Allergies - my story

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I am allergic to nickel, and some years ago I had a really bad allergic reaction. I was using a hair clip that contained nickel and I wasn't aware of it. I lost some of my hair, and I had to cut the rest of my hair in order to repair the damage. I had bald spots for a long time, but my hair has grown back now. That hair clip didn't just affect my hair, it also made me allergic to food that contains a lot of nickel. In most cases that doesn't happen. Most people with this type of allergy only get an allergic reaction if they wear things that contain nickel or if they come into contact with nickel in other ways. They don't get an allergic reaction if they eat food that contains a lot of nickel. At first my doctor didn't know what it was, and he didn't believe that food with nickel was able to cause red spot all over my body. I asked him directly and he said: "No, that is not possible" I still thought that there could be a connection, so I decided conduct my own experiment. I stopped eating food that contains a lot of nickel (nuts, chocolate, some vegetables etc) and two weeks later 95% of my rash had disappeared. As soon as I started eating those things again my rash returned. I asked another doctor and he immediately knew what I was talking about. It is a rare thing, but it happens to some people. He told me told me to stick to food with low nickel content for a couple of months. "That usually solves the problem" he said. I did what he said, but nothing changed. The rash always came back. It is impossible to avoid nickel completely, and even the small amounts of nickel I got from other kinds of food were enough to cause itchy, red spots all over my body. My doctor gave me different ointments, but they only helped for a while. I accepted that it was never going to disappear for good, but this year the rash suddenly disappeared. It looks like I finally got rid of the food allergy. I gradually started eating more of the food that I have been avoiding for so long, and I didn't get a rash. The second doctor said two months - it actually took 6 years...but at least I am finally able to eat chocolate again