A Cup of Tea For My Nickel Allergy

I'd like a cup of tea, but what about my nickel allergy?

I have been an avid tea drinker for over 20 years. Tea bags are OK, but don't give me Lipton tea! My favorite kind of brewed tea is loose leaf, steeped long and strong.


Well, it occurred to me that I've been boiling my water in my trusty, 15 year old metal tea kettle. Now that I have been diagnosed with a severe nickel allergy,  my task is to try to reduce the daily exposure to nickel and iron oxide.  I've loved that kettle ever since my husband gave it to me in a kit of tea items as a Valentine's gift. I love the brick red color and the whistle tone it has!




The first thing I decided in regards to tea, was that I better microwave my tea water until I found a better solution.  It worked, but tea just doesn't taste as good after it's been microwaved.


So NOW what am I to do about a tea kettle? I ran a quick little search on Amazon, and saw there are glass tea kettles. These kettles remind me a bit of the restaurant or church kitchen tea kettles from long ago.

Bed Bath & Beyond had the Primula 2 quart glass tea kettle with a whistling feature for $19.99.  The only color it was available in was this Spring Green color.  But the color is one of my favorite colors, so that's just fine with me.

 

Bed Bath & Beyond lists these features:

• Classic whistle sounds when the water is boiling
• Pouring is easy with its lever-action flip lid
• A silicone insert in the stay-cool handle provides a secure and safe grip
• Capacity: 2 qt.
• Completely removable lid provides for easy filling and cleaning, whether by hand or in the dishwasher

After a week of waiting, my new nickel allergy friendly tea kettle arrived. The label on the box made me giggle for a couple of reasons:

1. Fragile warns the shipping carrier to be careful with this box.  But look at the banged up box!
2. Fragile reminds me of the dad on A Christmas Story.

Anyway, the Primula tea kettle arrived safe and sound. The 2 quart size is perfect for brewing a full sized pot of tea.

Now it was time to wash it up and try it out.



It became apparent that the lever-action flip lid presents a challenge when I am trying to wash out and fill the kettle with water. We have a nozzle hose at our sink, so sticking the nozzle inside the kettle helped hold it open for rinsing.  I use filtered water, so here is how I decided to handle filling the kettle.  So now it's time to fill the kettle with filtered water....



In reading reviews other people left for the Primula kettle, I noticed many people said you MUST place it on a smaller burner. That is the best way to avoid overheating the handle.  The directions on the side of the box recommended placing the kettle on medium heat,  I guess that is to avoid cracking the glass on high heat.  But that means the full kettle boils up quite a bit slower that the metal kettle set on high.



At last the water came to a boil, and I got to hear the whistle...


Reviews recommended using an oven mitt to handle the hot kettle.  But I found the handle comfortable and not hot. Pouring the water into the tea pot is a bit tricky.  Just pop up the lid, then aim the water into the pot. But I had to be careful of the steam that rose up around my hands, as I was pouring. I had the same issue with the old kettle. So I just use my lips and blow cool air on my hand as I pour.  Reviewers said they burned their hands while pouring. "Just pucker up your lips and blow."



That's it! I'm sold on this new kettle to help me handle tea in a way that helps my nickel allergy!

The next step is figuring out whether black tea or green tea is better. Here is all I found, so far:

A Korean study found significant nickel content in the following (mg/kg): a green tea bag contained 235.57; a black tea bag, 62.79

More on that front later.  I've taken some positive steps in improving my life while having a nickel allergy!


 

 

The Basics: Where to Start...I'm Overwhelmed By Nickel Allergies

"You have a SEVERE nickel allergy."

 The dermatologist's words didn't make a full impact for a few minutes. My thoughts were, "Ok, no big deal. I avoid cheap jewelry, so I'm good." As the doctor talked in greater depth, I came to realize that I probably touch nickel every single waking minute of the day. I've been applying nickel and iron oxide to my face every day, plastering it on my hair every month, and the list goes on! 

  The dermatologist's advice:

The diagnosis is the easy part. Now comes the hard part. You will have to become Sherlock Holmes to figure out all the ways you are exposing yourself to nickel daily. Your response shows that you are getting exposed daily. So look for all the items you are touching at home an in your classroom, like scissors, doorknobs, keys, and so on.

And thinking of home... pots, pans, doorknobs, silverware, the dog bowl, leash, faucets, on and on there, too! Nickel Allergies are going to be a pain!





I think I missed about 1/3 of what the dermatologist said, because my mind was fast forwarding through a typical day at home and in my Kindergarten classroom. OH MY GOSH! This is a big hairy deal! The impact on my Nickel allergies really pop up everywhere!

