Winter Suppliments

With the lack of daylight and being able to get out in time to soak the skin in some sun I am now supplimenting my diet with Vit D, vit E via Oil of Evening Primrose and thought I might throw in some bacteria since it was going cheap at the health food shop - Probiotic Acidophilus.

Still amazed at how parts of my skin can show dryness symptoms. Although I have been told that eczema is the over production of skin and hence the dry flakiness we experience. Thus just keep moisturising........*sigh*

Sleep Illusions

Last year, I managed to have smooth skin for the first time after a very long time and this was with very little usage of steroid creams. I did not suffer itchiness for at least 5 months before I began using an emollient that I have used countless times and that reacted to me. My skin deteriorated.

Since stopping the emollient usage, the itching greatly reduced however the skin hovers about being okay to not okay. When I reflect about what I was doing last year, I was able to focus on getting well, drinking much more water than I am now, eating a healthier diet, moisturising myself about every 1-2 hours and more importantly getting plenty of healing sleep.

This year I have lacked discipline coupled with a never ending stream of work. Sleep is poor and I feel I can attribute any itching to a lack of sleep. It seems simple that when I am tired my skin itches. When I have had good sleep, I itch very little even when I play sport. Yet good sleep is eluding me which means poor skin. Unfortunately, every month my hormones give me 3 nights of sleeplessness. Top that off with work pressures, and my month to month needs a lot of improvements.

And so I understand when they say "stress" can cause eczema......or in my case - the lack of sleep. I steer towards taking an antihistamine when itching is bad.

Hope all you eczema sufferers are blessed with better sleep than myself and if you are not able to get that "beauty sleep" then try to do something about it.

Back to Natural Ways

Burn up completed.....yes I know the darn stuff thins the skin, but either I dig the bad skin off or burn it off with steroids.

Think my spiritual self must be in an imbalanced state. Work and dealing with politics can leave one feeling very aggressive about life. All very unnecessary but there are horrible people in this world who are jealous of any success you might have, who seek to undermine and discredit you.

It is really pitiful how greedy these people can be and how they can stab you in the back and try to turn the knife. Life can be hard if one were to allow these people to get to you, to change the core of you to bitterness. They want you to be ugly with them. My skin may be bad but I don't have the same heart as them and I am glad......

I am so glad I have God and sport in my life. Both of these keep me sane. I am running a marathon a month over 10 months and have just completed my 6th one. I have discovered beautiful parts of the UK so close to home and watching the seasons change from winter, to spring to summer and now to autumn has just been magic.

Burning Off the Skin

Skin continually flaking even when I've not scratched for some days. Decided to hit it with some Fucibet (cortesoid cream) for the next 3 days. Doc had given me this last year when the body was infected and only managed to use it for a week before contracting Shingles! Then I didn't use it again and managed to sort out other external factors to heal the skin.....sleep.....drinking more water......eat more fresh veggies......

However work pressures are not allowing me to sort out sleep and am constantly picking the flaking skin off. I forget to drink at times. I know it's bad and at the moment am weak willed and have poor discipline. Perhaps I should stop working.......and I will take a rest from it all in a couple of months!!!

But in the interim, am burning off the dead skin - either that or I exfoliate it off - but don't think that is good either as it also can pull off good new skin. Got to work/sleep.....

Time is a Healer

2 days I took a step back. I had been neglecting myself due to a lot of work being thrown my way. My skin had returned to being dry, flakey and itchy. The eczema had begun to wrap itself around my body. I had not realised its extent until I took a step back to look at it all. Shame on me, after having fought hard last year to bring my skin back to normal.

This is a good reminder that one cannot let your guard down. I used an emolient earlier this year that put my skin back on the risk register. I changed my emolient at the end of May and then have not had time to fix it, 1/2 expecting it to go away itself. Unfortunately once eczema takes hold it tries to resist going away.

Sleep patterns have been attrocious partly due to work, partly due to scratching at night, partly due to hormones. Now that I have some time out, I am trying to settle sleep back to a regular pattern. I have begun table salt baths back again to gently exfoliate the flakey skin and have been applying mositurising creams and emollients far more regularly than I have done the whole year (about 4-5 times a day and when ever I wake up in the night).

After 2 days the skin has settled a little. There are still areas that are itchy but the itch intensity is more tolerable. It is going to be another hard slog to get it back to normality.

