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.

New Skin: Keeping the Itch at Bay

Gosh it has been awhile and I have been mostly itch free.

Having scratched the skin very little, it is amazing how smooth and soft it feels! I'm so not used to it, I keep having a little skin stroke every now and then! LOL. Still important to keep alert. The skin texture is still not normal from the years of scratching. I am willing it to be normal.

Contributing factors to easing the itch.

1. Being observant about how your own body reacts to environmental factors (see previous posts). This is really important for a long term approach to healing yourself. I am a "happy go lucky" type of person and seemingly "unstressed". However:

• Lack of sleep doesn't allow my body to heal (see previous post about The Sleepless Itch) and causes a stress that comes out as an itch.

• Poor nutrition. Like many out there, I like junk food. However this creates a stress on the liver and it is interesting that many eczema sufferers have found going on a detox for any period of time or a "body clean out" helps improve their skin. Rather than just go on a detox, I decided to change my diet (and hopefully forever) and reduce the saturated fat I take. Out with the biscuits, crisps and cake - except when visiting other people! My diet has a lot of fresh vegetables and fruit, more so now in summer as I grow my own vegetables. My skin tells me when I've been eating rich foods by itching when I exercise. I have been able to sweat without itching. I have not had that feeling in a very very very long time.

2. Doing something when the itch is triggered - just don't leave it and hope it goes away. That aggressive itch doesn't just go away. My defence has come about from my observations and varies according to the body part.

First Step:
a) If it is my eyes - I wash the eyes, if that doesn't help then I I force myself to rest
b) If it is my neck - I drink at least 500ml of water
c) If it is my face, arms or legs because I've been dealing with something dusty - then I have a wash and cream down
d) If it is because my skin feels dry - I cream down

e) If it is late, I go to bed.

These normally will ease the itch symptoms for me. However I still need to be aware that I can still scratch areas because the itch sensation is still there.

Second Step
Keep your hands and mind occupied. I will do the house keeping, gardening, wash dishes, anything to keep my hands and mind occupied. This normally does the trick of easing the itch symptoms.

Night Step
If I am itchy at night in bed, I will first try to ignore the itch for 1/2 an hour and keep the blankets off me so that my skin feels cool. If that does not work, then I will take an anti-histamine. I hate anti-histamines because they make me feel sluggish in the morning.

3. Cream cream cream. Keep moisturised! The skin will always be prone to eczema so I cream constantly and amazed at how much the skin needs! I now use moisturisers that make my skin feel soft. I used to avoid them because some have a stingy feeling and can make the eczema worst. However I have found applying them when am not itchy has helped me find creams that I can apply and that will make my skin feel softer so that I am not unconsciously scrapping off the dry skin and causing the eczema itch scratch cycle.

I hope these posts help someone else out there :o)