I Hate Nickel

This is the ongoing story of why I hate nickel.  The purpose of this site is not to diagnose or treat any one condition or person, but to share information among those of us who suffer from metal allergies.

When I discovered two years ago that I was allergic to nickel, I did what most people do these days when they have a problem – I talked to my doctor, and then I jumped on the internet and Googled it.  Unfortunately what little information I found wasn’t very helpful.  Yes, there is such a thing as an allergic reaction to nickel.  (Check).  Nickel is found in jewelry and metal alloys.  (Check).  It’s most common in women with piercings who wear inexpensive jewelry.  (Really)?  The symptoms are dermatitis or eczema in the area that has come into contact with nickel.  (Wait, that’s not me at all… was I diagnosed right)?

What about the chronic fatigue?  What about the severe abdominal pain?  What about the nausea and vomiting?  What about the loss of appetite, the rashes on my arms and legs, the memory loss, the depression, the diarrhea, the trips to the ER that required anti-nausea meds and morphine? 

These were my symptoms, but I couldn’t find any mention of these anywhere!  Am I such a unique, rare case?  The odds seem very unlikely.

A few days ago, after experiencing a flare up in my nickel allergy from a totally unexpected source, I came across a nickel food allergy thread on a medical support group site.   It was helpful to learn that some people have issues with nickel in foods.  The cause isn’t as simple as wearing cheap earrings!

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread9067.html

I decided to share the story of my nickel allergy, and ask for input from readers to share their stories as well.  What good information have you found?   What works for you and what doesn’t?  Nickel exists in SO MANY things in our everyday lives.  Trying to find it all can be a very daunting task to do alone.  I hope you enjoy reading, and maybe we can all help each other out along the way.

Comments

[vera stejskal]

Hallo,

your story is known to us, physicians, dentlsts and scientists working for many years with the patients sensitized to nickel.Indeed, chronic inflammation will cause all those unspecific multi-symptoms such as chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, fibromyalgia and others. Very few people know that certain metal and ceramic bridges, so called metalloceramics, might contain 75% nickel. Nickel- allergic patients suffering from CFS might send the blood for the MELISA test. MELISA test is a blood test which is used for the diagnosis of allergy to metals including nickel. Also other metals such as gold, palladium and in rare cases titanium, might cause chronic inflammation in sensitized patients and trigger local and systemic symptoms. Be aware of the fact that dental treatment e.g. replacement of nickel-containing bridge/crowns must be done by a dentist aware of the risk of allergic reactions due to dental materials who maximally protects the patient during the procedure. Read more on our website: www.melisa.org

[Lori]

HI,
I am the mother of a 15 year old daughter who has been horribly sick for months. She had her braces put on and she started to show strange signs of being sick a week after getting her braces. However, these symptoms only lasted 15-20 minutes and then they would go away. We started to call these bouts of feeling ill "episodes". 3 months later the episodes started to last longer. Her symptoms were nausea, shaking, sometimes vomiting, and always tired. My daughter is an athlete and an honors student, so the fatigue didn't seem so out of place. At about 5 months after having braces the episodes were more frequent and I started to question her doctor about hypoglycemia and we started having blood and urine tests. Everything came back fine. So, one night 8 months after having braces we went to the ER because her symptoms were severe. The doctor there ran some additional blood and urine tests. Sure enough they came back fine. So this doc diagnoses my daughter with Anxiety. So we pursue a psychiatrist and she seemed to think my daughters symptoms were awful physical. So we then went to see a GI doc and she ordered an ultrasound and a colonoscopy/endoscopy with biopsies. Everything comes back normal and healthy. Finally, 10 months after having the braces put on, it finally hits me like a ton of bricks that it could be her braces. The timeline lined up. Sure enough we found this site along with other info about Nickel allergies. We had her braces taken off 2 days later. She is at 5 weeks of having them off. Her nausea seems to have subsided and she seems to still have some fatigue. But she is on the mend. Thank you for posting all of this info. It has helped immensely. When I have mentioned this to doctors, they don't think its possible for her to have these symptoms from her braces. I am baffled by this. This week we had the Nickel patch test done and within 48 hours she had an allergic reaction.....and the doctors don't think braces with nickel can make her sick?!?!