Re: Elaine... sulfa

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

I think the ATDs are just the sort of drugs that many people can react to

with dermatitis. In some Eastern medical traditions, this could be looked at

as detoxifying. Some people who developed hives were able to continue on with

a lower ATD dose and the hives went away. Since hives can spontaneously

appear in GD, the drugs may not have been the cause. The chemical formula for

Tapazole has 4 Carbons, 6 Hydrogens, 2 Nitrogens and 1 Sulfur molecule. It

could be that you're allergic to sulfur more so than sulfates since they both

have sulfur molecules. It's probably going to remain a mystery, though. Take

care, Elaine

[Guest guest]

Thanks Elaine,

I will check into these!

My endo said there was no other medicine that I could take! Ugh!!! She did

say though, that I would have iodide, but it needs to be timed for the

surgery. So in the meantime, I was just out of luck in hyperland!

I called the pharmacist at Walgreens, she said that Tapizole and PTU do have

" sulpha " in them. I asked her if it was " sulfur " or " sulfa " , she said

" sulfa " with an " a " .

I asked her where Walgreens gets their information, she said, and online

internet service, " Clinical Pharmacology " . I went there but it is a pay

service. They have a free demo service that you could use, but it is under

construction.

She said that she used the package insert for the both of the ATD's, to get

the info on sulfa. I have been searching the web for the actual package

insert, I haven't found it yet. If you know where it is, could you post it

please.

Here is the link for Clinical Pharmacology:

http://cp.gsm.com/

Deb

[Guest guest]

Thanks Elaine,

I bet you are right. I had asked my GP about sulphur, like in matches etc.

she said it is a different compound. I'm not sure about this. If someone

lights a match on the other side of a room, I " taste " it. The same for those

bug candles and gardening fertilizer. I can taste those a few isles away in

a store. I usually have a hard time standing in the same isle, it starts to

make me sick. If I stay near lit bug candles, I start to puff up. The same

for charcol for a grill. Wierd. I'm not sure if all of these have sulfur in

them, but based on my reactions, I figure they do.

The sulpha side of it, I have a hard time eating alot of canned or packed

foods. I can't drink wine at all. The same with many kinds of vitamins.

But with foods, if I eat it every day, for instance, if I eat canned

vegetable for a couple of weeks. The symptoms appear.

To me, the symptoms from the medicines, seem to be more like my reaction to

sulfur. It is interesting. I am going to see if I can see an allergist and

try to confirm it.

Do you think when people have the mild reaction to the ATD's of hives, that

it is possibly because of the sulfur/sulpha? Then when the pt. gets the

lower dose the reaction is less and hives go away?

A doctor somewhere in the past told me that most people who are allergic to

sulpha have hay fever! We know some worse than others. With the allergy

connection to Graves and with Graves giving spontaneous hives, I wonder if

there is some environmental connection. Like pollen, grass, etc. or foods

made with certain plants, herbs, spices, sugar, etc.. Maybe normally from

these, the symptoms are too mild to show up, except in conjuction with the

ATD's or More than one environmental factor. Setting off the allergic

reaction, hives show up.

Do you know if allergies can raise the antibody level?

I also am curious to know if anyone has noticed if hive reactions from people

on the boards show up more in the spring and fall.

Another interesting thing is, that during the last 17 years when I was not

diagnosed but would go to the docs or ER for what was actually Graves

symptoms, they would always tell me it was allergies. Even when my eyes

bugged out.

Just a thought. It is kind of interesting. Sorry, it is the analytical side

of me. Who knows maybe cutting out as many as possible of the allergic

environmental factors can help with the itching that people have when they

get those annoying hives or maybe it would bring down the antibody levels, if

they rise when we get allergies. If someone trys it, let us know.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Thanks Elaine,

I bet you are right. I had asked my GP about sulphur, like in matches etc.

she said it is a different compound. I'm not sure about this. If someone

lights a match on the other side of a room, I " taste " it. The same for those

bug candles and gardening fertilizer. I can taste those a few isles away in

a store. I usually have a hard time standing in the same isle, it starts to

make me sick. If I stay near lit bug candles, I start to puff up. The same

for charcol for a grill. Wierd. I'm not sure if all of these have sulfur in

them, but based on my reactions, I figure they do.

The sulpha side of it, I have a hard time eating alot of canned or packed

foods. I can't drink wine at all. The same with many kinds of vitamins.

