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Reaction to certain type of plastic bag

I have finally realized that my ongoing negative reaction is undoubtedly from the certain type of plastic bag I was given after surgery (blue vomit bags) that I have lying on my bedside table. I first thought that I was just experiencing a strange odor sensitivity that might have been triggered by anesthetic used in surgery. It was really driving me crazy but I've suddenly realized that it was NOT an actual odor (real or imagined) but a problem that was affecting something to do with my breathing and even the taste in my mouth and on my lips - all without my even touching the plastic bags!!! Yikes.  Good bye bags!  Now I even have this reaction to the plastic trash bags that I use under the sink in the kitchen!!!   What is this?
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Avatar universal
I developed my sensitivity to plastics, latex, and rubber after one week on lyrica, 3.5 years ago. I swell and itch wherever it has touched me.  My dermatologist prescribed hydrocortisone 2.5 mg cream and it does help relieve the burning itch that makes you want to scratch the skin off to relieve the pain.  Recently, I have noticed the same reaction the paper bags so I am sticking to canvas totes.  Oh, and I too can drink from straws and not have an issue.
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1 Comments
I FOUND OUT WHAT THIS IS!!!!  The attached page explains everything from chemical reactions to simple Contact Dermatitis. http://www.worldallergy.org/public/allergic_diseases_center/contactdermatitis/
11490430 tn?1418693442
I am a cashier at walmart everyday I itch Bad, I'm still itching, it/s not right! I think it maybe the plastic bags!
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2 Comments
Hello I too am a cashier at Kohls and I have developed the same symptoms.  I have welts in between my fingers now and I have also gotten them on my arms.  It itches really bad.  never had this before until I started working there. no idea what I am supposed to do.
look up Scabies
Avatar universal
That is very interesting, I am very allergic to mold but never made any connection!  My arms break out in red welts when i carry plastic grocery bags, just like some of the others here.  I always ask for paper (we recycle those too) & don't have the problem. Someone said it could be the titanium dioxide in the bags, which i had no idea was in the bags.  But i dont think i need a test, i do need to avoid the bags though.  I drink from straws all the time & don't have a problem there.  my husband wants to get me a nice watch but i was wondering if the polyurethane band would bother me.  i havent noticed a problem with saran wrap, but when i put something in a ziplock bag, i wrap the food in paper towels first.  I also avoid styrophoam cups & pay extra at work for a paper cup.  So many things to consider!
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Avatar universal
hi lowertech
just wanted to say i have developed allergies to absoloutely everthing well no so much allergies as sensitivity-it is so bad but i cannot identify one specific culprit.  Cant seem to tolerate anything at all the environment my home cannot get any respite from all this.  i have terrible burning sensation/pain all over and cannot stand smells, purfume food hurts my stomach.  When i go near the computer checkout in the stores my skin begins burning and stinging but no reaction on the skin whatsoever.  this has been going on for over a year now and it is torture.  there isnt any room in the house i can be comortable in cant sleep properly, cant eat anything much.  saw an environmental doctor who said i have mcs, yeast overgrowth, nutritional deficiencies and said eat only veg and take supplements.  i react to the food, also supplements, feel like i have a lump in my throat but seems nothing there.  i also got dianosed with thyroid nodules although the function is normal they say.  the endocrinologist says symptoms not caused by this so i just go round in circles.
cannot get the yeast thing under control as cannot eat the veg, cannot take the supplement treatment so just suffer in silence with no outward sign of any problem yet have become like an invalid and cannot do anything.  typing this on the laptop is torture it give off a strange smell that also seems to come of the tv.  toughing the remote makes my hands sting as does all platic materials. sheets on the be as well as the matress make my hands feel numb and my body prickly and stinging although they only get washed in water as i cannot tolerate detergents.  it seems so many people are having so many weird reactions to their environment there must be some common cause yet no-one seems to be able to pinpoint it..mcs seems to cover it all but you cannot get over it and i cannot even take anything to help aleviate it, avoiding chemicals, materials, foods is the recommended stance but how can you do this and still exist on the planet.it is totally baffalling that this just all of a sudden occurs-i know when you reach the threshold- but there must be some simple answers somewhere ?
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
I'm wondering if it could be the "smart" electric meter on your house.  I have read recently about all kinds of these types of reactions to smart electric meters because of the Electromagnetic Field around them....also the wireless things in your home. It all adds up.
Avatar universal
hi lowertech
just wanted to say i have developed allergies to absoloutely everthing well no so much allergies as sensitivity-it is so bad but i cannot identify one specific culprit.  Cant seem to tolerate anything at all the environment my home cannot get any respite from all this.  i have terrible burning sensation/pain all over and cannot stand smells, purfume food hurts my stomach.  When i go near the computer checkout in the stores my skin begins burning and stinging but no reaction on the skin whatsoever.  this has been going on for over a year now and it is torture.  there isnt any room in the house i can be comortable in cant sleep properly, cant eat anything much.  saw an environmental doctor who said i have mcs, yeast overgrowth, nutritional deficiencies and said eat only veg and take supplements.  i react to the food, also supplements, feel like i have a lump in my throat but seems nothing there.  i also got dianosed with thyroid nodules although the function is normal they say.  the endocrinologist says symptoms not caused by this so i just go round in circles.
cannot get the yeast thing under control as cannot eat the veg, cannot take the supplement treatment so just suffer in silence with no outward sign of any problem yet have become like an invalid and cannot do anything.  typing this on the laptop is torture it give off a strange smell that also seems to come of the tv.  toughing the remote makes my hands sting as does all platic materials. sheets on the be as well as the matress make my hands feel numb and my body prickly and stinging although they only get washed in water as i cannot tolerate detergents.  it seems so many people are having so many weird reactions to their environment there must be some common cause yet no-one seems to be able to pinpoint it..mcs seems to cover it all but you cannot get over it and i cannot even take anything to help aleviate it, avoiding chemicals, materials, foods is the recommended stance but how can you do this and still exist on the planet.it is totally baffalling that this just all of a sudden occurs-i know when you reach the threshold- but there must be some simple answers somewhere ?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I'm allergic to Saran wrap, my doctor told me to wrap my arms in it for my eczema and I broke out in hives within a minute. I'm also allergic to fake candles with a plastic flame. I close up within two minutes. My doctors look at me like I'm insane, one asked if they could bring in some candles and saran wrap to watch the reaction. I also can't eat hot foods wrapped in saran wrap or wash Tupperware in warm water. It's like a smell that no one else picks up on for sure. I'm glad to know I'm not the only person with "plastic issues."
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Avatar universal
I am so glad to find this forum. I have been suffering from a terrible hypersensitivity to PET 1 plastics (Polyethylene Terephthalate) found in almost everything now - including my vehicle, lots of furniture, fabrics, clothing, storage container, water bottles, etc. - everything that has been mentioned above.