In my head I remind myself be patient with it and try to think more happy thoughts. It might look bad but it will improve better without applying steroid creams. I remind myself that when I have applied steroid creams, the skin becomes delicate and is not a fix until the itch sources are also removed - whether that is diet, sleep, creams, etc. And if I have removed the itch sources then the skin will heal naturally anyway.

Of course there is an expression.....time is a healer :o)

Back on the Road to Healing

Having got rid of the Emulsifying Ointment and replaced it with Epaderm, the skin has been slowly improving and the thickened skin that reappeared is beginning to smoothen off.

Sleep is the one thing I need to get back on track. I like my work but it sucks to have to work late to complete projects or perhaps am treating it too much like school work!

Hope you all are on the road to healing :o)

Another Late Night Scratch

It was late, I was in bed and my stomach was feeling itchy. I tried to ignore it and think of other things, but like so many other nights, the itch would be a niggle and then intensify. I can only guess what was annoying my stomach. Interestingly it was warm and as I began to scratch it became hot.

I knew that if I stayed in bed and tried to ignore the itch, it would only become worst. So I got up and put an ice pack on the area to cool it down. This helped to calm the itch and soon the hive symptoms were packing up and leaving!

I now will not stay in bed if I am itchy!

An Hour Itch

Last night it took 2 hours for the itch to go away. I also iced the area. Everytime I wanted to scratch it, I iced it again with a frozen pack I keep in the freezer. Watched a bit of TV to take my mind of the itch and soon everything settled down. It was 3am when I went to bed with skin feeling calm.

Late Night Scratch - Contact Itch

Right now it's late......really late......nearly 2am.....my neck has been itching like crazy. Think I might have accidently rubbed dust on it as have been moving dusty stuff around. So I did a light scratch. But it never is a light scratch. So now am up in the wee morning trying to sort it out. Have had a wash, changed my towel and had an antihistamine as I had started with a light scratch that turned into something more aggressive.

Now to keep my hands occupied, playing on the internet seems the best to do at this moment......so have to think soft peaceful thoughts......

Slow Reactions

I am 99% sure now that I have been having a slow reaction to Emulsifying Ointment. It is now placed in my "evil list" along with sudocream. Neither actually helps reduce the symptoms of eczema nor do they help moisturise the skin. Sudocream acts more like a barrier cream and is just expensive crap. Emulsifying Ointment just seems to be another toxin to my skin and is cheap crap.

I started using Emulsifying Ointment (EO) in February when I finished my last lot of Epaderm Emollient. My skin was soooo much better then. I foolishly thought that it would be okay to go back to my previous emollient of EO. It seemed to moisturise the skin and I really had no reaction to it, so I thought.....

My skin became progressively worst over the next couple of months. I blamed it on everything from the weather to food to my room being dusty. I improved all these and although that helped a little, my skin was still feeling rubbish and began to continually flake. Soon my body was infected from scratching it so much. Spots with heads/pus were appearing all over the legs, arms, torso and some on the neck and face. I started salt baths again. The condition was worsening. I began to think the unthinkable, that I'd have to start applying an antibiotic steroid cream to get my skin back under control but I was admanant that I would keep off that stuff as I had not found what was aggrevating my skin. Using the stuff would only be a desperate measure for temporary relief. I had to understand what was causing the relentless itchiness especially when I went to bed.

Note: doctors prescribe steroid creams and antibiotic because they are treating the symptoms. They are not attacking the source. Using the steroid creams is pointless and damages the skin. Yes it stops the itchiness temporarily and is appropriate for folks who have had an unexpected temporary reaction to something. Eczema sufferers have to become detectives and understand the factors that are exacerbating their own conditions. These factors need to be removed/changed in order for any real long term healing to occur.

It was only a week ago when I had forgotten the EO at home and was working away. Went to the pharmacy for some more EO. They had no more and so I asked for a tub of Epaderm. After I got off the floor when they told me how much a tub cost, I purchased a tub. I needed an emollient desperately as my skin was dry and still flaking. After a couple of days of usage the flakey skin stopped. Yes the flakey skin stopped and the skin actually began to feel moisturised. I now think the body has to work on expelling all the EO that I applied for the last 3 months.

For the infection, I wiped a disinfectant on them. Doc has warned me about doing that as it is harsh on the skin, but sometimes I get a little desperate. I have now calmed down about it and am clearing up the infection with:

- sleep - I am knocking myself out for the week with anti-histamines as I keep waking up at night finding myself gouging out skin. The antihistamines are a necessary evil for with a lack of sleep, the body feels constantly itchy. With sleep, the skin feels rested!

