August 01, 2005

• I am also extremely interested in this topic. I've been coping with prescription hydrocortisone, but that isn't doing the job that it used to. Eczema use to be just a winter thing with me, but now it's year round.
• When a friend's baby had eczema, I think I remember the number one thing my dermatologist sister recommending was to keep skin moisturized with something heavy like Eucerin.
• If you've tried steroids, including cortisone, it's time to get yourself to a dermatologist. It's not going to go away by itself, and you chances of finding a random over-the-counter cure are vanishingly small. You don't say where it's located, but are you sure it's not some form of contact dermatitis? Back when I worked in a lab full-time, I developed a mild latex allergy from the gloves. Switching to a nitrile glove solved the problem, but it took forever (and a whole lot of a very serious steroid called fluocinonide) to knock down the rash.
• I have dermatitis on my hands. My fingertips start to dry out, then peel, crack and bleed. The only treatment that has worked is to put a teaspoon of the cortizone cream in a vinyl glove per hand and wear them overnight. I have also cut down on the reoccurance by using natural glycerine body and hand soap, always wearing vinyl gloves when I wash the dishes or any using any other harsh cleaners as well as using full gloves (as in no fingers cut off) when I work out. It seems that the metal that my hands are exposed to from the weights and machines is one of the triggers for the dermatitis.
• BTW, the cortizone cream that I use is also doctor prescribed fluocinonide.
• Cort Aid works for me.
• Owl semen.
• flax seed oil tastes good.
• I had hives recently, which is similar. The best solution is determine the root cause and then stay away from it. My doc thinks I'm allergic to Advil (aspirin). I'm on Clarinex every day, then the doc presribed some presnidone and hydroxyzine. My other doc like giving me presnidone and Cortisone shots. Presnidone had bad side effects in the long term. For over the counter, benadryl at nighttime is a good choice too. Good luck.
• BTW, flax seed oil can be combined in a salad dressing, homemade mayo or any other oil based sauce if you are having trouble swallowing it a'la natural. I don't think you are supposed to heat it as from what I understand it doing so undermines it's healing aspects.
• Chinese Medicine
• I 2nd hicinbaby. Go see a dermo. That's not to say that mandyman's recommendation can't be applied as well. But I'd be thinking that trying out alternative therapies may just be introducing a whole new bunch of potential allergens. Do the reading about all the known/potential/wayout medicants, write up some questions, then go ask a dermatologist for their recommendations.
• From my SO: No hot showers - cold, cool, or at most lukewarm (I never could stand this). Baths or showers with Aveeno soap, etc. (expensive, and dissolves to nothing as soon as you look at it). And if you have the money/insurance to cover it, get to an allergist (rather than a dermatologist) and see about allergy testing. And scratch away - it makes no difference anyway.
• Area of some expertise for me, this, I've had eczema on my face, neck and arms since I was a kid. I've tried a wide range of stuff, and have finally arrived at the following cocktail that (usually) works for me: super high-strength multi-vitamin (not sure which bit of that it is that helps, but the eczema gets worse if I don't take it); a combo capsule of Omega 3, 6 and 9 oils; Elemis skincare products, which tragically cost a fortune, but seem to be the only thing that has any effect, specifically theAbsolute Night Cream, the dreadfully-named Skin Nourishing Milk Bath and Eye Support; lots of antihistamines (Benadryl); and probably most importantly, getting enough sleep. Sometimes, however, cortisone cream is the only remedy, but you should try not to use too much or for too long a period, as it can thin the skin. I've had very bad experiences with a lot of oil-based moisturisers - if they're so thick that they just sit on top of the skin they make the eczema *much* worse. Also, perfumed anything (soap, shampoo, cleanser) is generally a disaster. Other than that, I find stress and other illness will exacerbate the situation too -- the easiest way to gague if I'm physically or mentally below par by is how blotchy my face is. Some foods and spices set it off too, as does dust, sweat, pollen, too-hot water and certain kinds of paint fumes ... have you had allergy tests done? And after all that, I'll second what hicinbaby and sMyhla said - if cortisone by itself isn't doing the trick, it's definitely worth seeing a dermatologist so that you can hopefully treat the cause not just the symptom. Good luck!
• Flax seed oil is available in gelcaps; I pick 'em up for her sometimes. If being organic and blessed by Klaatu is not an issue the drug store's own brand (around here Walgreen's) is much cheaper than GNC or a health food store, just check the expiration date when they're having 2-for-1 sale (at Walgreen's being about to expire often explains the discount). This SO of mine here also breaks out in itchy red blotches from sunlight and hi-test sunblock doesn't seem to do much -- some brands even make her itch.
• One more suggestion that might be of help: a lot of people are allergic to lanolin. This is found in lotions and many lip balms, as well as wool things- I found my chapped lip problem getting worse and worse, until I switched to a lanolin-free product. Good luck.
• Thanks for all your responses! OK, questions/issues so far: already under treatment for allergies, had a full test panel run and am currently getting shots (it's easier to say what I'm not allergic to than to give the list of all the allergies). I will now pursue this further with the allergist, as that seems like my best chance. The dermatologist seemed entirely uninterested in doing anything other than stronger steroids, and long term I know that's not a solution. I use gentle soaps and lotions without any frangrance, lanolin, jojoba, etc. Clothing is washed in a fragrance-free and natural soap. Not a contact based allergy as spots appear wherever they please.
