Seafood Allergy and Betadine

[kabeerah]

I hope someone can help me out here. I am almost 35 yrs old. When I was 23 yrs old I had an acute allergic reaction to some cod fish that I had for lunch on a buffet. After being treated (and almost brought back from the dead), the doc warned me that in the future I should alert all medical personael that they should not use betasdine when treating me, because the allergy could be to iodine. I have told everyone this everytime I am in hospital or clinic. I even stopped the ppl in the OR during my last c sec when they were about to clean the utensils with it. i have it in my file and tell all doctors and nurses but they all seem to have never heard this and still make an attempt to use it until I insist they do not.

Now I am wondrering if the lack of cleansing could be the cause of my toe infection not healing (probably not...I'm about sure it's due to my diabetes). I go for dressings everyday, but they do not use the betadine to clean it. I am to have my WLS next week and now I am starting to worry about this because when I told my sergeon he kinda looked like "whatever" and told me to remind him before surgery.

Has anybody ever heard of such a thing? Is there really a relation? I ate seafood all my life up until that incident. Is cleaning utensils, skin, and wounds with betadine cause for concern for someone who is allergic to seafood? I have been researching this for years but it is inconclusive.

Thank you.

[dotsamantha]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

Betadine is a name given to Povidone-Iodine.

Is a shellfish allergy the same as an iodine allergy
An allergy to shrimp or crab or salmon, for example, has nothing to do with allergy to iodine. A person could be allergic to both but the allergy to shrimp is due to a protein in the shrimp, not to iodine.

Identified seafood allergens belong to a group of muscle proteins, such as the parvalbumins in codfish and salmon and tropomyosin in crustaceans (shrimp, lobster and crabs). In addition, tropomyosin is a cross-reactive allergen among crustaceans and mollusks such as oysters and scallops (5). Eating the seafood is not the only way to have an shellfish allergic reaction; it has also been reported to be air-borne in places such as a fish market (6).

Seafood allergy and iodine allergy are unrelated
Even though seafood is a rich source of natural iodine, allergic reactions to seafood proteins have a different mechanism to that described with iodine in topical antiseptics (like Betadine or Povidine) or intravenous xray radio contrast agents. Patients allergic to seafood are not at an increased risk of allergic reactions to iodine. Those with iodine allergy are not at increased risk of seafood allergy.

The Iodine Allergy Myth

Some people that have a history of allergy to shellfish, a history of a previous reaction to IV iodinated contrast, or a history of a reaction to a topical iodine solution, have been told that they have "iodine allergy." This is actually not correct. "Iodine Allergy" doesn't really exist. Iodine is a substance essential to life and is found throughout your body like within thyroid hormone or in amino acids, your body's basic building blocks. The reactions experienced in each of these situations do not have to do with the presence of the iodine. Instead, in each case the reaction is to another substance. In the case of shellfish, the reaction is to tropomyosin, a muscle protein. In the case of iodinated contrast, it is the other portion of the contrast molecule, not the iodine. In the case of topical iodine solution, it is to other substances in the solution, not the iodine itself.

Shellfish allergy is not a contraindication to iodinated contrast because the allergy is entirely unrelated. This is a longstanding myth even within the medical community and is difficult to dispel. To some degree, asthma will increase the possibility of a contrast reaction. Sensitivity to Betadine® and other Iodine-containing solutions is unrelated to reactions to iodinated radiographic contrast agents.

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Have you gotten medical allergy tests to determine if you're allergic to iodine, betadine, and seafood proteins?

Hope that helps a bit.

[kabeerah]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

A bit?! More like a life saver! And boy was that fast! were you just sitting on that infro or are you a google expert? Amazing! Do you have a link?

I have never been tested for any allergies. I was told this my the ER doc who treated me for my allergic reaction to Cod. I have not had any seafood in any form or anything with iodine i over 10 years based on this.

Thank You

[dotsamantha]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

Honeslty, I just searched the words betadine iodine seafood allergy on google. Now, I don't want you to hurt yourself, i'm not a doctor. I'm an EMS technician, but that doesn't qualify me to give out advice. My best suggestion is getting the tests.

[kabeerah]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

thanks. i googled it in too and it came up. i had been searching for years on yahoo and hadnt found anything. well its been a long time since i searched. thanks again. it does explain alot about my hypothyroidism and my moodiness lately. my baby cant tolerate dairy and i am nusring so i cut that out...i dont eat seafood..i dont cook with salt..i may have an iodine deficency!

[dotsamantha]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

I hope you find out what the culprit is!

[2big4mysize]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

you have been eating veggies and meats containing natural iodine this whole time I'd bet.

Yep lack of iodine is a primary cause of hypothyroidism and goiters which are very curable with added iodine. I have a betadine sensitivity but not to seafood at all. looks like your ER doc was passing on that myth in the med community mentioned in the article above.

yep get checked.

[sunflowergrl]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

I am allergic to Betadine, but not seafood. I break out in terrible rash, almost blisters from that stuff!! Its hard to get doctors to beleive you, they never believe me about my severe penecillin allergy. They always look at me like I am a 'silly female', but I refuse to take any (I haven't had an anti-biotic in 6 years). Good luck, I hope you find your answers.

[Analog6]

Re: Seafood Allergy and Betadine

What do you use for cleaning the toe? Peroxide can be used but I'm not sure if it is best for soemthing like this. There must be other antiseptics that would be OK.
I think you need to go and have some allergy tests - it may not have even been the codfish! Had you previously eaten seafood OK?