Traumatised by what I have found out about hair dye allergy

[Ceriane]

When I was young in my teenage years and early twenties I used to occasionally experiment with hair dyes. For a while I regularly had it highlighted. Then in my 30's when I started to get a few greys I used Naturtint two or three times a year, didn't really need to as you could barely see the greys.

I never had a problem with it, and was oblivious to the dangers of hair dye allergy - just thought if you were okay with the patch test you were fine, and if you did notice any burning on scalp just wash it off.

However towards the end of my 30's I saw a magazine article where people had had an allergic reaction to a hair dye, and the images looked horrific - people with swollen heads, faces, eyes closed over and life threatening anaphylaxis. I heard people have died from it. However, I had no reason to think I would have a hair dye allergy.

In the lockdown I didn't dye my hair, I was still only 37 and didn't really need to, when we came out of lockdown I was 39, so I did dye it and was fine, and then after about 3 months you could see the greys.

The year I was going to turn 40 I booked in to have highlights, thinking I need to start thinking about how I'm going to cover the greys now I'm a bit older. I had the patch test and it was fine, but then I chickened out of the appointment after I remembered what I heard about hair dye allergy. I am an anxious person. I instead used Naturtint at home as I had never had a problem with it. I had no reason to think I would have a problem with the highlights either.

Then July last year, after I had Covid-19, I used Naturtint again, and this time I had a slight burning sensation on my scalp later that day. Nothing really bad, but it made me think, could I have developed an allergy. So obviously I was now scared to dye my hair. I thought it seemed really ironic to have developed an allergy after being worried about developing an allergy when I didn't have one before.

I then didn't dye my hair for a full year. I did try a patch test for a henna based dye, it seemed fine but I decided to give my hair a rest after dying it unnecessarily so much when I was younger.

A side issue is that over the last seven months I have been having therapy because I developed an obsessive phobia about allergic reactions in general - which has affected everything from worrying about food, drinks, products, going out and I have had really bad anxiety in general over this last year. I developed an irrational fear of potentially being allergic to anything and everything basically.

2 weeks ago I decided to try a patch test for just a normal hair dye. After 24 hours I felt unwell, the next day I had a burning sensation in my arm where I had applied the patch test, and this was followed by intense nerve pain that has spread down my arm, that I still have days later. I thought there would just be a bit of itching or redness if I was allergic I didn't expect pain. I have also been feeling sick for the last two weeks. I have spoken to an ANP at my GP surgery and they have said obviously don't use the dye and to monitor it for two weeks, and come back if it hasn't gone. Obviously I won't use the dye.

When googling to see if anyone else has ever had this problem and I was horrified by what I read. That someone had a reaction that was like 3rd degree burns and that if you have a bad reaction to a hair dye, the pain can be so severe that you have to be put into a medically induced coma as it is so bad. My fear before was of anaphylaxis, now that seems like nothing - my fear is now of pain. I keep shuddering to think what would have happened if I had have actually used the hair dye, and I know this sounds ridiculous because obviously I didn't use it, I feel like I am really mentally distressed by what I have read, I keep on having images of peoples faces swollen up from hair dye allergy and intrusive thoughts about how bad it would have been if I'd have used it, I can't stop thinking about it and it's making me ill. I know I sound absolutely nuts. I was doing so well on my fear of allergies in general, but this has thrown me and really shook me up, the fact that I do have an allergy - to hair dye - and that if I had have used it I would likely have died a really painful and horrible death and what I know about hair dye allergy is 10000x worse than what I thought I knew, so it's really set me back.

I have heard other people say that they have experienced a burning sensation after dying their hair and I feel like I need to warn them. People are putting themselves at risk. To be honest, I think they should ban these chemicals as they are more dangerous than I could ever possibly imagine.

I decided that it is way to much of a risk to use anything on my hair, so I will have to embrace the greys, I felt okay about this until yesterday, when I was at a wedding, I was so self conscious of my greys, and everyone else there was not a grey hair in sight, even in women in their 40's, 50's and 60's, so they are clearly all using hair dye - it scares me that people could have an allergic reaction at any time, and they are walking around oblivious to the danger. I felt like I looked rubbish compared to everyone else, I didn't think I was vain, but this has really got me down. It's also a real sense of loss as it's made me realise, I'm not a young girl anymore and can't even make myself look like one. I'd always looked young for my age, and always felt fairly attractive and now I have grey hairs that I can't do anything about and this is only going to get worse as I get older. I know a solution would be to find a hair dye that doesn't have PPD and other chemicals and that I am not allergic to, but I just feel that I can't take the risk of using anything on my hair.

Also my family think I'm being silly, and keep saying things like "for goodness sake, just dye your hair, hair dye won't hurt you, you've got to at some point". They don't believe me that I had a reaction to the patch test. Obviously I'm not going to use it and have thrown it out, but it's making me feel really unsafe and alone in what I'm going through.

I'm so sorry that I have written practically an essay on hair dye, but I really do feel distressed by this whole issue, it has shook me to my core, and I know I sound like I really am neurotic but this has really bothered me. I'm acting normal around people, but I feel traumatised by something that didn't happen but nearly happened if that makes any sense. I've put this in allergies but I think it's also mental health as I'm suffering extreme anxiety.

Can I ask - have you told your family you are allergic to something before when that hasn’t been the case - due to your anxiety? If so then it makes it a lot harder for them to distinguish between a real allergy and an anxiety driven one.

Your extreme emotional reaction - everyone is at risk of dying a painful torturous death - is also going to make them more dismissive as they see this as part of your illness. Especially as you didn’t have a visible reaction to the hair dye.

Keep going with your therapy and, I know this is hard, try to keep it in proportion and not let your fears run away with you.

