What else contains Sulfites?

[seattlemom2plus]

I have been allergic to Sulfa medications since I was younger but I never ever knew this extended to foods or to drinks for that matter.  I recently discovered that this is in epinephrine which is what is in an epi-pen used to help an allergic reaction.

I had no idea that I even had an allergy or severe reaction to epinephrine until 2 weeks ago when I went to the dentist and was given a novacaine with this in it called Septocaine.  I immediately broke out in a cold sweat, started shaking and felt like I was going to pass out.  The after effects were a swollen throat and swollen face.  It looked like I had a stroke on the side of my face where I was injected.  This normally does not happen to me at all.

When I came home I immediately looked it up online to find out more--- apparently if you have high or low blood pressure or are allergic to sulfites you should not have epinephrine.

Wanted to share this to see if anyone else has a similar experience.

[ChitChatNine]

Wow .. so sorry to hear this! I do believe that Sulfite allergy is much more common than we hear about.  I found this information online and wanted to share it with you:

Alcoholic/non-alcoholic beer, cider, wine
Baked goods, e.g., breads, cookies, pastries, waffles
Bottled lemon and lime juice/concentrate
Canned/frozen fruits and vegetables, e.g., mushrooms, sliced apples, olives, peas, peppers, pickles, pickled onions, tomatoes
Cereal, cornmeal, cornstarch, crackers, muesli
Condiments, e.g., coleslaw, horseradish, ketchup, mustard, pickles, relish, sauerkraut
Deli meat, hot dogs, sausages
Dressings, gravies, guacamole, sauces, soups, soup mixes
Dried fruits/vegetables, e.g., apples, apricots, coconut, mincemeat, papaya, peaches, pears, pineapple, raisins, sun dried tomatoes
Dried herbs, spices, tea
Fish, including crustaceans and shellfish, e.g., shrimp (fresh/frozen)
Fresh grapes, lettuce
Fruit filling, fruit syrup, gelatin, jams, jellies, marmalade, molasses, pectin
Fruit/vegetable juices, e.g., coconut, grape, sparkling grape, white grape
Glazed/glacéed fruits, e.g., apples, grapes, maraschino cherries
Potatoes, e.g., frozen french fries, dehydrated, mashed, peeled, pre-cut
Snack foods, e.g., candy, chocolate/fruit bars, tortilla/potato chips, soft drinks, trail mix
Soy products
Starches, e.g., corn, potato, sugar beet; noodles, rice mixes
Sugar syrups, e.g., glucose, glucose solids, syrup dextrose
Tomato paste/pulp/puree
Vinegar, wine vinegar


http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/securit/allerg/fa-aa/allergen_sulphites-sulfites-eng.php

[seattlemom2plus]

OMG ChitChatNine this is like almost everything I eat my goodness I had no idea!

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

It is physically impossible to be allergic to epinephrine (epinephrine is the same as adrenaline). Our bodies produce epinephrine all the time. Also, local anesthetic cartridges contain two active ingredients: the actual anesthetic e. g. lidocaine and epinephrine. Most people who have a genuine allergic reaction to local anesthetics are not allergic to the actual anesthetic agent. It is much more common (though still rare) to be allergic to preservatives in the local anesthetic solution. So, an allergy specialist may be able to help identify the allergen and desensitize you.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.

[seattlemom2plus]

I actually did have an allergic reaction to lidocaine when I was about 20 and went into vascular shock.  But as you said perhaps it is just the preservatives in epinephrine (which includes sulfites) that triggers my issue.  I was reading that there is epinephrine that does not contain sulfites but you have to actually have this administered in a hospital via vials v/s an epi-pen.

[ChitChatNine]

Maybe your doctor (allergist) will prescribe you a vial to carry with you at all times.  The time between when EMS arrives and meds are administered is critical in anaphylaxis.

C~

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hi,

Actually, epinephrine is added to the local anesthetic to prolong its action. For the most commonly used local anesthetic (lidocaine 2% with 1:100,000 epi) numbs for one hour, but without the epi, it only numbs for 5-10 minutes. But if there is an allergic reaction to the preservative, a local anesthetic without epinephrine can be used. Because the usual local (lidocaine) doesn’t numb for very long without epi, mepivacaine or prilocaine without epi can be used.

Hope this helped.

[ChitChatNine]

Would that be what my dentist refers to as "long acting" or "short acting" numbing?  In other words, Seattle should always remind her dentist to use the short acting numbing w/o epinepherine ?   C~

[achilles2]

Sorry about your reaction. I am allergic to sulfates/sulfites and some non-food items include Neosporin, detergents, and soaps. I learned this when I had a cut that would not heal. I went to the doctor and she saw that I was allergic to sodium laural(th) sulfate and said that I was reacting to the sulfates in the Neosporin and that from now on I should only use bacitracin zinc.

achilles2

[ChitChatNine]

When I had my thyroid surgery they said Bacitracin only .. now I understand why they said Neo can cause problems if used in some and for longer periods of time!

