Seborrheic Dermatitis - Any Idea?

[Waitingindreams]

I started having issues with my scalp, forehead, and the back of my neck a few years ago. At first I thought it was just dandruff, until it spread to my forehead. I soon got diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis. I have tried MANY different methods/"cures", and what not - and nothing has worked. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years later, I thought that giving up gluten would clear it up. It didn't.

 

Since I am dealing with candida and issues with histamine, I have changed my diet drastically. No sugar, no soy, no dairy, and I am eating all foods with low histamine levels. (Lots of grilled chicken and vegetables, lots of water. No fruit - except rarely organic blueberries, raspeberries, and blackberries) I just recently (and successfully) reintroduced organic, no sugar added almond butter. I don't eat any other nuts. I swapped sunflower products out of my diet and added pumpkin seeds in. I only use olive oil for cooking, and even bought celtic sea salt for seasoning, no other seasoning is used...except sometimes I use table salt when at my boyfriend's house. 

 

Has anyone else dealt with seb. dermatitis? What has worked for you? I will list everything I have tried throughout the years:

 

Prescription Shampoos/topical treatments:

Ketocazanole Shampoo - seemed to cause more build up

Another antifungal shampoo, I can't recall the name 

Mometasone Solution - This will actually work if I apply it regularly, however, you are not supposed to for long periods of time, and once I stop - it comes right back.

Cortisone (prescription strength) - saw no changes. 

 

OTC Shampoos/Conditioners/topical treatments:

T-Sal

T-Gel

Head & Shoulders (various)

JASON Shampoo/Conditioner

Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shampoo (made it worse - later found out wheat is an ingredient. I also have a wheat allergy)

Psoriasin

 

Natural Remedies:

Coconut Oil 

Derm-Essentials for Sebborrheic Dermatitis 

"No poo" - Baking soda as shampoo; Apple cider vinegar rinse for conditioner 

 

Dietary Changes:

Gave up gluten - slightly improved

Gave up soy - no change 

Gave up dairy - no change

Candida diet (no sugar) - no change

Low histamine - no change ** Note, between the candida diet and low histamine diet, I have pretty much given up all nightshades. Potatoes are not allowed on the candida diet, and eggplant and tomatoes are too high in histamine. 

 

Currently, I use Dr. Bronner's soaps as shampoo, and their conditioning rinse as a conditioner. Both are organic and gluten free, and contain no chemicals or additives. I also use the Dr. Bronner's soaps as a body soap, and rub the back of my neck. Although I can't see what it looks like, it tends to feel less scratchy/raised after I use it, possibly because it contains coconut oil. I do still apply organic, cold pressed coconut oil to the back of my neck and ears. It helps a bit. 

 

My boyfriend saw the back of my neck today and noted that it looks the worst he's ever seen it. To me that makes no sense, considering my diet is much better than it has been in the past, and all of my hair care products are gluten free/organic, chemical free, etc. Not sure where to go from here. I have seen 4 doctors about this. One told me it was "trial and error". 2 keep trying to push me the same products that are proven not to work. Nothing is working, I am so frustrated...and i know I must be missing something. 

 

Does anyone have any advice on what helped them? 

[ynot]

Have you looked into oxalates? I don't know much about their connection to Seborrheic Dermatitis but google gave some hits. The increased oxalates from your recent addition of almond butter ( very high oxalate content ) might explain your worsening symptoms. Good luck.

[chicachik]

I started having issues with my scalp, forehead, and the back of my neck a few years ago. At first I thought it was just dandruff, until it spread to my forehead. I soon got diagnosed with seborrheic dermatitis. I have tried MANY different methods/"cures", and what not - and nothing has worked. When I was diagnosed with celiac disease a few years later, I thought that giving up gluten would clear it up. It didn't.

 

Since I am dealing with candida and issues with histamine, I have changed my diet drastically. No sugar, no soy, no dairy, and I am eating all foods with low histamine levels. (Lots of grilled chicken and vegetables, lots of water. No fruit - except rarely organic blueberries, raspeberries, and blackberries) I just recently (and successfully) reintroduced organic, no sugar added almond butter. I don't eat any other nuts. I swapped sunflower products out of my diet and added pumpkin seeds in. I only use olive oil for cooking, and even bought celtic sea salt for seasoning, no other seasoning is used...except sometimes I use table salt when at my boyfriend's house. 

 

Has anyone else dealt with seb. dermatitis? What has worked for you? I will list everything I have tried throughout the years:

 

Prescription Shampoos/topical treatments:

Ketocazanole Shampoo - seemed to cause more build up

Another antifungal shampoo, I can't recall the name 

Mometasone Solution - This will actually work if I apply it regularly, however, you are not supposed to for long periods of time, and once I stop - it comes right back.

Cortisone (prescription strength) - saw no changes. 

