Living With a Nickel Allergy: Taking It One Day at a Time
Key takeaways:
Christy Cushing was diagnosed with a nickel allergy in her mid-20s.
Nickel is in everything from jewelry to coins, office supplies, flatware, and cell phones.
Having a severe allergy to nickel means being vigilant all the time.
How do you get through life when your body reacts badly to a heavy metal that’s in the air you breathe, the ground you walk on, and the water you drink?
Very carefully, says Christy Cushing who was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (eczema) and an unusual and severe form of nickel allergy called systemic nickel allergy syndrome (SNAS) when she was 24. Coping with her reaction to nickel requires planning and vigilance. But she still finds ways to have a full life.
“There’s no way to be nickel-free. There’s nickel in practically everything,” says Christy, a public policy analyst in Utah. “It’s more than just what I eat. [My nickel allergy] touches every aspect of my life.”
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Diagnosing the problem
Christy first noticed worsening eczema around her eyes and on her neck in 2008. She ignored the problem for insurance reasons, finally going to a dermatologist the following year. A skin patch test revealed that nickel triggered her eczema.
It’s common for people to develop a nickel allergy from jewelry containing nickel. Earrings and earring backs are among the biggest culprits, the American Academy of Dermatology Association says. That was true in Christy’s case. Avoiding skin contact with nickel helped to improve her skin symptoms.
Before she’d learned that nickel was causing her eczema, Christy had eliminated fragrances in her detergent and cosmetic products. Her symptoms improved, but her eczema did not clear up. After the skin patch test confirmed her skin nickel allergy, Christy’s dermatologist recommended she try a low-nickel diet for a month to see if eating less nickel would improve her eczema.
The diet helped her eczema. But her problems were more than skin deep. Her SNAS is a nickel hypersensitivity that can cause symptoms such as bloating and stomach pain if she eats food containing nickel. So she does everything she can to avoid it.
Building a community and relearning how to eat
Wanting to help others and find a community, Christy started a blog and website in 2013. On the site, she shares her experiences and tips for others living with nickel allergies. Christy’s readers share their stories, too.
“One of the reasons I started it was because I was so alone, like I had no one to talk to about living with a unique allergy,” she says. “When you connect with someone with a shared experience, there’s a benefit to both parties.”
Since they have to watch what they eat, the Nickel Navigator app helps them keep track of their daily nickel intake and tells them about the nickel content in foods in different countries.
When there’s an office potluck, she brings her own food to avoid any processed ingredients that might trigger her allergy (she also uses a plastic keyboard at work). She reads restaurant menus ahead of time and sometimes asks for an ingredient to be removed from an entree. That works — unless the restaurant does something like add nuts as a garnish.
“It’s hit or miss,” Christy says.
Learning to live with it
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to avoid nickel altogether. And while there is evidence that low-nickel diets can alleviate nickel allergy symptoms, more research is needed. Even if you’re careful about what you eat, the nickel content in the same type of food will vary significantly. There is also inconsistent evidence about what should and shouldn’t be included in a low-nickel diet or lifestyle. For example, some people forbid steel pans and kitchen tools, and even tap water.
Christy tries to take a “realistic approach.”
“We still have an old-school slow cooker with a stainless steel container. And I like the pizza cutter I have,” she says. “You have to figure out what your body can or can’t tolerate.”
Because nickel occurs in nature, all-natural products may still be unsafe for people with nickel allergies. When grocery shopping, Christy reads labels. The FDA does not require products to reveal their nickel percentage, so she looks for high-nickel ingredients.
“If you choose to eat processed food, you have to take the time to learn to interpret food labels. Many preservatives or additives in processed foods can contain nickel or aggravate nickel allergies,” she says. “I try to avoid eating any and all processed foods. Eating homemade from scratch where you control the ingredients and how your food is cooked will always be a better option.”
She even has to be careful when seeing healthcare providers. During a recent visit to the dentist, Christy told her endodontist about her nickel allergy and he assured her the stainless steel instruments he used were nickel-free. But a review of the instruments’ safety sheets revealed they contained 9% nickel, Christy says.
“It’s important to know what your needs are so you can communicate them as clearly as possible,” Christy says. “Initially, it was overwhelming and scary and I didn’t know what it would mean for my life. I’ve learned to adapt.”
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