Fast forward to January 2022. Something triggered my allergic reaction. Once again, I woke to consistently dry lips, and a somewhat annoying itchy neck. (Readers unfamiliar with the story line can catch up with Allergic to … Part 1. Japan)

What’s this? I’m not allergic to a random, unknown, exotic something in Japan? It’s something here in Australia too? Oh, that’s a bit of a disappointment!

I wondered what it was. In hindsight, there were probably some clues. In January, we did a major house clean prior to decorating. Furniture was moved, lots of dust, spring cleaning of all those nooks and crannies. Then, half of the house was painted; time to freshen up the rooms! It’s lovely and bright and fresh now.

We’ve had houses painted in the past, and done the requisite preparation and cleaning, and I have not had any negative consequences. But this time … dry lips, itchy neck, and then the development once again of the rash and swollen eyes. Deadpool 2!!!

This time, at least I could hide somewhat behind a face mask due to COVID. Or was that making the allergy worse??

Once again, antihistamines helped, and antibiotics, lots of ointments and creams. Eventually back to “normal”. But what’s the cause? My GP suggested going to a specialist, so I booked in for a non-urgent consultation …. 6 months later!!

The specialist’s eyes lit up when I mentioned the timeline of painting inside the house. It’s probably likely to be Kathon, “Contact Allergen of the Year 2013.” A common preservative in paint, responsible for many recent new allergic reactions. Let’s patch test!!

Patch-testing time. 60 of the most common allergens to be placed on my back. Six large patches with ten allergens each. The patches go on Friday. No showering until the test readings are done the following Monday and Wednesday.

This will be easy. It’s just like a big Band-Aid with lots of little applications of potential allergens on my back. No problems. I have a high threshold for pain. Piece of cake. Walk in the park.

I’ve never been so itchy in my life!! I felt like a cat needing a scratching pole. A horse, looking for a fence to lean on? They did recommend leaning on the fridge – the cool, hard metal providing some relief!

I thought this was normal, and as expected. The specialist on Monday when removing the patches, however, was surprised with the number of reactions. On the verge of what’s known as “angry back” – where the strength of the reaction essentially makes every patch react unnecessarily. I had a number of quite strong reactions. Nearly every patch of ten allergens had at least one reaction. No wonder I was itchy!

By Wednesday, some of the reactions had calmed down somewhat, and results read. Some minor reactions resolved, and the “winners” declared.

Turns out that yes, I have a strong allergic reaction to Kathon (one of the trade names for MCI/MI Methylchloroisothiazolinone/ Methylisothiazolinone), a preservative used in paint. MCI/MI is also found in everyday items such as cosmetics, cleaning products, shampoos and the like.

But wait, that’s not all. There’s an equally strong reaction to Quaternium 15, another preservative. Oh yes, also a positive reaction to another family of preservatives, the ~ureas. And a mild reaction to both Formaldehyde and Propylene Glycol. The specialist warned me it might be tricky to find products with a preservative I can use!!

In hindsight, it was probably the paint and house cleaners. Back in Japan? Maybe shampoos and other products? Two of my long-term favourite shampoos and face wash had a guilty ingredient – no wonder some days my neck was blotchy before the day had even started!

Did I mention that I also had a positive reaction for a contact allergy for Sodium Metabisulfite? Yes, one of those “sulfites” sneakily added to a stack of foods, including some wines. Grr, you nasty little preservative E223!

Fortunately, these are all only a contact allergy with rashes and minimal swelling, not life-threatening anaphylactic reactions.

The conclusion is that I have a strong reaction to three products, a moderate reaction to a further five, which when you consider all the alternative naming conventions and currently used brand names, is a list of more than 130 items to avoid in an ingredient list!

The search for the allergen might be over, but the journey to skin-friendly products has only just started!