ALOE VERA ALLERGY - a word of caution

[nitor]

I was suddenly hit by severe aloe vera toxification after having treated some excema on my lower legs (lichen ruber) with fresh aloe vera gel from a plant in my kitchen.

all over body rash, necrosis (dead meat) on the legs and lengthy allergic reaction as a result. I might even be hospitalized and the skin specialist says the effects may continue for several months

Just so you know people - Aloe Vera can be a great healer, but can kill too, had it not been for antibiotics and steroids, I would have been so f***

[KingLee79]

I also have an aloe allergy, I found out about it when I was around 15 while visiting my mom in Florida I got a full body sunburn and they used aloe straight from the plant and my throat instantly closed making it so I could not breath. Found out later that if I have aloe above the shoulders that would happen but below the shoulders it was sever irritation. Luckily they used a hose to wash the aloe off in time to be able to reopen my throat so that I could breath (they noticed I couldn't breathe immediately after they applied it so I got lucky) it's annoying that aloe is in almost everything now.

[DominicRaabsTravelAgent]

That's awful @MomKottas. I wasn't aware that they used aloe in that way at all.

[MomKottas]

My daughter has a severe allergy to aloe as well. Yesterday we bought some fresh figs at Whole Foods because she had always wanted to try them. She is 15 yrs old. Anyways, shortly after eating a half of fig she broke out in a rash on her face that looked like welts. We couldn’t understand what was going on. The two of us knew about her aloe allergy but now figs? Come on. So mom does the research, come to find out lots of produce has an aloe vera gel coating as a preservative. It is used instead of harmful, chemical sprays. My poor baby girl now has a rash on her belly today & the facial rash has dissipated. After seeing the Doctor, she recommended my daughter go on prednisone, and Zyrtec. Things are slowly subsiding but the rash was not on her belly yesterday is now there today. We are hoping this goes away soon. I am writing to make you all aware that there is such a thing as aloe vera gel coating on produce & to be aware if you have an aloe allergy. Good luck to all of you aloe allergy sufferers. I will be praying for you all.

[zirmir]

I would like to put in my input here too. Like the previous poster, I had used aloe vera gel as a conductor for my electric face mask. After a several uncomfortable zaps, I decided to take a break and remove the face mask. My face was red, spreading down my neck. I initially thought it was a reaction to the electrical shocks, so I washed my face off and applied more "soothing" aloe vera gel. This time I noticed that my other side of the neck turned red. I immediately hopped in the shower and changed my bathrobe, in case there were remnants of the gel on the fabric.
I had no known aloe vera allergies prior to this gel experience, and happily consumed OKF aloe vera drinks with pulp without any side effects. I even recall eating the fresh leaf gel some years ago without any problems. Maybe it is was this dietary supplement gel (with other ingredients) such as Carrageenan, Citric Acid and Potassium Sorbate that triggered such reaction. Maybe I developed an aloe vera allergy over the years?

[Chantal1000]

I know this is such an old thread but I have very recently discovered my aloe intolerance. I have had allergic reactions in the past and never pin pointed it until last week. I bought aloe Vera as a conductor on my face for my NuFace Device, put it all over and within one min my whole face went bright red and hot! I washed it off immediately. A few days later I bought some face powder from The Bodyshop, wore it all day and noticed towards the evening that I had weird bags under my eyes. The next morning my whole face blew up! I looked like Quasimodo. My mouth and eyes totally swelled and I noticed that the face powder has aloe in it! It's taken about 7 days and I haven't totally recovered. I then noticed my foundation has it in too! You don't realise how many products contain aloe, specifically from 'natural' brands. I'm O- but doubt that has anything to do with it. Never experienced allergic to garlic or onion. Just glad to know now!

[Sarah324]

I had to make an account to reply to you all.
I recently had some allergie reaction to an eyebrow product and i was giving a cream by my gp to use and it got much better
I heard so many things about aloe vera so i had to use it to calm the feeling of itching in my eyebrows.
OMG i have never used aloe vera in my life this was the first time i used it and i heard so much good things about it i didn't think to patch test.
(Stupid of me i know).
My blood type is ab- i had very very bad reaction to it my whole forehead had like bumps and itchy and my neck Was the worst. Looks like i was burned so itchy and went all up to my jawlines, ears and nose.
I look like I was burned my skin hurts to touch and hot itchy. i didn’t think anything of it 3 days applying aloe vera and it gets worse each time. I don’t use it at night so each morning my rush looks better. (My friend pointed it out she told me maybe it’s the aloe vera) Till today i haven’t used aloe vera and i can already see such a big difference.
Never thought i can get allergie reaction to something natural.
Please be safe. If it wasn’t for this thread i wouldn’t even believe i reacted to aloe vera.