- drinking a teaspoon of tumeric. My mother recommends I also apply it on my skin for its antiseptic properties and it does appear to dry up the spots faster. However it does make your skin yellow and can stain your clothes.

- bathing with coal tar soap.

Reducing the Itch
With having swapped the emollient out, the itch intensity has definitely reduced. However I try to aid the healing process.

Food definitely plays a role in how itchy I am going to be when I exercise and sweat. Eating salads does help as well as trying to drink at least 2 litres a day. I actually have not got to this "magic" 2 litres but at least I am drinking at least a litre, where once upon a time I only used to drink a couple of glasses of water.

Someone has switched off the heating outside despite it being summer and one wonders if the volcano has a role here, spewing particles into the sky that reflect the heat back. However managed to go for a run in my shorts. The legs have thanked me for giving them a little sunlight by also reducing the itch intensity at night. It could also be again because it is colder at night.

I am also cleaning my bed clothes regularly (every other day) and vacuuming my room due to an increase in skin droppings.

The skin is slowly improving again. Sleep helps a lot but I believe when the toxic Emulsifying Ointment is totally out of my system I will get back to a state that I was earlier on in January.....less itchy days and better skin.

So check what you are applying to your skin if your symptoms are still persisting. Temporarily change your moisturiser to see if it is your moisturiser!

Moisturising Effects

I think Emulsifying Ointment is terrible and in fact promoting the eczema condition. I have an infection in the body that ain't good and the skin is constantly drying out.

Back to doing a dual lotion plus Epaderm.

Also drinking a teaspoon of tumeric in hot water with honey. Both are suppose to be inflamatories and the tumeric is also said to work as a natural antibiotic.

Salad Diet

Raw food is said to have a detoxifying effect. Sleep also has healing effects.

Been sleeping better (with Antihistamine help) and eating mainly raw food for the last three days seems to have eased the itchiness. Have got the seedlings in to grow my own veggies for the summer.

I now believe I had blown out my system a little with the consumption of 5 mars bars. Going to have to find a substitute diet when running marathons.......since the aim is to do one a month!

Struggling.....

Decided the change in weather from UK's cold weather to Rome's hot weather was the factor in keeping me itchy. This in turn caused sleep deprivation from trying to control the itch. Sometimes I try to hold out as long as possible before taking an anti-histamine.

Last weekend I did a marathon and ate 5 large mars bars. Okay was not the wisest thing to do but it was all I had to keep tiredness and hunger at bay. This may have ODed my poor liver. Have had one itchy week and poor sleep. Last night I decided for the next 3 days to take 1/2 an antihistamine before sleep just so I know I will sleep and that the skin could rest.

So weather change somehow has an effect on my system as well as being slack on my diet!
I will return to a salad diet to clean out the system.....

New Sights New Sounds Bad Skin

I have landed in Rome and after a day I am itchy.

I cannot seem to calm it down and it is starting to stress me a little. My skin is almost healed and it is now taking a back step. I think it is thru change in diet and weather, and perhaps even the soap the bed linen is washed in. So no more eating out, am going to have to settle for supermarket shopping and some fresh greens.

Taking an antihistamine now. :o(

Soon The Sun Will Come

It's been cold, it's been grey.
Am waiting for the sun to shine.
I haven't seen no buds on trees
And soon it will be March.

Come Spring, Come Spring
Warmer climes and sunshine
My skin, it longs for thee
To churn out lots of Vitamin D

.....can someone please put the plug back in the sky!

Work Distractions

My worst stress is lack of sleep.

I want more sleep, but have to balance this with work demands. My work has ramped up and so it has been easy for me to spend less hours sleeping, especially when have had to spend time in hot hotel rooms. I like cold hotel rooms! The colder the better and hotel staff don't seem to understand that and repeatedly close my windows and turn up my heating.

So now a flare up has occurred under my eye. I felt a slight irritation but ignored it, or thought I'd been ignoring it, but in truth I'd been touching it and then giving it sneaky short scratches. It feels like I have an insect moving around under the skin. Grrr. The skin is now a little inflamed.

And when am tired my scalp also likes to join in the itch party.

Have also noticed a small patch on the crease of the bum and thigh.

Can't let up even for a little while! GRRRR

Dear work - I need sleep in order to remain healthy and focused.

Right now that I've got that off my chest - time to get sleep back into order.....

Eczema On Hands

I am responding to someone's posted query about eczema on their hands:

i have eczema on my my hands im not sure what food causes it or how to stop eating that which provokes it but i have two questions

1. what foods did you cut out,and did it go on your blood group?

