadryl both times.  Then last night I used sesodyne toothpaste tarter controlled with whitener.  My upper lip swelled a bit and I had to rinse immediately and go to bed in stress.  I woke up fine so it was only a small amount.

Then the other day the allergist told me she thought it was a nut allergy but I didnot buy it.  I said mint or sallicitate and she never had a patient for that.  I am scheduled to be tested July 29, 2008 for everything.

She indicated the tomato sauce I ate might have doen it as I had prego one night and home made the next.  Their were no nut ingredient at all in teh sauces and both times that evening I had mint gum or candy.  Three hours later swollen lip.

I was reading on web md what to stay away form and the list is very long.  I never had a fruit problem with such fruits as peaches and pears and berries except strawberries and grapefruit.  I have to stay away form them.

I love cinnnamin so I bought cinnamin toothpaste and mouth wash and removed the mint form the shower.

The final inidciation of mint problems is my sun tan lotion contains salicitate the main ingredient that the mint family is in.  My back of the legs were very ichy and irritated from the lotion, dry skin and the alow with menthol I put on afterwards.  

Does this sound like a mint or salicitate allergy?

[tmh359]

Menthol is also a key thing with the mint family.  If you're having mint issues, avoid anything with menthol, where you can.

[sawoodhick]

Wow! I didn't realize there was this many people with mint allergies. I have had a mint allergy for 28 years now and its getting worse as I get older (first