[BlackCat228]

I know this is an old post but I wanted to help warn people of how dangerous Aloe Vera can be to some people.

My son and I both are allergic to Aloe Vera.
My blood type is AB negative.
And my son's blood type is B positive.

Our reactions are both different.

It doesn't just irritate my skin it melts my skin like acid. It literally burns my skin off the area it touches. And once it burn my skin off it turns black and flakey on top of the skin. When that comes off there is a hole in my skin where the Aloe Vera was.

And my son's skin gets a severe rash that swells up and it looks like it has a 3rd degree burn on it right after aloe vera touches him.

It is a very rare thing to be allergic to aloe vera. There are a few cases of people allergic to Aloe vera. It comes from the same plant family as garlic and onions, so if you are allergic to one, you may be sensitive to all. But it is a very rare allergy indeed. And even more unlikely you would only be allergic to one plant in the family.

And I am allergic to onions as well.
But garlic I am fine with in small amounts.

My son is not yet old enough to try food but I will be staying away from onions and garlic when he is old enough to start eating just incase he is allergic to them as well.

I hope this helps people understand that Aloe Vera is not good for everyone. Some people are in fact allergic to Aloe Vera. It is rare but it does happen.

[phillll]

My allergy started with latex ie elasto plast. Now it includes aloe vera. It is in loads of cosmetics,soaps and lotions. You have to be so careful...Emovate or dermovate from your doctor will get rid of the rash after 1 or 2 days but for a child it must be dreadful.

[bakequery]

When I was 12 years old I got poison ivy. My mother slathered aloe vera all over my face. I ended up getting acute cellulitis of my face, went to the doc, who gave me a shot of penicillin. I fainted. I was put in the hospital for intravenous antibiotics. I ended up with welts all over my body. They thought it was from the penicillin. Turns out that 8 years later I got a burn on my tummy, mom put the aloe on it, and I got welts again. Flash forward another ~10 years and I got a burn on my arm, slathered aloe burn cream, got hives. I still did not make the connection. Then finally, I washed my hair with a cleansing shampoo whose first ingredient was aloe. I went to a dance class where I got all sweaty and lo and behold, I got welts and my throat started to close. The light bulb finally went off! Now I avoid aloe like the plague, which is not easy to do. I have welts on my neck right now from a bite and the first thing I looked at was the cream I used, which thankfully did not have aloe. I don't know what is causing these welts though. URGH!

[Dizzyt]

In my experience,it usually takes about a week for reaction to subside but you might be lucky and be reaction free sooner!one piece of advice i will give you though is to keep your face well moisturised with something like emollient cream or something gentle on skin because i always find my skin is left very dry and tender after a reaction.Also be very wary of aftersun creams as most of them contain aloe vera!

[halfthesize]

Hi all I know an old thread but on holiday and used aloe gel on face omg woke up two days ago with red puffy eyes and head. Been taking citirzina since but still not great. Thank god for sunglasses. Does anyone know how long it takes to calm down.

[Dizzyt]

Ive been having allergic reactions to various things most of my life,especially aloe vera.Thankfully i only usually have a skin reaction but this can be very sore so i know how a lot of you feel.Most of the time i have a reaction on my face which if red,puffy and dry woth the skin feeling lile its on fire!I have found the best thing to treat my skin after a reaction is with La Roche Posey thermal spring water.The main healing ingredient in it is selenium and it is amazing!it is really gentle on the skin but it is really nourishing.It comes in the form of an aerosol spray and is usually around £8 and last for ages.For me it has been a miracle on my skin!any reaction i have is cleared up within a couple of days and its fantastic on sunburn too!Also because it is a pressurised spray its really cooling on the skin.Completely worth the money!

[pattiannp22]

my birthday is May 22, today, and Im going to have to put alot of makeup on to cover the red dots. I have a feeling it will go away in a few days.