The dermatologist's explanation went on:

Most likely your biggest exposure happens with your hands. The skin on the hands is tough and pretty resilient to irritants. The problem comes in when your hands perspire and then you touch your face. This is what has been irritating your eyes, causing the chronic conjunctivitis and ocular rosacea to appear.

There you have it. After two years of seeing numerous eye specialists, living on steroid eye drops that risk glaucoma in the future, pink eyes, tears, and ugliness. The answer at last....nickel allergies. Some friends respond, "Well, at least you now have an answer." Some days, I'm not so sure I wanted an answer like this.



I'm not proud of how I look without makeup.  But this is why we are here, right?  If you look carefully, you can see the rosacea on my cheeks and all the ways it affects my eyes.  I hate it!!!!







So in the last two weeks I have ditched my makeup,and started researching alternative sources of makeup. Even my reliable and "natural" Bare Escentuals items have Iron Oxide (that is one of the other names for nickel). Makeup is a tough area for nickel allergies. Iron Oxide/Nickel is the ingredient that makes the colors darker.  Even the light colors have Iron Oxide.   The items are on order and will arrive next week. I'll be writing about my adventures in mixing my own makeup in the very near future.



My hair color is another big problem.  There's enough gray hair that I must touch up color every 4 weeks (and that is stretching it about a week too long). Iron Oxide/nickel is included in hair color, too. I've ordered some alternative hair color, and will write about that adventure soon, too.



So needless to say, I'm feeling fairly ugly these days.  Let me admit that I'm moderately vain about my looks.  I've always felt I wanted to do my best with what I've got... makeup and hair color were part of what made me feel best.  This is going to be a learning process.



I'd love to hear from you. If you have any tips or products to recommend, let me know.  I'm open to new ideas. I'm always up for new adventures. But this Nickel Allergy, Iron Oxide Allergy is NOT an adventure I'd recommend.

The Basics: Welcome To This Blog.....

Hello, I'm Pam! Welcome to Living With Nickel and Iron Oxide Allergies!

In January 2015 I went through the 5-day allergy patch test, during which I wore 80 test chambers that were taped on my back.  See the explanation of this procedure here. After two days, the tape and chambers were removed.  The results showed only two items that I am allergic to... a slight response to blue dye and a severe nickel allergy (iron oxide).

Note-This is NOT my back. I took a photo I found online. :)
At first I felt like this was no big deal.  I had always known that I responded poorly when I wore cheap pierced earrings and low priced necklace chains.  So I avoided those items and didn't consider my allergy to be a life-changer. But this patch test brought information that opened my eyes to how life would change from this point on.

"Opened my eyes"...... the fact was that my eyes were the specific reason why I even needed this patch test. For the past two years, I've been battling eye issues.  I've been to several eye specialists, and the most specific diagnosis I could get was Chronic Conjunctivitis (non-contagious) and Ocular Rosacea. I've lived with puffy lids and bright red tearing eyes all this time. The steroid eye drops bring slight relief, but the problem persists. My current specialist said, "The best we can probably hope for is to manage this condition.  For most of my patients, this is a problem that continues on." He sent me to a dermatologist, who recommended this patch test. The dermatologist felt fairly sure that I was allergic to the steroid eye drops. But the test results took an unexpected turn with the news of my severe nickel allergy.

The news of my nickel allergy actually became a life-changer.  Nickel and Iron Oxide are in virtually everything in my cosmetic repertoire. I'm now tossing out all the make-up I've used in the past (even Bare Escentuals). The Wella Permanent Hair color that I've used for 20 years will no longer be something I can use.  There are ways to make my own make-up, and that is my new endeavor.  I'm also researching the best alternative for hair color that is nickel-free.  All of these kinds of habits take a lot of time both in researching and in effort. And it ain't cheap!!!!

The dermatologist said part of my eye irritation comes from touching my face while I have nickel residue from items that I touch daily.  Well, I'm a Kindergarten teacher, and just about everything I touch in the classroom has nickel: scissors, the rim around a pencil eraser, chair legs, staplers, staples, paper clips, doorknobs, keys, gate latches, tricycles, binders, laptops, and more. This was my biggest shock of how much nickel impacts my life.  So now I am working very carefully to learn to keep my hands away from my face.  When my face itches (like 100 times per day), I use a kleenex to rub and scratch it.  I wash my hands approximately 20 times per day and reapply hand lotion to help seal and protect my hands.

There will be so much more that I learn in this process.  And I want to share this experience with you.  I've always embraced a fairly healthy lifestyle, with vitamins, supplements, natural therapies, essential oils, as well as allopathic medicine.  So diving into information about how to handle this new diagnosis is somewhat familiar.  I'm looking forward to hearing from you, as well.  Why not share what we learn, and save each other time and health?


Here's to living nickel free!  God bless us all in our nickel allergy journey.....