My quality of life has really crashed and the antihistamines and other meds suggested only add side effects without much relief. The itching, hives and rashes have been awful, and I also have many other symptoms.

Along with trying to eliminate as much of this stuff as I can from my life, and wrapping up in towels in the car and driving with the windows open, I am trying some alternative medicine treatments.

Has anyone seen an endocrinologist or an immunologist? I wonder if any help might be found there?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I have recently been dumbfounded by the reaction from plastics, It started from eating out, and using the straw at Mcdonalds, I typically wipe the straw off to make sure there are no paper pieces left behind, little to my knowledge this was actualy helping me. On a hot afternoon I was rushed, and just opened the straw and popped it in my sw T, and seconds later after drinking my lips were tingling numb, and NOTICEABLY swollen.  Since then I have ran into many other food allergies, Splenda breaks me out, my face swells, and get blurred vision, Several different cheeses, certain ice creams, and prednisone makes me run a fever, and I have to go immediately to the bathroom with explosive diarrhea.  I avoid anything that is served in a plastic container.  Has anyone else ran into these strange things?, Please help as I don't know what will be next that I have to avoid.
***@****
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Avatar universal
Here's my experience.  I developed the symptoms you are speaking of -- reactions to plastic, whether I came into contact with them or just smelled them. It turns out that I had mold in my home and my body was reacting to everything around it. The toxicity of the mold had basically topped me out and so any other toxin just put me over the top. Took years to realize how supersensitive to mold I was - and tons of money. But having solved that problem, my allergies to everything have reduced greatly. I no longer have the high sensitivity to plastics but I still have minor reactions. I have no problem with latex. My problem is synthetics. I had to replace my beds, my shoes (with leather lined ones) etc.  Actually what I had was not an allergy per se, it was an auotimmune disorder. Those with so called plastic allergies might get tested for autoimmune disorders. Hope that helps.
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Avatar universal
I have been fighting this issue for so many years.  I can't use plastic bags from any store Walmart is the worst.  I can't use saranwrap.  The smell of the new theater in my area made me have a reaction.  I can't use plastic silver ware.  Some tupperware is okay as long as I wash it in the dishwashe first.  I can't use straws. But I can drink out of bottled water and milk jugs.  I can't be around latex either and adhesives.  I can't lick an envelope with out a reaction.  I have found the corn based silverware and togo containers are perfect.  If I go to a potluck I have to look at everyones dish to make sure it did not have saranwrap on the bowl or food.  This is a bad thing to have.  I have to carry epi pens with me and liquid benydrile at all times.  Hand sanatizer is good if I catch it quick on my skin.  
Helpful - 0
681148 tn?1437661591
Okay, obviously when you're puking your guts out in the hospital it's very difficult to avoid the plastic exposure.  There are so many things in the hospital that are made from plastic, and if you're in the e.r., you're lucky if you get as much attention as you need from the medical staff.  