[pattiannp22]

OH and I'm O+ blood type. (and my boyfriend is too and he had the same reaction when he put it on his sunburn many years ago and never used aloe again...) wish he would have told me sooner!! I took Benadryl right away and I took Zyrtec.

[pattiannp22]

What an eye opener this has been for me. Last year I started having asthma attacks out of nowhere each time landing in the ER. It was recommended that I see an Allergist. After testing I was found to have severe allergies to grass, trees, pollen, ragweed, mold, cats, dogs, rabbits and down to name a few. Which explained my asthma attacks in the middle of the night... I slept on down pillows and comforter and my cat!! After a year on Prednisone and many months immunotherapy (injections) it is under control. No more down, and sadly no more cat! I take a nightly corticosteriod, Zyrtec, Flonase and a rescue inhaler, for preventative measures since I cannot control all the grass and trees and pollen im around!!

This morning I woke up and my ENTIRE face was covered in little red dots. It looked like measles. They are not raised, they do not itch. I could breathe fine, I had no fever. I wracked my brain trying to think of what I ate or what I put on my face?? Nothing out of the ordinary. I took a Benadryl just in case. Then the AHH HAA moment.... I started using aloe vera gel on my face as a skin primer before putting on my makeup 2 days ago. Never used aloe before on my face. Just something I read and thought to try instead of buying an expensive face primer. Lesson learned. It has to be that. Nothing else is different in my skin routine except for that. They found I had a minor garlic allergy (no foods except that ) however, i cook and eat garlic all the time and never have problems....im italian, cannot NOT eat garlic. I read about the person who thinks it was the combination of a steroid and the Aloe Vera, I wonder if the corticosteroid combo is the same for me, or its just the aloe. Ive been watching my red-dotted face all day. Its actually going away a little bit. This is terrible. I will now read labels for Aloe Vera. I just checked my body lotion and my deoderant and they don't contain it. And I definitely will not try Aloe Vera juice as I have been planning to do. Does anyone know of an over the counter remedy for the rash? Im going to pass all this info Ive been reading to my friends and family and Im going to go back to my allergist and get tested so that they could add that to my serum and start injections again to better protect me should I unknowingly come in contact with it again. Its terrible to know it could kill you for those who got anaphylactic. So sorry for you. Best of luck to all.

[Donna1903]

I know this is a pretty old thread but it's the only thing I can seem to find too! I tried the forever living aloe Vera soap, scrub and moisturiser on Saturday morning and on Saturday night my face and neck are dry, red, rashy, itchy and blotchy... I'm blood group O negative but I doubt this has anything to do with it either... Surely? How long did it take for your reactions to go away? Should I take antihistamines? I'm 30 on Saturday and I want it to be away for then 😩

[bakequery]

When I was 12 years old (1966) I got poison ivy. My mother slathered me with fresh aloe from a plant she had. I ended up in the hospital with a very swollen face and large hives all over my body for 14 days. We thought the hives were caused by the penicillin I was given for the acute cellulitis I had on my face.

In 1977, at Culinary School I burned my tummy somehow. I went home that weekend and my mom slathered me with aloe again. I got hives and for 2 weeks. I thought it was my nerves. I never connected the events.

Flash forward to the 90's. I burned my left arm and a friend put aloe cream on me and I got hives. I finally thought, hmmmmmm, I think I'm allergic to aloe! But still I do not read labels.

A few years later I am taking dancing lessons with my husband and I start feeling itchy all over my neck. By the time I got home I had hives all over my body and my throat starts to close. I call the doc and she tells me to take Benadryl and a 12 hour antihistamine of whatever I had, something like Claritan but one of the early 12 hour antihistamine. She ended up telling me to take 4! (I think it started with an H). Still my throat was closing. I felt like a potato chip was stuck in it. Eventually the Doc told me to get admitted to the hospital so they could keep an eye on me. I went and stayed overnight. I stayed up all night, afraid to go to sleep. It turns out I had washed my hair with a clarifying shampoo before going out and the first ingredient was aloe.

I have been a diligent label reader ever since but I never thought to read a label on my vitamins for goodness sakes! Turns out a vitamin I was taking had aloe vera in it which explains why my asthma, which had completely gone away after I stopped eating wheat, was back! I guess I am just uber sensitive to certain proteins. I thankfully did not get hives.

Latex gives me a flush on my throat, neck, and chest.