But with foods, if I eat it every day, for instance, if I eat canned

vegetable for a couple of weeks. The symptoms appear.

To me, the symptoms from the medicines, seem to be more like my reaction to

sulfur. It is interesting. I am going to see if I can see an allergist and

try to confirm it.

Do you think when people have the mild reaction to the ATD's of hives, that

it is possibly because of the sulfur/sulpha? Then when the pt. gets the

lower dose the reaction is less and hives go away?

A doctor somewhere in the past told me that most people who are allergic to

sulpha have hay fever! We know some worse than others. With the allergy

connection to Graves and with Graves giving spontaneous hives, I wonder if

there is some environmental connection. Like pollen, grass, etc. or foods

made with certain plants, herbs, spices, sugar, etc.. Maybe normally from

these, the symptoms are too mild to show up, except in conjuction with the

ATD's or More than one environmental factor. Setting off the allergic

reaction, hives show up.

Do you know if allergies can raise the antibody level?

I also am curious to know if anyone has noticed if hive reactions from people

on the boards show up more in the spring and fall.

Another interesting thing is, that during the last 17 years when I was not

diagnosed but would go to the docs or ER for what was actually Graves

symptoms, they would always tell me it was allergies. Even when my eyes

bugged out.

Just a thought. It is kind of interesting. Sorry, it is the analytical side

of me. Who knows maybe cutting out as many as possible of the allergic

environmental factors can help with the itching that people have when they

get those annoying hives or maybe it would bring down the antibody levels, if

they rise when we get allergies. If someone trys it, let us know.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Thanks Elaine,

I bet you are right. I had asked my GP about sulphur, like in matches etc.

she said it is a different compound. I'm not sure about this. If someone

lights a match on the other side of a room, I " taste " it. The same for those

bug candles and gardening fertilizer. I can taste those a few isles away in

a store. I usually have a hard time standing in the same isle, it starts to

make me sick. If I stay near lit bug candles, I start to puff up. The same

for charcol for a grill. Wierd. I'm not sure if all of these have sulfur in

them, but based on my reactions, I figure they do.

The sulpha side of it, I have a hard time eating alot of canned or packed

foods. I can't drink wine at all. The same with many kinds of vitamins.

But with foods, if I eat it every day, for instance, if I eat canned

vegetable for a couple of weeks. The symptoms appear.

To me, the symptoms from the medicines, seem to be more like my reaction to

sulfur. It is interesting. I am going to see if I can see an allergist and

try to confirm it.

Do you think when people have the mild reaction to the ATD's of hives, that

it is possibly because of the sulfur/sulpha? Then when the pt. gets the

lower dose the reaction is less and hives go away?

A doctor somewhere in the past told me that most people who are allergic to

sulpha have hay fever! We know some worse than others. With the allergy

connection to Graves and with Graves giving spontaneous hives, I wonder if

there is some environmental connection. Like pollen, grass, etc. or foods

made with certain plants, herbs, spices, sugar, etc.. Maybe normally from

these, the symptoms are too mild to show up, except in conjuction with the

ATD's or More than one environmental factor. Setting off the allergic

reaction, hives show up.

Do you know if allergies can raise the antibody level?

I also am curious to know if anyone has noticed if hive reactions from people

on the boards show up more in the spring and fall.

Another interesting thing is, that during the last 17 years when I was not

diagnosed but would go to the docs or ER for what was actually Graves

symptoms, they would always tell me it was allergies. Even when my eyes

bugged out.

Just a thought. It is kind of interesting. Sorry, it is the analytical side

of me. Who knows maybe cutting out as many as possible of the allergic

environmental factors can help with the itching that people have when they

get those annoying hives or maybe it would bring down the antibody levels, if

they rise when we get allergies. If someone trys it, let us know.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

You may want to call the actual companies who mfg. the tap and synthroid and

speak to someone from them. When I have a question about my Armour, I call

the Armour division of Forrester and they have been wonderful with me. They

may beable to tell you exactly what is in them (sulpha/sulpher) how much in

each pill, what fillers they use things like that. I can not take anything

with yellow dye in it. It makes me sick in a short amount of time.

You should be able to get phone numbers from the mfg. sites, and the

druggest at walmart should be able to tell you who mfg. both of those drugs.

