allergy to vitamin c

Guest wrote:

Guest wrote:

I have had a severe allergy to vitamin C since i was born, i dont really know anyone else who has it but i break out in severe rash and develop infections. On the plus side, my body functions just fine without it and i cant ever get scurvy so i guess i would make a great pirate :)

However, if you eat a balance diet you should not need suplements, especially C suplements

Vitamin C and citric acid cause my hand to break out in a very painful rash. So painful that getting my hand wet makes me want to cry. I used to eat several oranges a day and now just holding an orange in my hand will make my entire hand break out. I have tried several different meds including Prednizone, Zyrtec and steriod creams. They do not remedy the problem, they are a temporary fix. When I go off the meds, the rash comes back. I was prescribed another type of antihystmine by my allergist. I broke out like I had the chicken pox. The main ingredient was Citric Acid. This is rather ironic. When I was 14 I had a severe case of the chicken pox and craved ANYTHING orange. Now, 20+ years later I can not eat anything with citric acid (which is almost in everything we consume). I can not use detergents other than All for Babies and Dreft. I break out if I use a soap with lather (eats the skin off of my body where it makes a bubble). I am to the point that my hand is so painful I am putting Ambesol (for teeth) on my hand just to control the pain. My hand is swollen and red and itches when I get up in the morning. I can not even make a fist because the lines in my hand are raw and bending my hand is excrutiating. Does ANYONE have any advice??

I am not sure if you are still looking out solution for vitamin c allergy reaction. My son is allergic to almost everything. He started having ezema when he was 4 months old. Slowly started developing allergic to too many things. He is coughing all thro night if he eats any food that causes allergy to him. I am trying alternative therapy called NAET. I have heard very positive feedback and it is non-invasive. I took my son for 5 sessions till now and planning for more. They treated vitamin C today. It is alternative therapy, so I am not sure if your insurance will cover you or not. But if you really out there looking for solution, just trying once wont hurt you. (FYI: I am no way associated with NATE, so I am not advertising any product or services)

I am also allergic to vitamin c. In 2001 i had the most severe reaction (the one that showed me it was the vitamin c indeed) and my gums suppurated and i lost my front upper teeth. alas...vitamin c gives me scurvy o.O . i guess we are genetic throwbacks and manufacture our own just like some animals. i kind of like that idea anyway...

if any of you feel helpless about allergies, I highly recommend reading "Say Goodbye to Illness" by Dr. Nambudripad. I think that book has changed my life in a very positive way. I've had severe allergies, but am being treated for them through her method and it seems to be working very well for me.

I agree with those who have mentioned the "NAET" treatment of therapy. As I have gotten older, odd allergies have surfaced in recent years. My chiropracter recommended the NAET treatment that another chiro was trained in. That therapy has done wonders for me. In addition to isolating the allergies I was already having reactions to, he tested me for things I would've never thought of, such as vitamin C. I was seeking treatment for hypoglycemia, and over the weeks, he tried several substances I wouldn't have guessed were related to the sugar problem.
Most of the problems I've had in the last few years are not necessarily due to age, but due to long term stress. Too many years of working 70 hour weeks, unhappy marriage leading to divorce, corporate downsizing, etc, etc......my body was too compromised to deal with even the slightest contact with an allergen.
The NAET therapy helps balance the body out and allow it to cope better with "invaders", and gives you the chance to pre-test for anything you may suspect is causing you grief. I've even taken samples of my cat's hair, carpet fibers, and such into him to test if there were environmental causes of my distress.
My insurance does not cover the NAET treatments, but it's worth the out-of-pocket expense to regain my health, especially without the use of drugs nor painful techniques.

I understand your plight and I can not give sympathy enough. I too suffer sever allergy to most vitamins but most especially vitamin A. I am always rushed to the hospital from severe allergy whenever I ate something that perhaps contains more than my body could take. I got used to it now that I am 30 and still breathing.. Now, the key to my swelling is coconut oil. If you can access those, then i will feel much better. If you are not allergic to aloe Vera, then try it, the gel is cool and refreshing and it minimizes the swell. It works for me, I hope it will for you....

