I have a WHAT allergy?!?

My mother had warned me, ever since I was very little, that those pretty glycerin soaps gave me a fine, red rash. But it took me until 2015 to realize that meant I should also avoid anything with glycerin as an ingredient.

My dentist had recommended various toothpastes over the years in hopes of finding one that wouldn’t make my gums bleed every time I brushed my teeth.  I tried a multitude of skin care products in an effort to get rid of the redness that never left my face no matter what I used.  Taking a shower or coloring my hair made me want to take a nap.  

Then in 2015, the ophthalmology clinic I was working at decided to start doing allergy testing.  They would test for common allergens that cause dry, itchy eyes.  I was one of the staff that volunteered to be a guinea pig for practice testing.  One of the best/worst thing I’ve ever decided to do.

They dotted the insides, top and bottom, of both my arms with the various allergens suspended in a glycerin solution.  Within minutes my arms were covered in swollen red spots of burning, itching pain.  Turns out I’m one of the 3% of the population that’s allergic to glycerin.  Thankfully the Benadryl cream they applied to my arms ended my suffering.

That evening I went home and went through all of my makeup, skin care, and toiletries.  Glycerin was in just about everything I owned.  It all had to go.  That was a painful amount of money to have to throw away.  But I knew going forward, I was going to have to check the ingredients lists of everything I put in and on my body.