Who am I, and what is “PEG”?

My name is JV and I am the parent of a daughter with a life-threatening allergy to Polyethylene Glycol (PEG).

Polyethylene Glycol — PEG — is a substance that is nearly all-pervasive in society today.

PEG is in everything from medications (check your medicine cabinet — you’ll find it in Tylenol, Advil, Benadryl, birth control, etc.) to soaps and detergents. It’s in lotions and “with lotion” tissues. It’s in makeup and air fresheners (think Febreeze — even the unscented version) as well as in most laundry products (detergents, fabric softeners, etc.). It’s even in products we consume (Dr. Pepper for instance).

While PEG is “general recognized as safe” by the FDA, life-threatening PEG allergies gained public attention when the first mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 were released and a small percentage of people had severe life-threatening allergic reactions to them. This was when my daughter and I started to realize that the debilitating physical illness and symptoms she had been experiencing for five years were caused by PEGs in the everyday common household products and medications we were using.

This blog is meant to help others with this condition learn ways to avoid PEG in their lives, and it is based solely on the experiences of our family. I am not a medical practitioner and this blog is not intended as medical advice.

We have found no medical professionals who understand the severity and impact of a severe PEG allergy on daily living and interactions in the social world. Additionally, there are so many different names that PEG hides under in everyday products that it is very challenging for anyone trying to identify “safe” products.

While there are many websites and blogs dedicated to avoiding different substances, this one is very specifically focused on our medical need to avoid PEG.

This has been and continues to be a long challenging journey for us. You are welcome to walk along with us and to share your own journey and any questions you have.

Further reading on medical allergies to PEG:

www.anaphylaxis.org.uk/fact-sheet/allergy-to-polyethylene-glycols/