Excema

[confusedks]

I was diagnosed with excema not too long ago by my allergist. He told me to put "Carmol" on it religiously for a month and see what happens. I have done that and it's not any better. I am dairy, soy, tree nut and gluten free. What else could be going on?? Does anyone have any ideas...creams, anything. I have tried all kinds of oils, etc. and nothing works.

Kassandra

[lonewolf]

Are you (and your allergist) SURE it's excema and not psoriasis? Psoriasis is tough to clear up. I'm actually on antibiotics right now because I couldn't eliminate anything else from my diet and my psoriasis was getting worse, so I broke down and went to the dermatologist. Found out I have a low level strep infection and after a few days on the antibiotics my skin has started to clear up.

[AndreaB]

Kassandra,

Eczema can also be caused by metals. I haven't looked into anything else non food related. I have some problems with eczema as well that haven't cleared up.......I'm thinking mine is tied to metals.

[confusedks]

Lonewolf,

I'm not SURE I guess. He looked at it and told me it's a mild form of excema. It's not red patches, instead my upper left and right arm are broken out in what almost looks like acne, but it's not.

AndreaB,

That is interesting. What do yo mean by "metals"?

Kassandra

[JennyC]

I put Elidel on my son's eczema spots every other day and it keeps them cleared up. I have had my son allergy tested and on a strict gluten free diet, but it still flares up if I quit the Elidel.

[AndreaB]

Lonewolf,

I'm not SURE I guess. He looked at it and told me it's a mild form of excema. It's not red patches, instead my upper left and right arm are broken out in what almost looks like acne, but it's not.

AndreaB,

That is interesting. What do yo mean by "metals"?

Kassandra

My daughter has bumps all over her arms that look like acne. I was told by a regular doctor that it was eczema as well. My alternative health care provider said it's from lack of fatty acids. She's been put on evening primrose oil and fish oil to help. Haven't seen a difference yet. She also has candida and other metals/toxins.

By metals I mean mercury (from amalgams [your mothers if she has them or yours if you do], the area you live in etc.). My whole family has problems with mercury, the children probably got it from me. My husband was in the military and had upteen million shots as well as being a past seafood eater.

Muscle testing should be able to tell you more about what's going on if you go to a good practitioner with the ability to test a wide range of things.

[lonewolf]

Lonewolf,

I'm not SURE I guess. He looked at it and told me it's a mild form of excema. It's not red patches, instead my upper left and right arm are broken out in what almost looks like acne, but it's not.

I've had similar sounding acne looking bumps. I was told that I had excema in addition to psoriasis, but the dermatologist last week told me that it was a different form of psoriasis - not excema. It's all so frustrating with skin conditions! I hope you figure something out. You might want to try a dermatologist.

[EBsMom]

Kassandra - Did the doc tell you what kind of excema? I've had keratosis pilaris (acne-like bumps on the backs of my upper arms) since I was a teen. It's decreased a lot as I've grown older (44 now.) I never knew what it was called until recently. It's a harmless condition, though it can be bothersome. It sounds like what you described. There was a kind of lotion that was purported to help....can't remember what it was called. If you google "keratosis pilaris, you'll find lots of info. My ds has it pretty badly, and has since he was much younger (he's 12.) He even has it at the edges of his face when his skin gets really dry (dry skin exacerbates it.) I dunno' if this is what you have, but thought I'd throw it out there in case it could help.

Rho

[jerseyangel]

I had eczema on my eyelid for about 12 years. The doctor gave me steroid creams that worked for a while, but it would always come back. I tried everything.

After going gluten-free, it went away for a time and came back. When I did my elimination diet, I noticed that when I cut out legumes, the eczema went away and has never come back. It's been close to two years now.

Mine was pretty classic--raised, thickened, scaly and horribly itchy.

[Guest andie]

What about yeast? It sometimes resembles a pimple like rash but more fine.

