Years ago, I read an article by Pat Fish that totally saved my life. I thought like many, that a latex allergy would present itself with an obvious rash that would alert one to question what could be happening. Not so. With nothing more than a dust allergy my entire life, I had no idea why I was feeling so ill. When I read Pat's article about the insidious symptoms caused by latex allergies, I immediately called my allergist explaining to his Nurse Practitioner what was happening. They told me to come right over. She took my vitals and I had a misty mask slapped on my face in seconds. According to the Allergist, not only was I what he considered classic but I was inches away from anaphylactic shock. I was shutting down. I was trying to see their adamant faces through the mist as they were telling me (somewhat yelling at me) that I had to find a new career. The entire event was surreal. More things to inhale, lying back, they continued checking my vitals; I remember they called my husband. I wasn't permitted to drive. They allowed me to go home since my supervising surgeon and his nurse wife lived directly across the street from me. He was called and alerted of my symptoms. I was ordered out of my institute for a minimum of 30 days to allow my sinus and respiratory system to de-sensitize. I couldn't bring anything from there into my home since it would be contaminated with latex. Unless all of the brand new carpeting with latex backing was removed I could not return to my institute. The new carpet was considered toxic since the latex powder was imbedded in it. I had to have the walls washed once the carpet was gone and a new floor installed without latex bonding.
 
"I had been feeling so ill for so long and just kept rationalizing it away. Women are very good at that, especially busy women like all of us."

Pat's article listed symptoms that initially can be cerebrally invalidated until they become more pronounced and ultimately dangerous.
 
Every time we snap off a glove the latex dust flies 50 feet. So it doesn't take long to contaminate any area. I also worked with an OR right across from my first office, where an entire surgical team snapped gloves off every day, all day. If you are like me and shower in the morning, we go home and sleep on a pillow case saturated with these toxins. They remain in our hair, nasal passages and ears. We rub our faces into our pillowcases every night for approximately a week. The toxins continue to build during that week making the exposure that much more potent. So, you see, it doesn't help if you shower in the morning. 
 
My ears would itch which I blamed on the cordless and cellular phones since they heat up a bit. Wrong again, it was the powder sitting in my ears and then sleeping with it, all night long. I had strange sore throats that would come and go. Sometimes by the end of the day my voice would sound as though I inhaled helium gas. My throat was actually beginning to swell on the inside. Waking up with headaches was a whole new experience, especially since I never get headaches. I would take 2 Advil and an Allegra and tell myself I was just stressing because we were so busy. Since most clients were arriving complaining of their allergies, I thought nothing of it. Fatigue was building and I noticed that it was taking a lot of caffeine to get through a day. I developed vertigo. There were days I could barely walk a straight line. My chair would spin and I would have to stop working and wait until it passed. I blamed it on working too hard. I just needed a rest. I rationalized every symptom away and as you can see it wasn't hard. Keep in mind, my son had 2 additional kidney transplants during this time. There was a bit of stress.
 
I have always prided myself with knowing my body, but I totally missed the boat on this one. It is that insidious.
 
The bottom line is that none of us should be using latex powdered gloves or even un-powdered latex gloves. The point that is made in every article I've read it occurs from prolonged exposure. Most of us work 6 inches from our gloves. We have a fabulous career and want to do it a long time. Why risk it?
 
I have never had anything that closely resembles these symptoms, ever again. I have a 2400 square foot training institute that is latex free.
 
Sincerely,
Rose Marie Beauchemin
Director of Education, The Beau Institute