 

OTC Shampoos/Conditioners/topical treatments:

T-Sal

T-Gel

Head & Shoulders (various)

JASON Shampoo/Conditioner

Paul Mitchell Tea Tree Shampoo (made it worse - later found out wheat is an ingredient. I also have a wheat allergy)

Psoriasin

 

Natural Remedies:

Coconut Oil 

Derm-Essentials for Sebborrheic Dermatitis 

"No poo" - Baking soda as shampoo; Apple cider vinegar rinse for conditioner 

 

Dietary Changes:

Gave up gluten - slightly improved

Gave up soy - no change 

Gave up dairy - no change

Candida diet (no sugar) - no change

Low histamine - no change ** Note, between the candida diet and low histamine diet, I have pretty much given up all nightshades. Potatoes are not allowed on the candida diet, and eggplant and tomatoes are too high in histamine. 

 

Currently, I use Dr. Bronner's soaps as shampoo, and their conditioning rinse as a conditioner. Both are organic and gluten free, and contain no chemicals or additives. I also use the Dr. Bronner's soaps as a body soap, and rub the back of my neck. Although I can't see what it looks like, it tends to feel less scratchy/raised after I use it, possibly because it contains coconut oil. I do still apply organic, cold pressed coconut oil to the back of my neck and ears. It helps a bit. 

 

My boyfriend saw the back of my neck today and noted that it looks the worst he's ever seen it. To me that makes no sense, considering my diet is much better than it has been in the past, and all of my hair care products are gluten free/organic, chemical free, etc. Not sure where to go from here. I have seen 4 doctors about this. One told me it was "trial and error". 2 keep trying to push me the same products that are proven not to work. Nothing is working, I am so frustrated...and i know I must be missing something. 

 

Does anyone have any advice on what helped them? 

Have you ever tried vegan raw lifestyle? The first step is to give up meat, fish, eggs and dairy, the second step is give up gluten (you've already done it), and the third step is to give preference to raw fruits and vegetables. Most diseases could be solved it in a vegan raw lifestyle. 

 

Avoiding sugar is perfect, but low histamine diet helps to deal pain, not skin disorders (at most, dried skin). Don't avoid fruits! they're our phisiological food!! You can't be healthy without fruits!

[Waitingindreams]

Thanks for the answers, guys! I have not looked into oxalates, but i will definitely look into it! My skin seems to be much better already. This is going to sound strange, but apparently it depends on the brand of almond butter I buy! If I use Stop & Shop's brand of almond butter (only ingredient is almonds) then everything is fine. But I had bought the "Once Again" almond butter (says right on it it's certified gluten free, vegan, sugar free, etc) and i started to notice a red rash on my hands, AND it gave me GI symptoms. The "Once Again" almond butter lists "dry roasted, unblanched almonds" as its only ingredient. Strange, huh? Now to test it I am once again eating the S&S almond butter, and my hands are rash free. Very strange. I am going to ease up on the almond butter more, but I don't think that's a cause to the Seb. derm...I think it actually seems to be helping my skin! I started using the mometasone again and it is healing up really nicely. I know I still have some GI symptoms to clear up, I might try going grain free completely. I am mostly grain free, except for Lundberg's organic lightly salted rice cakes and some other organic rice crackers.

 

As for a vegan raw lifestyle, no I have not tried it. I am off dairy for now, although I did use some certified gluten free butter to make baked apples the other day. (Just apples, butter and cinnamon - they were good!)

 

The problem with me going on a vegan raw lifestyle is that I have something called oral allergy syndrome. Basically, there are foods that cross react with tree pollens, and it makes my body react. This means that I cannot eat raw vegetables or fruit, or my throat will start to close. There are a few exceptions to this, such as cucumbers, berries, and lettuce. It seems foods that cross react with birch pollen are my worst offenders.This is partially why I have adapted a low histamine diet. I am hoping that will help. For example, I can't bite into a raw apple...but I can drink apple cider, eat apple chips/apple sauce, etc. And I have given up fruit (for the most part) because I am on the candida diet. I am trying to avoid mostly all sugars...but I do occasionally eat some berries and the baked apples were great (apparently butter is okay on the candida diet, and cinnamon is as well - cinnamon is also a '0' on the histamine chart I found) I've read that going completely sugar free can actually work against you in the end, so I do try to get a small amount of berries in occasionally. I do need to get rid of the rice cakes, but it's so hard to only eat cooked vegetables and, rarely, fruit. I love berries and the baked apples were great, so I would love to incorporate them into my diet more.  I already don't eat fish or most meat (I just eat chicken and turkey - I don't like red meat) and I am currently not eating eggs or dairy apart from the butter I put on the apples. I also believe that eating cooked (mostly grilled) vegetables makes it far easier on my digestion. I love steaming vegetables before my boyfriend grills them. I mostly eat zucchini, cauliflower, and broccoli. I love carrots and potatoes, but they apparently feed candida...and i love eggplant and avocado, but both are higher in histamine. This has been a long, stressful journey so far!