Tonight I have restless legs after taking my new vitamin at a later time than usual so now I have to go read the label and see that the heck is in these NEW vitamins. This is my third night with restless legs. The only thing I have put in my body that is the same over the past 3 days is the new vitamins I bought to replace the ones with aloe.

My nerves! I can't identify anything in them that would cause a problem but yesterday after I took them I felt like I wanted to throw up and I felt short of breath. That shortness of breath also used to happen when I used to drink a protein drink made by Herbalife. The primary protein was made from peas, which I thought was the culprit but now I am thinking it must have been from something else.

I think once you develop allergies your body just goes into hypersensitive mode and says, "ENOUGH! I am going launch an allergic reaction whenever you ingest something I can't recognize as food I evolved with.

[mumz4Eva]

my husband used aloe vera on his hands because they became very dry..after using the aloe his hands looked like they had been dipped in acid He had an allergic reaction to this so we never used it again UNTIL years later he was given it in a mouth wash and gel for the mouth which contained Aloe vera. It was actually called Aloe barbadensis on the ingrediants and should (so we thought) have been crossed checked by the hospital pharmacist but was not. My husband developed ulcer like burns to his mouth and throat LUCKILY for him not much was swallowed. The pain was horrendous. Just please be aware not everyone has an allergy to it but it can be quite harmful to some people.

[lAgOe]

I started useing Aloe Hand And Face Soap my eyes became so red and on the 4th day they were swollen and more or less shut they were so itchy also my face was swollen i realised it was the Aloe because it was the only thing i had used different my skin feels like sand paper i havent used it for 6 days and my face is swollen still red and itchy.I have Rhesus Negative Blood Group 0.Could this be the connection i dont know

[DemiCub]

I found out I had a severe allergy to aloe Vera by putting lotion on my skin that contained Aloe Vera, at first I couldn't figure out what I was specifically allergic to since it had never happened before, but after running some tests it was apparent that it was aloe vera, its a mild to severe allergy to it, but I am so allergic to it I cant touch, or ingest anything with aloe Vera, even if its in small doses, if I come in contact with it I get the hives and swell, but if I ingest it, which I've only made the mistake of once, I get very sick and will vomit. My blood type is ab+ but I have no allergie to garlic, radishes or anything else like that. Its not easy though buying things anymore though even with a baby on the way because you would be surprised at how many different things we use aloe Vera in, and it isn't always put under aloe Vera, it can be put under Aloe Vera Barbados juice, or aloe, Vera, and even aloe Vera, so you truly have to be careful when allergic to it on what you use

[tenjo]

I don't think blood type has anything to do with it. I'm B+.

[Dowser]

Well I never knew that about aloe Vera.
This thread has been an eye opener for me.

I have three aloe Vera plants....and they are all having babies. So I probably have a dozen.

I got bitten in the garden and put some aloe on it. Luckily I haven't had a severe reaction.

I usually use lavender for sunburn so will stick to that.
I'm blood group O

[tenjo]

I too have an aloe vera allergy. Aloe vera was not part of my growing up experience, as it is not a native plant to my country. When I moved here, I found out that aloe vera made my skin bumpy (direct contact with the plant itself).

Once you have this reaction, AVOID all products with aloe vera. It doesn't matter how processed the aloe is. Just stay away. The more you come into contact with it, the more severe the allergic reactions will be in the future.

Save yourself the aggravation, sick feelings, sick time out, and doctors' bills. I'd rather spend that money on vacations than giving it to the doctors !!!

[zozo41]

Hi There,
I have been at my wits end these last few days and coming on here to see others reacting to Aloe is a bit of reassurance I have to say. I started using an aloe vera face wash and serum last friday/saturday and sunday. By sunday my eyes felt dry and a little swollen underneath so I stopped using it. By Monday my eyes were very swollen and my skin very itchy. I took anti-histamines. By Tuesday I was at the doctors as the swelling hadnt gone down. I am now on Day 5 after starting steroids yesterday and my skin is like sand paper, very itchy, blotchy, cracked and my eyes are still swollen, albeit a slight improvement. My doctor said that if the swelling isnt down by tomorrow I will have to go back to see her. I cannot believe this reaction, my skin is normally so good and now I look awful. I am still itching and my face is so dry its horrible. I just wondered if anyone has had similar on their face and how long it takes to subside? I look forward to any responses. Thank you.