Cheers,

I was happy to find this website about vitaminc. I have been taking vitamin C crystals -almost a teaspoon-full- with orange juice in the morning as a precaution in the winter cold season. Lately I've noticed the dry, scaley patches of skin on my legs. I tried to think of what I might be eating that would cause this. All I could think of was the vitamin C crystals. I stopped taking them and the rash patches are slowly going away.

my niece is HIGHLY allergic to Citric Acid, Sorbic Acid, Malic Acid..etc. Breaks out Everywhere. Best remedy? AVOID IT. Your body is relaying a message to you by saying "Hey! This stuff is just not working for me!" It causes her pain and water and limted milk is all she can drink. For those with this allergy remember this. Besides the obvious fruits...it's not what you cannot have with food it's the brands you buy. The more natural the food, the chance it has these acids are very slim. When she has too much Vitamin C in her diet she has PAINFUL diaper rashes. I really wouldn't do any drugs...just aviod what your body wants you to take out. listen and get support somewhere. Facebook has a Citric Acid Intolerance page that I friended and it is awesome with a flood of tips on how to live with this condition.

Thank god for this link...you have confirmed what I have suspected...that too much vitamin c intake daily (2 500mg tablets) is the reason I keep breaking out with circular/oval red spots (not too itchy but gross) that appear to be hives on my waist line, stomach, and buttocks or basically the mid section of my body a few afters after I take the vitamin c. I am no doubt allergic to vitamin c at this dosage level.

I too have an allergy to vit C. Actually ascorbic acid found in vit C. In college I took 1000mg of vit C to get over a cold. Within a few hours I had to go to the doctor. My arms arms and throat itched and eyes were swollen shut. My roomate was a soon to be dietician and I researched her book of ingredients. I marked all the things giving me cankers and cold sores (ranging from walnuts to oranges) found the common ingrediant to be ascorbic acid. My dentist has suggested putting vit C in a gellatin capsule so my body will still get vit C benefits. His thinking is that the reaction is in the flora of the mouth. Meaning when Vit C touches my mouth the reaction happens. I'm not willing to test it out but maybe it will help you. If there was something to combat vit C or absorb some of it, that would help.

How long has it been for some of you in having an allergy to Vitamin C?  What do you eat?  I know that a person cannot live without Vitamin C and how have people coped with this allergy.  I have a strong feeling that I too am allergic to vitamin c and I very stressed as to what to eat and how I am going to survive on such a restricted diet.  Anyway if anyone can share in more detail how their life with an allergy to vit. c that would be helpful to know that I am not alone.  When I have any vit. c my bladder becomes inflammed and if I have a vit. c supplement I get short of breath.

thx for the info cause i thought it was me but now i know that it is possible to be allergic to vitamin c. i have experienced the itchy rash after taking it for a few days. this was very helpful

My advice is to get to your local health food shop or to a good naturopath as your body is way too acidic and needs to be alkaline. Just like a swimming pool, if your ph isn't right you will expose it to allow yucky things to grow and multiply in it if you don't neutralize it. All infections need an acidic body to be able to grow so that is why you think you are allergic to vitamin c. You aren't you are just overloaded with acidity and adding vit c as a supplement or foods high in vit c are adding to the overload. Get yourself alkaline ASAP as infections cannot breed in an alkaline body which is a healthy body. Best way to neutralize your system is to drink lots of water by the way but health food shops can sell you other things to make is happen faster. Good luck and good health.

I'm a bit different (go figure).  I get diarrhea.  Removing the excess Vitamin C stopped it.

Hi... me too! I am just like you, few vegetables (seriously overdosed on them as a kid), can't stand fruit (so bad for you - all that sugar and acid...) but I also have stuffed adrenals. So I was wanting to add some support with the Vit C.



I have tried it before and it always gives me a stinking headache.



I thought... well... I'll have another go. Today a rash on my chin... I remember now, that I also got that last time.



My mum also had a severe reaction to orange juice. She loved oranges but if she got one drop of juice on her lips, they swelled up and bubbled... really nasty stuff.



So, she used to eat them in thin wedges and carefully put the whole thing inside her mouth and chew carefully...



So... yes... while many people benefit from Vit C... those of us that are allergy to it - do not.

I had always ate a lot of fruit and vegetables and preferred them over meat, growing up. I never had an issue with Vitamin C until I was 28.  It started with eczema on my lips, but no matter what I did, it just kept getting worse until I was unable to eat.  It was actually a doctor, who diagnosed me with an allergy to Vitamin C.  He simply examined the condition and researched and then gave me the diagnosis.  I didn't believe him, because I didn't believe it was possible to be allergic to something natural.  As far as I know, it didn't run in my family, however, I do recall seeing my dad, from time to time, have cracks at the corners of his mouth.  I thought that was because he had diabetes.  But we were not close, so I do not know the history and he passed away a long time ago.  Anyway, I started a long journey of looking at the labels of everything I ate, and still have to check the labels.