[LauraLoo]

My dd has no known allergies and hasn't ever reacted to any foods that I know of. Yet, when I was trying to switch her off a liquid multi-vitamin to the one that ds takes (who *does* have food allergies) she reacted with a splotchy, bright red rash all over her body within about 15 min. I took care of it with Benadryl. She told me that it didn't itch at all - and she wasn't even aware that she was having a reaction (and believe me, she complains about teeny tiny scrapes, so if she was uncomfortable I would have known!) I tried the vitamin again a few days later -- same reaction, same remedy. I have since moved her to a different chewable multi-vitamin and she isn't having any problems with that.

I have never seen her have a reaction to any foods - no bowel issues, tummy aches, congestion, nothing -- so what could it be in this vitamin? How do I go about figuring it out? Do I even need to figure this out?

 

[kjbrown92]

What are the ingredients? And what are the ingredients that she's never consumed before? I'd figure it out if I were you, so I could avoid the ingredient if it was in anything else.

 

[LauraLoo]

Here's the link for ingredients. I can't see that there's anything in here that she hasn't consumed before independently. Unless there's some form of the vitamin or mineral that's causing this. I've never had to dig into vitamins before - other than making sure it was nut free. Is there anything on the list that looks suspicious?

http://www.gonsi.com/products/produc...u-835003003006

After dd reacted, I switched ds to another multi vitamin, so we aren't taking these at all anymore. I'd really love to figure out what was going on.

 

[kjbrown92]

Since it sounds like hives, and got better with benadryl, I'd check it out too. It doesn't say what kind of fish it is, so that's a top 8 allergen. She's had all the other things: blueberry, apple, pineapple, grapeseed, lemon, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and corn? strawberry is another one that jumps out as high allergen.

 

[Theloose]

My first thought was a niacin flush causing the redness, but the link says it's niacinamide form, and that one's not supposed to do that...

Are ds's reactions skin reactions like that?

 

[LauraLoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 Since it sounds like hives, and got better with benadryl, I'd check it out too. It doesn't say what kind of fish it is, so that's a top 8 allergen. She's had all the other things: blueberry, apple, pineapple, grapeseed, lemon, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry and corn? strawberry is another one that jumps out as high allergen.

She's had fish (tilapia, salmon, cod, anchovies, probably some others) without a reaction, but I'm sure she hasn't every fish. I'll look into that further. the only other thing that I can't be sure of is if she's had grapeseed or not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoMe Are ds's reactions skin reactions like that?

No -- he's only had hives twice which were because of contact to peanut butter, but never anything else. Ever.

I'm wondering about the other vitamin and minerals, since you mentioned the niacin flush -- is there anything else or a combination of anything that could do this?

ugh. It's so bewildering.

 

[Theloose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by LauraLoo No -- he's only had hives twice which were because of contact to peanut butter, but never anything else. Ever. I'm wondering about the other vitamin and minerals, since you mentioned the niacin flush -- is there anything else or a combination of anything that could do this? ugh. It's so bewildering.

I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I might have read something about magnesium recently? I think changingseasons is dealing with flushing, but I don't remember if hers is vitamin related. Maybe you can compare vitamin amounts between the ones your dd is okay with and the one she reacts to? Maybe you can compare notes with cs and see if you have any pieces between you? I'll page her in the chat thread for you

 

[changingseasons]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whoMe I can't think of anything off the top of my head. I might have read something about magnesium recently? I think changingseasons is dealing with flushing, but I don't remember if hers is vitamin related. Maybe you can compare vitamin amounts between the ones your dd is okay with and the one she reacts to? Maybe you can compare notes with cs and see if you have any pieces between you? I'll page her in the chat thread for you

Good timing- I just sat down at the computer.

I actually figured mine out (I think)! It was from the stupid gluten x-con'ed buckwheat that I was eating. As soon as I stopped eating it every day, the skin flushing stopped. Mine wasn't directly after eating it though- it was always in the evenings.

 

[kjbrown92]

But is skin flushing and splotchy red rash the same thing? It didn't sound like flushing, it sounded more like hives, which is what made me think of the fish. You could call the company and ask what kind of fish they use...

 

[Theloose]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjbrown92 But is skin flushing and splotchy red rash the same thing? It didn't sound like flushing, it sounded more like hives, which is what made me think of the fish. You could call the company and ask what kind of fish they use...

When I get the niacin flush, it's pretty splotchy - I think the location partly has something to do with past tissue damage, like as in sunburns, etc.

 

[LauraLoo]

I haven't called the vitamin company yet,

but this am I did check the vitamin she's currently taking, and they use fish too -- cod, pollock, haddock, hake, cusk, redfish, sole and flounder. I'm wondering what other fish could a vitamin company possibly use -- lol! (But now I'm kind of wondering about the mercury content in this vitamin with all the varied fish sources, so may want to find something else after I figure out what caused her reaction.)

Also - the niacin form in this vitamin is niacinamide.

Overall, the total % DV is lower than -- mostly 50%, instead of 100% (or more) with the vitamin that gave her a reaction. So, could it just be that the vitamin overwhelmed her or do you think that because of the higher dosage, she showed a reaction to something?

The red spotchy rash looked like it was a sunburn with poorly applied sunscreen, so it did have unaffected areas in between the splotches -- and it was all over her body, but mostly on the face, torso, and legs. I guess that doesn't leave much of her body that was unaffected. She has fair skin, so I've always applied sunscreen rigorously and other than a pinkish nose and cheeks once in a great while, she has never been sunburned.

I think I might need to trial grapeseed and am going to pick it up at the grocery store. I use mostly canola, coconut and olive oil for cooking.

Thanks for your thoughts so far -- any additional thoughts are most welcome.

 

[JaneS]

DS got a Jarrow B Right once by mistake which only has a very small amount of niacin, mostly niacinamide, and he got the flush... splotchy, just like you describe. I think it's that. It looked different than hives.