"Homemade Lotions"____doctors

Last night the doc at Urgent Care asked if I had used anything new and mentioned I had just tried a new lotion I make and it had to be an ingredient. Of course she had start on about "homemade products. I informed her mine has a lot less additives than OTC, and the Phenonip is my biggest suspect although it is found in many many products and I do not just randomly through products together. But now I am also putting Evening Primrose and Watermelon seed oil on the list. The other ingredient not in all my lotions is Niacinamide. So now I am going to start making tiny batches breaking down the new ingredients and incorporate into the recipe. Until this is figured out it is not going to market.

Gotta love Docs. She informed me I have high blood pressure and was told that during allergy attacks it will go low not high. I have never had high blood pressure unless I am in the throes of allergic attack like the one last night. We just are not all wired the same. Kept telling her to give they shots and settle down the itching and inflammation. Blood pressure is still a higher than normal at 159/95.

This is why I get angry when people nonchalantly state "It is just Eczema".
This is my list on ingredients

Evening Prim 2.4%
Olivem Flex 4%
Oliwax 1 % new ingredient
Cyclomethicone 0.25%
just finished up an oil lotion made with cyclo and dimethicone with no problems
Meadowfoam not new
silk proteins not new
Panthenol not new
Niacinamide have to check and see what other lotions I used it in.
Allantoin no new
Phenonip 1% have not used it since I started making our lotions. Daughter used to make all our lotions and she quit phenonip a few years ago.

I suspect it is the niacinamide. I've never used it partially because I couldn't figure out a safe usage rate that I would be comfortable sharing with others. I expect anything over trace amount would be problematic. Since you also have panthenol and allantoin, you have to worry about synergistic reactions since all 3 are active compounds. I hope you feel better soon.

Soapmaker145 said:

I suspect it is the niacinamide. I've never used it partially because I couldn't figure out a safe usage rate that I would be comfortable sharing with others. I expect anything over trace amount would be problematic. Since you also have panthenol and allantoin, you have to worry about synergistic reactions since all 3 are active compounds. I hope you feel better soon.

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2% in lotions is acceptable, according to everything I have read and I used in at 1%. Panthenol and Allantoin I use in most lotions. Thankyou much better today, it may not have been the lotion, I can get these flareups for no reason. I use Niacinamide and Allantoin in two other lotions, unless the Panthenol upset the cart. Susan at Swift Crafty used the 3 together. So I doubt it was the combo. I could also be allergic to the silk amino acids. And I may never figure it out

Think I found. I am on predisone and decided to try the Evening Primrose inside the elbow. Yep it is itching even with my predisone.

I see I missed something since yesterday. I hope you are feeling better. I'd probably hold off the phenonip blaming until the other ingredients are tested but I understand where you're coming from as well.

Hope you get better soon. Though I have no allergy ER trip, but I do know how bad it could be having a allergy. Oh and hope you or the doc figure it out very soon.

I'm glad you're safely out the other side of the reaction. I imagine the doctor has seen all sorts of craziness when it comes to home remedies, that she just has an instant soap box to use about it.

It still sounds like she wasn't really paying attention to your experience with your own body though. Hopefully you can narrow down the offending agent, and it doesn't end up being one of the ingredients you really love.

WeaversPort said:

I'm glad you're safely out the other side of the reaction. I imagine the doctor has seen all sorts of craziness when it comes to home remedies, that she just has an instant soap box to use about it.

It still sounds like she wasn't really paying attention to your experience with your own body though. Hopefully you can narrow down the offending agent, and it doesn't end up being one of the ingredients you really love.

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Finally concluded it is the Evening Primrose oil. I tried a patch test while still under predisone and it reacted. I have dealt with these allergies my entire life, starting at 2 yrs old. Of course then, my mom had to deal with it.... You just never know, when I made my Arnica lotion I figured the arnica would bother me and nope it does not...

