Hi All,

I'm relatively new here so maybe this has or hasn't been discussed before. I my AA start about 9 years ago. It was triggered by illness unfortunately. I saw one of the top dermatologists in Canada who started  me on Clobetasol along with Rogaine lotion and Kenalog injections. After a few months, I was just starting to see the hair grow back but then suddenly, my scalp broke out in huge blistering sores in the treatment area. The doctor said that I likely developed an allergy to one of the products so I underwent allergy testing and lo and behold, I was allergic to propylene glycol but apparently not the steroids. The blisters stayed for a long time and was quite painful so I was put on prednisone tablets. Before long, the rash spread to the trunk of my body. 

Fast forward…...I tried using Rogaine Foam because it did not have propylene glycol in it which I would drive to the USA for because at that time several years ago, it was not available in Canada. The curious thing in all of this is that the foam without having propylene glycol in it, immediately caused a rash after just one application. So the Dr. could not figure this out, but the bottom line was for me to stop treatments and learn to accept the new me with two large balding areas that never resolved.

Over the years, I would get occasional rashes using certain hair products. I would quickly discover that any shampoo or hair product that contained propylene glycol was my enemy. My intolerance is so bad now that if I get exposed to it now in a hair product, the rash can stay for months. Not fun for sure. 

So....where am I going with this? Just curious to know how many of us have a similar story with being overdosed in our systems to propylene glycol to the point of developing an allergy to it? Propylene glycol is in so many products in Canada that it is scary. It can be found in most hair care, cosmetics, personal care products, many drug tablets/caplets. And if that's not maddening enough, it is in hundreds of food products. So, if your allergy is serious enough, you have to start reading every label on everything. But it gets scarier, there are so many food items here in Canada whereby they don't even list it on the label. Like flavoured coffee pods. Just wanting to know how many people suffer from this like me and if they maybe developed this allergy in the first place with a hair loss treatment.