2. does exfoliating help? beacuse my hands seem beter after moisturising but now is flaky??


Firstly I am not a doctor so what ever advice you take from my blog is from observations about healing myself. Not all eczema conditions are the same.

I had eczema from my face and scalp to my ankles. Thankfully the palms of my hands and under my feet did not have eczema.

Focused Areas with Eczema
To me eczema in concentrated areas of your body such as only on the hands or on the feet could mean other things other than food and sleep. For example a friend had eczema on his foot (that's what the doc told him). I observed he always had socks on. I told him to try to air out his feet. His condition improved when he began to walk around in sandles and let his feet breathe!

So perhaps the eczema on your hands could be either from:
a) chemicals that you are using - e.g. soap, dishwashing, shampoo, etc
b) excessive washing of your hands
c) dust
d) or just plain stress. I have noticed people who have eczema on their hands scratch it more intensely when they are getting emotionally stressed or tired.

Food and Eczema
For me, I identified food as being part of my problem because my condition is widespread. I do like eating junk food (crisps, biscuits) and plenty of it especially in the job that I do. If you want to try this, then perhaps you might try excluding cooked oils first which will include meat! I also cut out eating most fruits for a good long while as I observed that I was sensitive to fruits like kiwi, peaches and cherries. That's why the raw veggie diet was convenient for me and is one I return to when my skin feels it wants to be itchy. It has worked for me but certainly has taken a while to prove itself.

Exfoliating and Eczema
I wash with salt and don't use soap. In the latter healing stages of my skin, I have definitely found exfoliating with salt has helped. Only because if I didn't exfoliate the dry flaky skin, I'd either pick or scratch it off instead. I'd then apply loads of moisturising creams/emollients which the skin would be able to receive better without the interference and obstruction of skin flaking off.

Do note when my skin was raw and sore, applying salt straight on the skin felt like it was burning it and then made it even itchier!!! Using salty water was easier when my skin was really bad.

Moisturising and Eczema
This is an important step and the amount you apply depends on how dry your skin becomes.

Good luck to you and hope you are able to find the root of the problem of the eczema affecting your hands. Do let us all know if you find a total cure!

My Friendly Advice to First Steps

I saw some friends today and was sad to see that one of them has a worsened eczema condition that has had side effects on her physical health. On talking about actions that I have taken to dramatically improve my conditions, it became apparent that there were similar things that were affecting both of us. The difference is, is that I became determined to do something about it.

My dear friend who I think is a wonderful humble person has put everyone and everything before her own health. We have chat before in the past years, but now this has become really obvious. How to let go of trivialities, and make oneself a priority to get better at least for the sake of her husband, kids and family.

It is a hard mental game but sometimes for our own physical health we have to, or otherwise scratch ourselves to the grave.

My dear dear friend please sort out:

1. By the end of next week: Your home helper so that you can concentrate on helping yourself. No more procrastinations.

2. Now:

a) Moisturise your skin much more regularly. With your skin condition, I would have cleaned out a 500g tub of emoillient plus a softening cream after 2 weeks! I was applying the moisturisers ALL the time every waking moment......that included when I found I woke up during the night because I was scratching. It is expensive, but you are worth it!

b) Your sleep patterns. Get yourself back into the habit of sleeping! There is a time when sleep wants to come, note the time and look at going to bed closer to that time. Forget everything else. The web has a number of sites as how to overcome insomnia. Your sleep is priority. Here is what I found out about how sleep helps to heal: http://skinurghs.blogspot.com/2008/12/sleepless-itch.html

I use exercise to help me sleep better. Short term you might consider using a strong anti-histamine that will make you sleep or a sleeping pill - best to get advice from the doc.

3. Once you've started getting your sleep under control, consider the food you eat. You have indicated that you are sensitive to foods, then don't eat the ones and the foods related to that group! Research on the web what food groups they are under.

4. Everything else we have discussed.

All my hugs and positive energy to you that you will want to do something about your condition now and no more excuses about why you can't. If you don't try you will never know if you can be better.

So make the life change and improve your eczema!

Exfoliation

Thankfully, skin is better, after not going wild over Christmas and eating a lot of green leaves!

However it is dry from my last niggly scratch session. So since I keep picking my skin as it is flaking, decided to just exfoliate the dry skin off. I don't know whether this is a good or bad thing yet, but the moisturisers I apply seem to take better - that is a cream followed by a vaseline type emollient. Skin looks better!