C~

[seattlemom2plus]

I am so glad you mentioned the neosporin, I just that on the ingredients it said that it contained a sulfate and I didn't realize this till after I used it on a cut which is still there.  I don't seem to break out or anything from it, but the cut doesn't heal either.

I do try to use shampoo and conditioner and toothpaste that does not contain sodium laurel sulfate, but this was just for health purposes and not because of my allergy.  I am being amazed at how many items actually contain sulfates.

I was even reading that some coffees can contain sulfates that are not organic but your reactions to ingesting them can be delayed by 10 hours.  Have no idea on the truth of this but definitely something to read up on.  I am learning more about this daily.

[seattlemom2plus]

I forgot to say thank you indeed for all your explanations and responses, they are insightful indeed.  This explains why I only had a reaction when they used the septocaine with epi for me getting prepped for crowns because it takes longer than normal dental work.  Both times upon injection I had to ask the dentist to grab me a soda before I passed out.  My blood sugar just plummeted.  Or this could have just been because of my low blood pressure too?

[FurballsMom]

I know someone who is allergic to Neosporin and Polysporin both.  Now I'm wondering if it was actually sulfites all this time she was allergic to or if it was something else.  All I know is that if Neosporin bothers you, you should undoubtedly avoid Polysporin, too, since these are nearly the same medicine.

[achilles2]

Also if anyone has asthma and uses albuterol check the ingredients Ventolin says right on the box-- alubuterol sulfate. I now know why my pulse would be above 200 bpm and I would shake so bad I could not stand for at least 10 minutes  and then I would feel like I was shaking for at least  30 min after using my rescue inhaler. I now have xopenex and I still shake but not as much nor as long.

[seattlemom2plus]

Wow very interesting achilles2!  When I use the topical cream of neosporin I don't get any side effects but I am using such a small amount that this could be why.  Plus I will have to check to see if the cream has the same ingredients as the ointment.

If I ingest sulfa like in a pill form, etc. I get the shakes, palpitations, an extreme fever, and the sweats.  Very similar to what I had at the dentist when I recently had a shot that contains sulfa in the epinephrine.  I began to palpitate, broke out in a cold sweat, started shaking, and felt like I was going to pass out.  Scary how much they use sulfa in everything.

[ChitChatNine]

How is everyone doing?

[FurballsMom]

An interesting point that people with sulfite allergies needs to be aware of:

If you eat fish be sure to only buy the fresh fish and to rinse it very well before cooking it.  When the fishing fleets are out at sea and they have all that fish in the hulls, they add sulfites/sulfates in powder form to preserve the fish longer so they can stay out at sea longer.

[seattlemom2plus]

Wow had no idea on that one at all.  Ugh frustrating how its on vegetables and salads too just to preserve them.

[FurballsMom]

Yeah, it is.  We pretty much need to forget about convenience that sulfite preservatives offer people without the sensitivities or full blown allergies and go for the freshest foods we can get that our ancestors ate when the world didn't know about these technilogical "advances".

[seattlemom2plus]

With the latest scares on lysteria with romaine lettuce and cant elope, some days I feel like nothing is safe unless you grow your own :(

[FurballsMom]

I think many of us feel the same way.  Oddly enough, those outbreaks keep missing me.  Thankfully, of course.  This seems to be the one thing about food sensitivities that does have a positive.

[seattlemom2plus]

very true, sometimes sensitivities do have a benefit:)

[ChitChatNine]

People just don't "get it" and think we over-react.. :(

[seattlemom2plus]

I think if anything it makes it more challenging to eat out and to even eat other people's home cooked food because you have no way of controlling the ingredients or knowing what they all are.

[FurballsMom]

I would agree with those last two sentiments entirely.  I rarely eat at someone else's home, but I am fortunate that my one friend I've known most of my life understands well enough to just ask.

But, this wasn't always the case, and there was a time when I got picked on about not liking onions by this friend, too.  

It turned out that I am sensitive to the things.  It probably won't develop into a full-blown allergy with anaphylaxis, because I won't eat them on purpose and only eat whole foods I cook myself.  But, I do know I need to be on the watch, because my poor grandmother was allergic to them.  She got tachycardia from them, and it was a fully diagnosed allergy.  But, she got no sympathy from my mother.  My mother would then get mad that my grandmother had tachycardia every time she went home after visiting our house and eating with us.  She was mad at my grandmother for getting sick and would still say it was all in her head.  My mother had this notion that because my grandmother would get sick from her cooking that meant that she was insulting my mother's cooking.  I got treated the same way for not liking certain types of food, even though I didn't like the same food if someone else made their own recipe.  Basically, her attitude towards other people stinks.

That's an extreme example, but, yeah, there are too many people who think that we're just over-reacting.  When they're like my mother, they're saying that we have no business listening to our own bodies.