Anyone Have Issues With Synthetic Dyes?

[saintmaybe]

Hey guys! Long time, no talk! I've decided to go topically gluten free, since I appear to be super sensitive (I used a concealer yesterday that wasn't vetted gluten free, and that was a miserable mistake).

On working my way through three different rounds of shampoos and conditioners, I've noticed that even in some gluten free brands, I was still having a reaction. I was itchy, and still losing hair, though certainly not at the rate of using gluten containing products or actually eating gluten.

So I drew up the trusty old Venn Diagram, well not really, but kind of, and I figured out that even in my new products, there were still dyes, specifically Yellow No. 5. Teratrazine (doesn't that just sound healthy?). So I've RE-gone through everything I own, and thrown away everything left that had this dye in it.

So what about it peeps? Have you had problems with dyes, and what were they? Share your horror stories here. *makes grabby hands*

[pricklypear1971]

I have a problem ingesting them...especially red. Gave me bladder infections, and irritates my bladder (in absence if infection).

Haven't noticed topically, but it may be hard to test since I avoid chemicals for the most part (although some have worked in going gluten-free when looking for a fast replacement).

[saintmaybe]

I have a problem ingesting them...especially red. Gave me bladder infections, and irritates my bladder (in absence if infection).

Haven't noticed topically, but it may be hard to test since I avoid chemicals for the most part (although some have worked in going gluten-free when looking for a fast replacement).

I have an itchy head- My fiance says it's because I just read here too much and am hyperaware of it. But no, no, my head actually itches. And neck and shoulders. I hadn't considered *dyes* before, although I knew other people had them. I kind of just didn't want to be the person developing a bunch of environmental allergies.

But it's all good. I'm waiting for the boy to get back with the car, and then I'm taking a field trip to Target and the Vitamin Shoppe.

[pricklypear1971]

Synthetic dyes -red, are salicylates if I remember correctly.

I can't do topical wheat or oats. I get big knots under my scalp and red blotches on my face and itchy skin.

[saintmaybe]

Synthetic dyes -red, are salicylates if I remember correctly.

I can't do topical wheat or oats. I get big knots under my scalp and red blotches on my face and itchy skin.

And yet there are so many people who say it's safe to do topical wheat! It drives me absolutely up the wall. It might be safe for SOME people to do topical wheat, but those generalizations should not be applied universally.

Some yellow dyes, to return to topic, ahem, are azos, or nitrogen based. To me, they look a hell of a lot like the endocrine disrupting pesticides we studied in grad school. If you look at their chemical structure that is, which I do, because I love chemistry. Aaaaaaanyway, who seriously wants to put something that can cause birth defects, or hormone imbalances on their body?