I'm glad you were able to isolate it and are ok again.

cmzaha said:

Gotta love Docs. She informed me I have high blood pressure and was told that during allergy attacks it will go low not high. I have never had high blood pressure unless I am in the throes of allergic attack like the one last night. We just are not all wired the same. Kept telling her to give they shots and settle down the itching and inflammation. Blood pressure is still a higher than normal at 159/95.

This is why I get angry when people nonchalantly state "It is just Eczema".

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Anyone who has ever had an allergic reaction of any sort will never say, "It is JUST eczema." And any doctor with any empathy whatsoever will not belittle your symptoms. Also, any doctor with any experience knows that people have all sorts of odd reactions to allergens. Sorry you got a sorry doctor!

cmzaha said:

Finally concluded it is the Evening Primrose oil. I tried a patch test while still under predisone and it reacted. I have dealt with these allergies my entire life, starting at 2 yrs old. Of course then, my mom had to deal with it.... You just never know, when I made my Arnica lotion I figured the arnica would bother me and nope it does not...

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I'm glad that you figured it out, and that it isn't the Arnica because Arnica is awesome!

I'm also glad it wasn't the Cyclo.. Because that sounds like a great ingredient you use on a regular basis.

Evening primose is NO NO for me, Niacinamide: miracle ingredient, My facial lotion with it, is very popular and at 2-5 % of it it is not irritating. In a year I am selling it (a lot of it) only one person told me about her allergy to it.
Evening primose is a very good oil but not for people who have countless allergies
Cmzaha I am happy you found the reason for this allergy.
Arnica mine does not bother me either, which is surprising, I am suppose to be allergic to regweed, and arnica is placed in the same family.
I do agree that our products are safer for us than commercial. I do not put 30 ingred. in my lotion............ and it does not have to last 5 years on shelf in some warehouse.
Hopefully the itching will go and you feel better,

Good to hear you are doing better and have figured out the likely culprit.

Dahila said:

Evening primose is NO NO for me, Niacinamide: miracle ingredient, My facial lotion with it, is very popular and at 2-5 % of it it is not irritating. In a year I am selling it (a lot of it) only one person told me about her allergy to it.
Evening primose is a very good oil but not for people who have countless allergies
Cmzaha I am happy you found the reason for this allergy.
Arnica mine does not bother me either, which is surprising, I am suppose to be allergic to regweed, and arnica is placed in the same family.
I do agree that our products are safer for us than commercial. I do not put 30 ingred. in my lotion............ and it does not have to last 5 years on shelf in some warehouse.
Hopefully the itching will go and you feel better,

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I am also allergic to ragweed. I am liking Niacinamide also in lotions, but no more Primrose!

dibbles said:

Good to hear you are doing better and have figured out the likely culprit.

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Thankyou, predisone is wonderful even with it's side affects

well predisone saved my life few times

Dahila said:

well predisone saved my life few times

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Mine, too! I hate taking it, but I am definitely here because it worked.

Susie said:

Mine, too! I hate taking it, but I am definitely here because it worked.

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Same here. My Doc has me keep a two week course of prednisone on hand just in case I have a bad allergic reaction or a severe asthmatic exacerbation that can't be cleared up with my inhalers or nebulizer. She knows that I know when/if I need it, and trusts my judgement to self-medicate if I have to. Plus just knowing that I have it on hand just-in-case gives us both a safety net, and an extra bit of security.

bumbleklutz said:

Same here. My Doc has me keep a two week course of prednisone on hand just in case I have a bad allergic reaction or a severe asthmatic exacerbation that can't be cleared up with my inhalers or nebulizer. She knows that I know when/if I need it, and trusts my judgement to self-medicate if I have to. Plus just knowing that I have it on hand just-in-case gives us both a safety net, and an extra bit of security.

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For many years I always had it on hand because it is OTC in Mexico. We used to drive to San Felipe for shrimp during the shrimp festival in Nov and I would bring back a few bottles, so I never worried about it. Since I have not the time to travel now I have to depend on my doctor. My dermatologist I had for years would ask me what I need when I went to see him. He always said I know my allergies better than anyone else. Very true...