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!