Your extreme emotional reaction - everyone is at risk of dying a painful torturous death - is also going to make them more dismissive as they see this as part of your illness. Unfortunately many people do react like this, because they are reacting emotionally themselves.

People who are 'dismissive' are generally unhelpful. You can think something is anxiety-based without being dismissive to the person telling you.

@calmcoco thank you so much. Anxiety has been extremely difficult to deal with.

@OhBeAFineGuyKissMe you have absolutely hit the nail on the head there. When I developed my fear around allergies I avoided so many different foods/drinks and then that escalated into not being able to eat when I was out or go out for meals. So they have seen me overcome this time and time again when I have gone back to eating the things I have been avoiding, and been able to go out for meals again and being absolutely fine every single time. They have also in the past seen me have panic and think I’m having an allergic reaction or think that I’m really I’ll and then 5 minutes later it turns out to be a panic attack or at least something not that serious, so you can understand where this has come from. This is why they are dismissive about things if I have genuine reason to have concerns. I don’t want to fall out with them, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with. There’s a bit of “Well, it’s Ceri, she has anxiety so she can’t possibly actually have anything wrong or actually be allergic to anything” but of course I can and I think this is why this patch test has really thrown me because even I was dismissive of my fears in order to get past the anxiety so it has scared me that I do have a genuine allergy and a potentially very serious one, but obviously one I can avoid by not dying my hair.

I have a severe dye allergy and have had horrible blisters from patch testing. So now I don't bother. I use Leganza conditioning colour which I didn't react to at all and covers my grey really well.

I think this is more a MH issue. Perhaps speak to your GP.

Thank you. I may consider trying that (probably when I’m a lot more over my anxiety though) and you are right it is more to do with my state of mind and this extreme anxiety issue that I’ve had over the last year. If this has happened a couple of years ago before I went through this I probably wouldn’t have thought anything other than “okay then I won’t use that then”, so I can see how out of proportion this has got. I think it’s more that I just feel shook up to think what would have happened if I hadn’t have realised and actually used it, I just have to keep telling myself “you didn’t use it, you are fine, move on” .

I developed an allergy to hair dye several years ago. I don’t know where you live OP, but if you live near London and want to continue to colour your hair, I recommend Natural Colour Works in Spitafields.

Thank you

I get the water colour. It’s lovely and lasts just as long as any chemical dye. Also really gentle on your hair.

Thank you. It could be that one day when I'm feeling a lot more past my anxiety, and have had medical advice to find out what I need to avoid (obviously normal hair dye with PPD and stuff is definitely a complete no go for me) - but there are other options, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I suffered from health anxiety and obsessive thoughts after pregnancy. One of the best things I ever did was to stop googling symptoms/reactions or anything to do with the health issues I was convinced I had. It didn’t cure my anxiety, but it stopped me adding more fuel to the flames. I was always googling in the hopes of finding something that would reassure me but I always got the opposite.

You don't have to dye your hair.

Lots of people don't, it is entirely normal, your family need to get a grip. Perhaps tell them that they're being neurotic about ageing.

I don't dye mine, it is fine, I have some greys but it is far less obvious when they are coming through naturally rather than a stripe of grey roots next to dye.

Get help with your phobia/anxiety but don't feel pressure to dye your hair and don't let your family make you feel bad.

Thank you.

Embrace the grey, be free of hair dye (which is a nasty cocktail of chemicals) and be free of the anxiety surrounding it as well. Any comments from family, reply with: doctor told me to steer clear of all hair dye. FWIW my friend had dyed her hair for years, both home and salon. One days she had a vv nasty reaction and thought she was going to die. It's not particularly unusual and best to stay away from hair dye. Our society is pretty sick with the pressure on women to look 25.

Thank you....you are right.

I know posters have said you don't have to dye your hair, and of course I know I don't have to...but the thing is I wouldn't choose to go grey....I am only having to make that choice because of the hair dye allergy. So it is now not just about the hair dye, I am having to completely re-think my whole mindset regarding my appearance etc....it is quite a big thing to process.

However you are right, there shouldn't be this pressure on women to look 25 for life....I know some posters have said they don't feel the pressure, but I do, more than I realised before this. It's also brought up an issue with my family and their attitude that I didn't realise was there until now, that makes me really angry and want to distance myself from them.

I know not everyone dyes there hair and clearly some people like me can't dye their hair....but it does seem to me that most women I see whether at work, in my family, friends, people on TV all seem to have some kind of dye or treatment on their hair....I very rarely see people who haven't and if I do they are either young people who don't need to as they have no greys (and even most of the young people seem to have dyed hair these days) or old people who would be grey anyway....I'm talking about people a LOT older than me.

However, I am not going to dye my hair, at the moment you can barely see the greys anyway, in the future when the greys get worse I may find ways around it such as hair pieces, find a dye or a way of colouring it that is safe for me to use or maybe because I will be older by then anyway, just embrace the grey.

I developed a hair dye allergy, I was quite surprised because I’ve been having half head highlights for years. I had a short thread about it on here actually.

A nurse at a/e said not to try again because the allergy can get worse. I was disappointed at first but now I think it’s for the best as who wants those chemicals circulating in their bloodstream anyway. I will miss chatting to my local colourist though, she’s lovely.

Modern hair dyes are nowhere near as nasty as those from the 60s/70s, but even so I think you've got issues mentally with hair dye, and frankly I think you'd be far far better off investing in a really good hair cut so show off your natural & undyed hair, it'll look far less aging anyway!

Thank you....I'm aware dyes are not as toxic as they used to be...however if you are allergic they are EXTREMELY dangerous. I don't want toxic chemicals going around in my blood stream anyway.