Plastic bothers me a lot, too.  I know what you're talking about here.  I get headaches and nausea from anything with off-gassing.  At home I am using as many alternatives to plastic as I can get my hands on, especially in the kitchen.  I haven't had the serious reaction to plastic eating utensils, yet, but I still prefer not to eat with those things in the first place.

As far as the plastic grocery bags go, you probably already know about all the campaigns to use cloth and canvas bags of your own.  I know what it's like if you've forgotten them at home or in the car, but you might want to find what works for you to help you remember your own bags.  Especially if you're getting these reactions to the plastic grocery bags.

Does it really matter if there is a test to tell you whether or not this is a "true" allergy, when you know these things make you feel bad?  Avoidance is the key here.

The truth is that plastic is toxic and plastic pollutes.  Some things about modern life are not so wonderful, and that includes the pervasive plastic that touches nearly every aspect of our lives.  And, the truth is that it's impossible to completely eliminate plastic out of our lives.  Take for instance how much plastic is in our computers that we're using to talk to each other on this forum.  This plastic isn't making me feel so lousy, though, thankfully.

There is some good information about which plastics are more toxic than other plastics on mercola.com.  He offers some good advice for what to do about limiting our exposure to so much plastic in our lives.   I forgot what the key words are for finding those articles, but I'm sure it has to do with plastic and BPA.  In those articles you'll find information that you wouldn't otherwise know about even some hidden plastics that most people are unaware of.  For example:  Did you know that MOST canned goods, even organic items are in cans lined with the types of plastic that contain BPA?  There are a handful that don't, but you really have to do a lot of research that possibly includes contacting the manufacturers of the various companies and asking them LOTS of questions.  Since that seems like too much work, and I have so many food allergies anyway, I just don't buy food in cans anymore.  

And, since I'm trying not to throw more plastic into the dump than I have to, I'm trying to find other places I can discard plastic items I want to get rid of.  Supposedly the Tupperware items that I'm thinking of when I say this are within the range of the "safer" plastics, but they bother me.  So, I'm debating whether to give the things to my friends or to take them to a thrift store or what else to do with them, since they have a smell that bothers me, too.

I thought I was the only one who had a topical reaction to plastics.  And, I've been allergic to some degree eversince I was a little kid and would get boils on the backs of my legs any time I was wearing clothes that didn't cover my legs completely and would be sitting in the backseat of my parents' car, which was covered in vinyl.  I've gotten rashes on my skin at other times when I've forgotten about the vinyl issue, even as an adult.  I'm sure everyone knows that vinyl is a form of plastic.

With some online research about a hair care product that was supposedly "natural", I found out that this one ingredient was actually a form of vinyl.  I read about how that particular form of vinyl was also a known carcinogen.  I no longer had that receipt for the product, since it had been quite a while since I bought that product, but I threw out what was left of the product.  I plan on telling the staff at the supplement store where I had gotten that product that this product has something in it that is far from natural and is a known carcinogen.  
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Avatar universal
When I carry my groceries to the car from the store, I get raised red welt on my exposed arms.  I first notice an itchy feeling and then when I look at my arms they have these itchy red, raised welts where ever I have touched the bags.   I have also noticed that(sometimes -not all the time) my hand gets big hives in between my thumb and first finger after using a plastic fork while eating.  Old balloons start to smell bad and so I find I try to avoid them, and certain things at the dentist office smell bad to me and make me feel itchy, like a rubber dam.  
How does a person find out for sure if this is a true allergy?  
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Avatar universal
Everytime I go shopping and carry my groceries out in plastic bags, my forearms get a raised red rash which lasts for an hour. very weird!  
I'm also allergic to latex.
I was taking a cpr course and had to breathe into a dummy(had latex lips) my lips swelled up immediately.
Good luck with your allergies
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Avatar universal
I have come to conclusion of my Alergy reactions... I'm alergic to Type 1 plastics. There is a recyling label under any containers that have #1 on it. It keeps giving rashes and hives everytime I use it. First it was from TV dinners, I thought it was the food. But since I love some of them, I eat them all the time.... Come to find out I tested with containers with the same recyling code and it is it. You have to watchout these days... I thought I  was the only one!!!

Good luck and I hope someone will find this useful !!! Best is to test it yourself becasue the doctors don't know it. I went to two and did nothing for me, I found this on my own.
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Avatar universal
Thank you for sharing your similar experience.
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149081 tn?1242397832
I think it has something to do with using recycled plastic. Not sure how they do it or if they add a special chemical additive but I can't stand the smell of ziploc brand sandwich & freezer bags anymore for the same reason as you.

The odor affects my taste and smell and makes me feel nausiated. I even found that certain plastic storage tubs are made from the same stuff because I can smell it in the stores when I get close to those aisles. I now avoid those aisles like the plague!

You're not alone!  Best Wishes~


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