Monday, May 28, 2007

Aloe Vera.. umm no thank you!!!

Aloe.. GREAT idea! It was also a great idea when someone advised me of just that about 20 years ago after I had spent a week at the beach and I looked literally like a lobster. I smeared the cool green gel over my very tender burnt areas (at the time I could wear a very small bathing suit so there were A LOT of areas that needed attention) I lay down to hopefully get some sleep. Wake up a few hours later feeling not quite right.. something is wrong.. something is VERY VERY WRONG.. I am blind.. I can't see.. I CAN'T F'ING SEE ANYTHING.. Wait.. I can't scream either.. I am trying to talk and nothing is coming out in words.. it is mumummmuuummmuumm and that is it..
Oh I can hear so I haven't lost everything.. In my banging around to figure out why I can't talk or see.. wait my hands don't feel right.. I can't move my hands right.. ew and what is that I am standing on?? It feels like some kind of gel .. what the heck is that??? Oh I can't see it..
Then all of a sudden I hear OH MY GOD.. HENRY!!!!

Remember Henry is Joe's name right who at the time was known to me as Daddy..

Seconds later from him rummaging around and from my mother again... WHAT ... WHAT.. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER???
Joe... I dunno...
Mother... her face.. it is OH MY GOD.. and it is GREEN!
Joe... I don't know what that is.. give her a bag of ice..

Which turned out to be a plastic glove filled with ice but it did get the swelling to go down in my eyes enough that I could see a tiny bit. My lips finally went down enough I could mumble some and it took my hands and feet at least a week to get back to normal.

The weirdest thing is .. I had a friend with me at the beach.. after all my rummaging around she stirred and got up and we went through the same monologue with her!!!!

We were BOTH severely allergic to aloe!!!
The scariest yet good part was when we were in the store buying this Aloe stuff the girl tired to push bottles of Aloe Tea on us.. saying that it would help cool us from the inside out.. we both thought it sounded gross and did not give it a second glance. We could have probably went into some major reaction with that.

So my lovely ever helpful friend.. I will keep the itchy ta ta's!!!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

An aloe allergy? Never would have thought it. Okay, forget the aloe. I advise tylenol or something similar for pain plus a nice icy cold drink. (It's too early for a mojito.) And some good, aloe-free moisturizer.

kim-d said...

Oh gosh---SORRY! No, I don't usually make it a habit of trying to do in my friends. I've never heard of an aloe allergy, either. But since it's a plant, I'd imagine there are lots of you out there. You're the first one I know. Okay, I defer to the Monkling on this one, but I will specify Neutrogena fragrance-free Daily Body Moisturizer. That stuff is heaven-sent; even for 50-year-old, abused-at-least-40-of-the-50-years skin. Onward--how's the head this morning? Made it through another night with He-of-the-Floppy-but-Strong-Arms? :) :)

Hockey helmet, I tell ya!

Anonymous said...

Oh gosh. How scary that must have been! I think you were probably wise to stay away from the Aloe tea....who knows what THAT would have done to you!

Anonymous said...

Aloe vera is a product for every type of skin . it is a natural food flavoring and gives the result in few weeks. There is no side effects on any type skin aloe is a very highly effective in treating like pimples.i was used since last six months and give the results . so i am very happy to use this products. Hmm, vodka + aloe vera...interesting. Straight from the can/bottle, I still like Pokka brand Aloe vera + white grape juice the best. Avoid the + peach juice version though!

Kira said...

WOW! I just came across your post while searching for an aloe-free facial moisturizer. I too am allergic to aloe, but only slightly -- it makes me itch a little bit. I can use products with tiny amounts of it but not ones that have it near the top of the ingredient list or say on the front "plus aloe". I always think I'm crazy and maybe it's not the aloe afterall because it's such a rare thing to be allergic to it and I feel like maybe it's all in my mind. I'm glad to find your post, and I'm sorry your allergy is so severe.
I'm trying to find a natural facial moisturizer. Something all organic and all natural, no bad chemicals. The problem is, they all seem to contain aloe. It's a pain in the ass.

Anonymous said...

I am so allergic to aloe that I cannot walk into a room where aloe lotion or hand sanitizer is in use. I can smell the aloe immediately, and then it closes my airways, leading to an asthma attack. My skin, especially lips and eyes, get a sore burning sensation if aloe is in the room. If it gets on my skin, a rash develops. Thus, I share your feelings about aloe, which is becoming more popular than ever.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my God!

Anonymous said...

In a way.
---------------------------------------------------------
Signature:buy levitra professional online mpw

Anonymous said...

I justfound out I was allergic to aloe today.
Missed my first day of junior year that I was really excited for, it really sucks my face looks terrible

Anonymous said...

Clearly Natural Unscented Soap used to be Aloe Free, but suddenly they started putting Aloe and Vitamin into it and no longer provide Aloe Free. Well, this was the only soap that I was not allergic to until they put Aloe into it. One use and I broke out in hives that took a week before I stopped itching and two weeks before the dry eczema on my face looked like it was healed.