Hello - I am on a journey to figure out my son's sensitivity to Propylene Glycol. I know I've only discovered the tip of the iceberg. Hoping to find more information here and through others.
Our first big clue was the car - whenever we would go on long road trips my son's legs (thighs) would break out in huge red welts, hot to the touch, itchy. It was so bizarre how it only happened on long road trips and mostly in my husband's car. In desperation I googled, "can you be allergic to leather car seats?" I assumed this was a ridiculous thing to ask, but it turns out there are lots of people allergic to leather car seats, leather steering wheels, etc. Apparently Propylene Glycol is used as a leather conditioner! Clue number two: my son had the flu and low grade fever for almost five days. I gave him Tylenol every five hours for the entire time. His face turned red, dry, flaking off. Especially around his eyes and forehead. He looked like a burn victim. I later discovered that each Tylenol pill is coated in propylene glycol. Clue number three: he loves the salad dressing from a local restaurant. I bought a container of it from the restaurant - they put it in a big plastic container, no label. My son ate a salad nearly every night for dinner the following week. Once again, his face turned red, dry, flaking around his eyes and eye lids. Forehead bright red and splotchy. No amount of lotion would soften his skin. It took me a while to figure out what it could be (duh!) - I called the restaurant and had the read the label to me - you guessed it - propylene glycol. NEW clue: my son has been taking a new Rx for about 90 days. At first his skin just didn't seems as "healthy" so I called the pharmacist to confirm there was no propolyene glycol (there is not). But his face just kept getting worse and worse - red, inflamed, around the eyes and forehead - all the telltale signs. I finally played detective and found the list of inactive ingredients for the Rx - it has POLYETHYLENE GLYCOL! This is news to me - I didn't know propolyne glycol and polyethylene glycol are similar? Cause similar reactions? Now I'm desperately searching for an alternative medicine that doesn't have any kind of glycol in it and running into a lot of dead ends.
On a related note - my son had terrible eczema for years. After working with a naturopathic doctor and doing an elimination diet we discovered that dairy, corn, and gluten triggered his eczema. He's on a super restrictive diet, but the eczema is GONE. (Miraculous, night and day difference). Note all food allergy testing says he's allergic to NOTHING. But he clearly has sensitivities. I'm starting ton wonder - is he sensitive to the actual food groups? Or are there glycols in these food groups? I think dairy has sugar? Corn has sugar? Isn't glycols a form a sugar? Just trying to better understand this whole Glycol sensitivity thing.
Questions: 1) Does anyone else experience the skin/red face reactions to ingested glycols? 2) If I an find an alternative medicine that is glycol free, how long does it take for his body to rid itself of the whatever the bad stuff is and recover? 3) Is there any truth to my idea that it's not the food itself that's causing eczema, but some type of sugar reaction?
Thank you! Laurie