Talk to you soon,

Jody

_________________________________________________________________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

You may want to call the actual companies who mfg. the tap and synthroid and

speak to someone from them. When I have a question about my Armour, I call

the Armour division of Forrester and they have been wonderful with me. They

may beable to tell you exactly what is in them (sulpha/sulpher) how much in

each pill, what fillers they use things like that. I can not take anything

with yellow dye in it. It makes me sick in a short amount of time.

You should be able to get phone numbers from the mfg. sites, and the

druggest at walmart should be able to tell you who mfg. both of those drugs.

Talk to you soon,

Jody

_________________________________________________________________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

You may want to call the actual companies who mfg. the tap and synthroid and

speak to someone from them. When I have a question about my Armour, I call

the Armour division of Forrester and they have been wonderful with me. They

may beable to tell you exactly what is in them (sulpha/sulpher) how much in

each pill, what fillers they use things like that. I can not take anything

with yellow dye in it. It makes me sick in a short amount of time.

You should be able to get phone numbers from the mfg. sites, and the

druggest at walmart should be able to tell you who mfg. both of those drugs.

Talk to you soon,

Jody

_________________________________________________________________

Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

Active allergic reactions cause your levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) to

rise, and people with higher IgE levels have worse symptoms of GD. In Japan,

allergies to cedar pollen are considered one of the most common triggers for

GD.

It's important with any autoimmune disease to keep your allergies controlled.

If you're allergic to sulfur and sulfur compounds, the usual ATDs could be

too much of a strain on your immune system.

How severely you react to allergens is under genetic control. So some people

who just have a mild rash are programmed to react mildly and their immune

systems are able to respond effectively reducing the symptoms without

problems. Let us know if you decide to see an allergist to confirm this. Take

care elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

Active allergic reactions cause your levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) to

rise, and people with higher IgE levels have worse symptoms of GD. In Japan,

allergies to cedar pollen are considered one of the most common triggers for

GD.

It's important with any autoimmune disease to keep your allergies controlled.

If you're allergic to sulfur and sulfur compounds, the usual ATDs could be

too much of a strain on your immune system.

How severely you react to allergens is under genetic control. So some people

who just have a mild rash are programmed to react mildly and their immune

systems are able to respond effectively reducing the symptoms without

problems. Let us know if you decide to see an allergist to confirm this. Take

care elaine

[Guest guest]

Hi Deb,

Active allergic reactions cause your levels of immunoglobulin E (IgE) to

rise, and people with higher IgE levels have worse symptoms of GD. In Japan,

allergies to cedar pollen are considered one of the most common triggers for

GD.

It's important with any autoimmune disease to keep your allergies controlled.

If you're allergic to sulfur and sulfur compounds, the usual ATDs could be

too much of a strain on your immune system.

How severely you react to allergens is under genetic control. So some people

who just have a mild rash are programmed to react mildly and their immune

systems are able to respond effectively reducing the symptoms without

problems. Let us know if you decide to see an allergist to confirm this. Take

care elaine

[Guest guest]

I had this exact same thing!! The hives and itching when I first started the

tapazole. I have always had an allergy to sulfa drugs, but didn't know about

them being in tapazole. Anyway, Randa, I am now doing fine on tapazole so

hopefully you will be OK too. The hives went away after about three weeks. It

was pretty miserable when I had them...had to take lots of oatmeal baths and

stuff. Good luck!

Elaine... sulfa

Hi Randa,

There is a slight difference, and I have flagged your question this way, so

Elaine can give you a better explanation than I can.

I too have had problems with normal sulfa drugs in the past. But I was on

ATDs for three and a half years.

I did have problems with itching and hives in the very beginning. While

could have been from Graves' itself, of the fact that I had to take large

amounts of ATDs at first.

Once my dose was reduced, the itching went away.

We simply kept a close watch on my white blood count and I continued on,

scratching , but less hyper. It sure was a relief when the dose was reduced.

Having your liver and WBC done before you start the ATDs is very important,

because Graves' will cause problems with these, and you don't want to be

blaming the drugs. Which would unnecessarily give you less options in

treatment.

( Doris... could I have the URL you found on this please. Yes, it is back in

the 'old' machine )

-Pam- still in remission !

[Guest guest]

Jody,

Thanks, that's a good idea to call the pharmasutical company. I will try

that, maybe they will mail me a package insert.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Jody,

Thanks, that's a good idea to call the pharmasutical company. I will try

that, maybe they will mail me a package insert.

Deb

[Guest guest]

Jody,

Thanks, that's a good idea to call the pharmasutical company. I will try

that, maybe they will mail me a package insert.

Deb