Have you googled the candida quiz? I have read here that that is sometimes a problem on special diets.

Hope you're better soon.

Andie

[confusedks]

Thanks for all your replies. I feel like it is food related, but with these things, I don't know what else I could possibly take out of my diet and still be able to eat food!!! If I took out nightshades...I think I'd die of starvation...lol. I could lose a little weight, but I really don't want to limit my diet anymore than I already have.

As far as yeast, I had an herbalist test me for candida, and he said it wasn't a problem for me. I don't know if he was right, but maybe I'll try a candida diet.

I feel like if I go to another doctor with useless information, I'm going to scream!!!! So many doctors are so useless these days, if you don't fit RIGHT into their textbook cases, FORGET it!!!

I need to pop over to the nightshade thread.

Kassandra

[kabowman]

I have many reactions to differnt lotions and soaps that cause reactions which my doc said are excema. I just finished getting rid of all my Eucerin lotion due to bumps all over my arms and legs. Lotion gone, bumps now gone. Some only cause a reaction on my hands. For some reason though, Eucerin doesn't bother my face or hands so I can still use my face moisturizer.

Ain't life fun?

[holiday16]

GLA is wonderful for Eczema. My daughter gets it on her face from certain foods and if we don't treat it right away it begins to weep and bleed and of course it itches. I'm always amazed at how fast the GLA clears it up. You have to make sure that it is from borage oil though since that is a more potent form. I've only used a particular brand so I don't have any experience with ones from the health food store so I don't know how well those will work. What we use has 90 mg GLA and 216 mg linoleic acid. Having her take some as well as rubbing it on seems to work better, but sometimes it's just easier to do it topically only )

Also, have you changed laundry soaps? Some people react to those. Personally, I'm very sensitive to just about everything to the point that I have to make it clear to my daughter that if someone is going to borrow her clothes she needs to make it clear that they do not wash them before returning. If they do I have to wash it about 3 times by itself to get rid of the soap because if I wash it with our laundry it gets into everything and makes me sick.

[jenngolightly]

I use hydrocortisone (brand name Cortaid). I use 2.5% when it's bad, and 1% when it's mild. The 2.5% is prescription, but you can get the 1% over-the-counter. I have an extremely bad case of excema on my face... sometimes my eyelids swell closed, itch and flake, but since I started using hydrocortisone, I've been able to control the symptoms.

I tried prescription steroid excema creams with no success (such as elidel). My dermatologist finally put me on hydrocortisone and it's been fantastic.

Good luck.

[GFinMN]

I have eczema caused by apples and grapes. It's the malic acid in the apples and the tartaric acid in the grapes. These acids are also found in many sweetened candies and some jellies if you read the ingredients list. I've had this since I was very young. The allergist explained that I'm missing an enzyme to digest these two acids so it comes out my skin in the form of eczema. I also have asthma since age 2 and was diagnosed with celiac in 2006.

Unfortunately, most of the prescription creams I've tried don't help much with the itch, only avoidance of these two acids.

[confusedks]

GFinMN,

WOW!!! That's crazy! My question to you, how long did it take when you took these foods out of your diet, for your excema to clear up? That's really interesting. I think it's food related (then again I think almost everything is food related ) but it gets to the point that I wonder what else in the world I could cut out of my diet? I guess apples and grapes, etc. isn't THAT big of a deal...but those are the only things I'm able to snack on. I look forward to your response.

Kassandra

[GFinMN]

hi,

when i cut those things out of my diet, it cleared up pretty fast. i think there was a residual where it would sometimes still itch for maybe 1-2 weeks, but then it was completely gone. of course, there are always places where malic/tartaric acid sneaks in though. i had a bad outbreak for a long time and couldn't figure it out - finally i learned that the french roast coffee i had been drinking was flavored with apples.

so now for fruit i stick with strawberries and cantelope and don't have any problem.

yeah, it's frustrating cutting out so many foods!!!

amy