Puffy Eyes Caused Hypothyroidism, Iodine and Selenium Deficiencies

My initial thoughts were that my puffy eyes were caused by a dust mite intolerance, isothiazolinone allergy or simply a bad diet with too much coffee.

Well eating a better diet with less coffee and at the same time buying dust mite covers for my bedding and getting rid of shampoos, hair conditioners and fabric softener containing isothiazolinones did significantly make my puffy eye become less swollen. The improvement was very slow and only seen over the course of several months.

However it still wasn’t quite back to normal and still one eye was more puffy than the other. I might not have worried so much if this problem didn’t appear suddenly one morning rather than gradually over time.

Researching on the Internet has revealed that Western diets are low in selenium and iodine (found in seaweed and sea kelp). We are exposed to bromine, fluorine and chlorine which compete in our bodies for the places where iodine should rightfully go. Lack of selenium and iodine can cause hypothyroidism, of which one symptom is puffy eyes. Now I don’t have any other symptoms of hypothyroidism and a blood test didn’t reveal anything wrong with my thyroid hormones. However Internet research revealed to me that blood tests can be inconclusive and that just because you don’t get the full blown disease doesn’t mean your body isn’t suffering from a deficiency of iodine and selenium. Incidentally I read on the Internet that black teas and coffee can contain fluoride, which again can out-compete iodine in your body.

So last week I purchased a bottle of thyroid support vitamins and minerals. It contains, of course, both selenium and iodine, along with copper and zinc. I have also purchased a bottle of sea kelp.

Chronic Dehydration Aggravates Allergies

There is no doubt that the preservative benzisothiazolinone (a derivative of isothiazolinone, used in many liquid products such as shampoos, conditioners, liquid soaps, fabric conditioners, washing liquids, cleaning products etc.) caused the skin under my eyes to swell up. As the months went on I started to get facial swelling in the mornings, in addition to the swollen eyes. Only until I threw away the fabric softener and washed my sheets and pillow cases without fabric softener did the facial swelling stop. It stopped very soon afterwards.

After I stopped using fabric softener, my facial swelling went totally away and the swelling under my eyes diminished. However it did not totally go away. In the mornings, I sometimes had a swollen eye upon waking that got better as the day progressed.

It was only until I started drinking more water during the day, did the badly swollen eye upon waking up go away. I believe over a course of a year or two, I may have become chronically dehydrated by drinking lots of tea and coffee and not drinking enough tap water. I read on a website that chronic dehydration increases your levels of histamines and can amplify the effects of allergies.

The only troubling thing is that my face is still a little asymmetrical. I guess having a swollen eye for the best part of a year will have stretched the skin.

It was rather worrying to wake up one morning with a swollen eye that stayed for months and then progressed onto rather scary facial swelling. This went on for the better part of a whole year until I read a newspaper article about the problems of isothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, methylchloroisothiazolinone and benzisothiazolinone and eliminated cleaning products containing them from my home. It would have been nice to have some help from the National Health Service in the United Kingdom, but the GPs I saw couldn’t care less. Waiting weeks to see a GP for only a few minutes isn’t enough time to make a diagnosis. They should have referred me to a dermatologist as they could not make a diagnosis. If the GPs listened to what I said about the timing of events or bothered to question me, then the problem could have been identified much sooner.

Further Thoughts On Puffy Eyes

In my first post I described how fabric softener was causing the skin under my eyes to blow up. The skin under your eyes is much thinner than anywhere else.

But it could be anything in your life causing it. It could be your shampoo, conditioner, cleaning agents, washing up liquid, liquid soap, nail polish, cosmetics, deodorant…. Try switching to a non-biological washing powder.

Maybe you are drinking too much green or black tea as both contain fluoride, which can wreck many of your body’s life processes. Try switching to a brand of toothpaste that does not contain fluoride.

Make sure you eat lots of vegetables, green leafy vegetables such as watercress and less meat, grains, pasta and bread. Avoid fried food and try to use olive oil or coconut oil as opposed to vegetable ones.

Having puffy skin around your eyes is worrying, but if you keep touching the area you may be prolonging the problem. Beware that your puffy eye cream may be causing you to keep having puffy eyes.