Dangers of Latex, Nitrile and Vinyl Gloves to Epileptics

As an epileptic, we all know what would trigger my seizures may or may not apply to you, so keep this in mind as you read on. I would also like to say that, though I'm an epileptic, I'm not on any AEDs nor any other prescribed drugs, and had only taken Phenobarbital for an extremely short time in early childhood due to tonic-clonic events. Before I begin on the dangers of wearing latex/nitrile/vinyl gloves for epileptics, I must mention of short term seizure events that occurred to me as an adult over the last 30 years: 1) Working with Mortar Mix (4 different incidents triggering an aura and nocturnal tics) 2) Latex Paint (triggering an aura and nocturnal tics after the 9th day of a large project) 3) Cat Litter (triggering nocturnal tics until I simply got up in the middle of the night and placed the litter box outside and opened up the windows to bring in fresh air) 4) Drinking Perrier sparking mineral water (gradually the nocturnal tics worsened from 0 to 1, and occasionally to 2, on a scale of 5 over a 6 month period) ALL the items above contain Calcium Carbonate. What is 'antacid'? Antacid is calcium carbonate. What is TUMS, in addition to being a relief for heartburn? TUMS is a commonly known antacid, hence calcium carbonate. On the web, Atkins for Seizures has a list of 'dietary and chemical seizure triggers' which lists 'antacid' as a trigger for some epileptics. Please do check out the list at https://atkinsforseizures.com/dietary-chemical-seizure-triggers/ for you may find an answer to your/someone's seizure trigger(s). So now to the latex/nitrile/vinyl gloves, which immediately triggered nocturnal tics after wearing, initially, latex and then nitrile gloves, that very 1st night of day 1 on my new job. Because of my prior negative side effects (nocturnal tics and auras) when I came in physical contact or air borne particles in mortar mix, latex paint and cat litter, followed by prior research I did which pointed to Calcium Carbonate being the root cause, I highly suspected that all these gloves contained Calcium Carbonate. And sure enough, on my first day off from my new job, I found the evidence at AMMEX's (manufacturer of gloves) website: https://blog.ammex.com/how-latex-gloves-are-made/ https://blog.ammex.com/how-nitrile-and-vinyl-gloves-are-made/ Brought both these articles to the attention of my new large corporation employer and was then directed to go down the path of reporting my injury (allergic reaction to latex & nitrile gloves) which then led to it being a Worker's Compensation case, and, at that point in time, I was in the peril of having to prove that, as an epileptic, I am: 1) Highly sensitive to Calcium Carbonate 2) The gloves specifically manufactured by Ansell (the maker of the gloves which my new employer utilizes ) contains Calcium Carbonate BTW - I need to reach out to the many epileptics and family members/friends of epileptics for an excellent Worker's Compensation lawyer in the Denver area, I'm in great need of one right now. So 1 week into this Work Comp case, the nocturnal tics subsided and off to Vitamin Cottage I went to buy a bottle of powered Calcium Carbonate (amazed I was to see all the variation of calcium one can buy nowadays). Got home and washed some dishes (because I wanted to open my skin pores and, of course, and I had no intention of digesting it since I suspected my nocturnal tics were triggered by skin contact to the Calcium Carbonate that the gloves contained....and not the eating of the gloves (HA! HA! HA! The eating of gloves!!! We epileptics must find humor in anyway possible, so bear with me). So I placed the recommended dosage,ie, 1/2 tsp, which the label stated was 46% Daily Value, into the palm of my hand and added few drops of water to turn it into a paste, rubbed my hands together (BTW- It was 7:30pm when I did this), then laid down on my bed and placed myself in a relaxed state, like I would normally do when falling asleep. Within 2 minutes, the tics began. I counted 1 tic every 5 to 12 seconds for the next 1 minute, then I decided to stop my experiment, so I got up and washed my hands. Unfortunately for me, later that night at 10pm when I went to bed, my little experiment turned into a 4 hour multi-nocturnal tic event every 5 to 12 seconds (just like my prior exposure to mortar mix, latex paint, cat litter, latex/nitrile gloves). By the 3rd night the nocturnal tics subsided altogether. Now that I've proven to myself that I'm highly sensitive to Calcium Carbonate, now I must prove that Ansell Hyflex 11-840 and 11-541 gloves also contains Calcium Carbonate. The manufacturer Ansell was very helpful and quickly responded to my email stating: "Please note that neither or our (sic) Hyflex 11-840 or Hyflex 11-541 contain calcium carbonate (Note: this is incorrect because in the next statement the Ansell representative mentions Calcium Nitrate twice....which Wikipedia states is Calcium Carbonate + Nitric Acid. And for those who are not aware, Limestone and Calcium Carbonate are used interchangeably) in the nitrile coating formulation. However, a calcium nitrate/water solution is used to coagulate the coating. Therefore residual calcium nitrate will be present on the coating surface." So now I go off to see an allergist to resolve my Worker's Comp case with my bottle of Calcium Carbonate and, of course, he's never heard of a case that skin exposure to calcium carbonate would trigger nocturnal tics. In fact, looking bewildered as I described my history/symptoms and the gloves, he said, "TUMS?" in pure disbelief. Being an allergist, he simply proceeded in performing a skin test which I stated to him would not produce a rash and, sure enough, it didn't. But here's what happened: 1) About 4 minutes after a single prick of the Calcium Carbonate (mixed with a saline solution) and left alone in the routine 15 minute wait time during a skin test, the tics began every 10 seconds and then subsided after about another 5 minutes. 2) That same night I had ~3 hours of non-stop tics every 5 to 12 seconds. BTW - In addition to the tics, just like prior incidents, triggered other symptoms throughout the day and/or night: Chest pains, lack of cognitive thinking, extreme anxiety, rapped and irregular heat beat, unable to focus/perform tasks that required me to sit still while working on a computer, to name some of the worst of the worst symptoms. So from the Allergist, I get a referral to see a Neurologist (yep, I am an epileptic that was able to avoid neurologists my entire life until now). And the Neurologist gives me the same bewildered look when I mentioned my hyper-sensitivity to "TUM?". So after 5 days hospitalized in EMU, he's wanting to trigger a full blown seizure though I reminded him multi times that this is a Worker's Comp case, therefore, all that need to be proven is the nocturnal tics triggered by the wearing of the gloves. And, sure enough, the nocturnal tics did occur along with all the other symptoms, but he's the kicker..... ......because no full blown seizure occurred, even after the final night where I placed Calcium Carbonate directly in my hands for hours on end, the Neurologist, of all things, wants to rule out the nocturnal tics being psychosomatic. Can you believe that? I've heard of similar stories of frustrations of epileptics made of their own neurologists, and now it's my turn!. Thus he gave me a referral to see a Psychologist even after he spoke to my husband of 22 years that collaborated all my prior nocturnal tics events triggered by mortar mix, latex paint, sparkling mineral water and cat litter. Please heed my warning of the dangers of Calcium Carbonate which is found in many food and non-food products. And please help me, if you can, in recommending an excellent Worker's Compensation lawyer in the Denver area. I'm in desperate in need of one right now. Finally, may what I've written helps those who are still in search of determining and avoiding your own seizure trigger(s). The more I learned about the Keto diet and the Modified Atkins Diet (MAD), I highly believe my eating habits for the last 30+ years has made me tonic-clonic free and without the need of any AEDs. I. Rangel