Eye inflammation/irritation

Coach Polly · Post by **Coach Polly** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:43 pm

I'm making this a new topic after reading some of the posts about Rice Dream. Do you mean to tell me that this isn't just about what I eat? I'm just getting used to the idea of eating "free" so the thought of now having to go through all my products makes me want to SCREAM!!! Anyway, I have recurring eye inflammation that has been bad enough a couple of times that there was actually a small hole in my cornea. My eye doctor actually thinks that it is an allergic reaction to something I am eating not something I am using. However, I can never really connect it to a particular food. What do you all think?

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:10 pm

Have you checked your make-up and facial care products? Many contain not only gluten, but soy as well. I was VERY surprised to see that Clinique, who claims to be hypoallergenic that both.

harma · Post by **harma** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 3:57 am

Hi Arlene, I don't check my make up, body lotions and facial creme for my food intolerances like gluten, soy, diary, egg, corn and yeast. I find it hard to believe, that one of these components in beauty products, would influence my MC. I do have serious skin issues, caused by allergies. But as long as I avoid products containing one of these allergens, it's okay. Mostly it are the perfumes in cremes and lotions. But also washing powder can cause troubles and can't wear whole (scratch scratch sneeze sneeze), I cut all the labels out of my shirts, trousers, also irritates my skin.

I do believe my MC and skin allergies are related, but more in a sense of an over reacting immune system or a very sensitive immune system. It seems anywhere my body comes in contact with the outside world, skin - nose - bowels, there seems be some sensitivity to the influences of the outside world.

Concerning you eye problems, I wish I could help you, but I have no answer. But it is not uncommon with MC to have eye infection, but most of the time it is also an auto immune reaction.

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 7:26 am

Harma wrote:I don't check my make up, body lotions and facial creme for my food intolerances like gluten, soy, diary, egg, corn and yeast. I find it hard to believe, that one of these components in beauty products, would influence my MC.

I tend to agree with Harma. I have had skin reactions to lotions, soaps and perhaps toothpaste, but I don't think they affect my MC. I avoid some of them because I have an allergic or autoimmune reaction to them.

I don't use any special makeup or lipstick. I've never noticed a reaction to them. If I did, I'd change the brand. I stopped using eye makeup years ago because I decided that removing it was too tedious and stretching my skin too much.

Gloria

TooManyHats · Post by **TooManyHats** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:16 am

I found this posted on a website for gluten-free make-up:

What Goes On, Goes In (Gluten in Skin Care Products)
an excerpt from my article for Celiac.com

I did notice that gluten-containing shampoos and conditioners tended to cause breakouts around my hairline, but still I thought that for gluten to adversely affect me, it probably had to be eaten and pass through my digestive tract. In the many gluten-free books I read, I found mention of gluten in the diet causing acne, rosacea, rashes, eczema, dermatitis herpetiformis.

So I consulted the renowned Dr. Fine, creator of EnteroLab.com, whose site has helped scores of patients in accurately diagnosing food sensitivities such as gluten, cow’s milk, eggs and dietary yeast intolerances. Here is what he had to say:

Gluten sensitivity is a systemic immune reaction to gluten anywhere in the body, not just that entering the body via the gut. Therefore, topically applied lotions, creams, shampoos, etc. containing gluten would indeed provide a source of gluten to the body, and we therefore recommend all such products be discontinued for optimal health.

That quote comes from here:

http://www.naturallydahling.com/Food_Allergies.html

harma · Post by **harma** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 9:53 am

Interesting information Arlene, but I am not sure if all this information is right interpreted by the writer (information you put in the quote), what I have been reading on Dr Fine's website about gluten intolerance caused by the consumption of gluten, a reaction to it (the symptoms) can occur in the whole body. Not only the classic GI symptoms, but also for example brain fog. If you take a look at the list celiac symptom a whole list of things (through the whole body) appears.

But I think you have to separate a. how gluten enter the body and can cause a reaction and b. where in the body reaction can appear. How I see it, the writer of your quote has mixed up those two things.

As far as my biological knowledge goes, it's not possible for gluten to enter the bloodstream through the skin (and for people who do believe this, think twice what this would mean in daily life, any liquid we touch, any creme we put on our face, any powder, anything we touch during the day, that would all be absorbed through the skin into the blood stream). On the contrary our skin is designed to be a barrier between our body and the outside world. For the same reason all those commercial about technological advanced skin cremes are BS, providing our cells with DNA or protein or whatever from the outside is big big big BS. During the years I worked in a lab, for some liquids is was known that it could absorb through your skin. So working with it meant, gloves, long gloves, double gloves. And be very very very careful.

As far as I know i the known skin reaction to gluten HD, is also caused by the eating of gluten.

Mags · Post by **Mags** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 10:30 am

Coach Polly--

I asked the same question before, and Joe found the answer for me. It could be uveitis or irisitis caused by the MC. I had to stop wearing contacts. If you look back a couple of pages, I asked about "Eye problems and MC", and he sent me some study quotes. Once you get the inflammation down, everything will get better. I am finally able to wear contacts again after 3 years, but I give myself plenty of days "off".

If you feel like throwing things around your house and screaming like a wild banshee, it's okay. I do it on a regular basis, and I always feel so much better afterward.

Much Love,

Mags

P.S. Now I have to go get my darn thyroid checked out! It's the disease that keeps on giving!

Post by **tex** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 5:31 pm

Harma,

You are quite correct. In order to enter the body transdermally, in general, materials must contain a chemical penetration enhancer designed to facilitate passage through the skin, because the outer layer of the skin naturally has limited permeability, (as you pointed out). Here's some information on how this can be done, for anyone interested in the details:

Transdermal delivery offers an attractive alternative to needle-based drug administration. However, evolved to impede the flux of exogenous molecules, stratum corneum (SC), the topmost layer of the skin, provides a strong barrier to molecular delivery. This is especially problematic for relatively large drugs (molecular mass > 500 Da), which represent a large majority of active agents for therapeutic applications (1). Over 350 molecules, termed chemical penetration enhancers (CPEs), have been identified to perturb the SC barrier to facilitate molecular delivery. However, incorporation of CPEs into products has been mitigated by safety concerns related to the health of the skin membrane (2-4). Accordingly, overcoming the skin barrier in a safe and effective way still remains the bottleneck of transdermal and topical therapies.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC555729/

Now, if a skin care product contains one or more of those CPEs, then it may be an entirely different situation.

Tex

Coach Polly · Post by **Coach Polly** » Sat Feb 26, 2011 8:10 pm

Thanks everyone for all the great information! I have learned the hard way that when the inflammation occurs I have to get my contact out IMMEDIATELY. The couple of times I didn't is when the hole in my cornea formed. I was actually lecturing one morning and a student sitting on the front row looked at me really weird and said "Uh, Coach P I think there's a problem with your eye." It happens without warning and usually about 30 minutes after I eat.

I'm going to try to conquer the ingestion of "all things not conducive to remission" before I tackle any of my haircare/ beauty products.

Mags, I would love to lie in the floor and pitch me a good fit but I'm afraid my 8 and 6 year old would follow suit!! LOL!

klhale · Post by **klhale** » Mon Feb 28, 2011 7:16 pm

Hi,

I have one eye that gets bad when my tummy is bad. It's like they are directly connected. The worse my tummy, the worse the eye. My eye gets red, and feels sore. I use Prednisone drops when this happens and it helps alot.