• We were prescribed some pretty hardcore lotions for offspring #1's eczema but he's still scratching at himself now that it's winter. Here's what the dermo has prescribed at various times (some are more effective than others; maybe you can find over-the-counter equivalents): Elocon Corticosteroid Ointment (Mometasone Furoate 1mg/g) - this is what he's using right now, and it has kept his eczema at bay until recently; Locoid Lipocream (Hydrocortisone 17-butyrate 1mg/g) - this won't work for you, I guess; Lemnis Fatty Cream; Dermol Ungvita - pretty ineffective. He also soaks in a bath every night that includes a scoop of paraffin emulsifying gloop that's been dissolved in boiling water. I'd also try a different dermotologist if you can. Good luck, I had it as a kid and I hated it.
• My daughter has had a sun allergy since she was a little kid. I found I could control it by not switching laundry detergents. At that time (30 years ago), Tide was the only one I tried that didn't trigger it. Now, however the allergy has come back, even though I still use Tide. I suspect they've "new and improved" it, which is usually a bad thing in my estimation. I get the feeling that many of us are becoming allergic to life, in that we deal with so many additives to products that used to be simple and non-threatening. And, there are so many more triggers around, in the air, in food, etc., that it's hard to escape.
• I agree with path. I sometimes feel allergic to the *whole world*. (Though I'm violently allergic to Tide -- isn't it funny that what sets one person off is just fine for another?) It might still be a good idea to check over your products to make sure you're not allergic to them. You've done a good job of eliminating fragrances, but sometimes it's the detergents that irritate skin. (I have problems with shampoos and soaps in this area. Sometimes the super perfumey ones are ok, while the more "natural" ones make me rashy and angry.) I also second the notion of getting a new dermatologist. If your doctor isn't doing you any good, they're not doing their job. Get another one. Explain to the new doc why you left the old one, then start working towards a solution.
• Monkeys, meet the Wrong Tree. Going to a dermatologist will certainly help you find a pricey preparation that will take care of your symptoms, but the minute you run out of it, the symptoms will be back. I have been down this road, getting eczema on my scalp, in my ear canal and on my ears, and around my eye. The eye was especially difficult: it looked like my eyelid was turning to elderly lizard skin (not even a young lizard!), and the first time it happened to me, I was SIXTEEN YEARS OLD. I was prescribed an expensive and hard-to-find (by script only) opthalmic hydrocortisone ointment. Hydrocortisone cream isn't something you want to be using on your eyelids all the time, but I've found in the years since that it works just as well as the expensive stuff, and that no other moisturizer works. You want to float off the eczema crusts; non-cortisone creams tend to just sit on top of them. So what makes my symptoms go away for years at a time? Making sure I'm getting vitamins (a good multiple like Twinlab's "Daily One Caps" or Nature's Plus' "Ultra II"), and restricting my diet somewhat (no wheat or sugar, including fruit or corn syrup, to start with; in extreme cases, many more restrictions). Millet bread and quinoa pasta help with this a lot. If that doesn't help, try also taking Twinlab's "Yeast Fighters" according to label directions. You can probably stop all this a month or so after the eczema clears up, and while it's clearing up, use hydrocortisone cream according to the instructions on its label. If the eczema comes back, which usually takes years to happen to me, go back on the diet again. A major cause of eczema is food sensitivity, and it's usually wheat. It CAN be other grains, but usually isn't (especially if you are of any kind of anglo-celtic descent; people of celtic descent seem to be especially prone to wheat sensitivity). These things will probably not show up on an allergy test; the reactions aren't that extreme, and there's a difference between a sensitivity or mild intolerance and a full-blown allergy. It is possible for a substance to put stress on your system without causing you to break into hives every time you come in contact with it. If you're already making sure to use mild and/or unscented products, it's probably time to try the diet angle. And in general, stress is a factor in eczema and other kinds of dermatitis, including emotional stress. So try to relax. Cutting as much sugar as possible out of your diet, at least for a while, will probably help for two reasons: processing much sugar is difficult for the body, and if yeast is part of the problem, yeast loves sugar to feed on. Hope this helps! I used to go to a quack doctor, after going to many many regular doctors (and a few quacks) who couldn't help me. I was highly suspicious of this guy's methods, but when I did what he said to do, my symptoms would decrease significantly or go away all together. So I hope that people will try these things, even if they sound a bit sketchy. They HAVE worked for me, despite my similar suspicions. I can't stick to them, but they are there when I need them. And some of the above information (vis a vis eczema having a food-intolerance component) came from a book I don't have anymore, possibly the AMA Family Medical Guide?
• ... according to this, it's most likely dairy or wheat. I never remember the dairy angle, because I don't have a problem with dairy. :)
• I think too much cream kicks mine off. As well as stress. So that time i was mugged by an eclair was terrible. Betnovate worked for me, although it mainly just went on its own. Any flare ups just get good ole E45 on it to calm it down early now. I sympathise, patita. I have had it on my face before, which only adds to the stress. Tis not nice, I know. Good luck.
• Yep. Stay away from wheat. I've had various skin ailments over the years, sometimes I get mild eczema, but in fact I have rather oily skin so this is the least of my worries, but I have found that cutting out wheat and cutting down on dairy products makes a hell of a difference. The advice to supplement your diet with vitamins is also excellent. And, of course, beer.
• "I've had various skin ailments over the years.." Including leprosy.
• Please stop me from posting any more I think I'm too stupid for the internets.
• Ah, this is good stuff. I'll bet a dollar it's the dairy, as I've had a lifelong on-and-off allergy to the stuff. I'll pick up better vitamins this week and reexamine my health and beauty products to see if there's a common ingredient. The yeast may also be a factor... if the other stuff doesn't work I'll go on the yeast avoidance diet (ugh). Judging by the response, we're an itchy bunch. Best of luck to everyone else who's dealt with this.
• MonkeyFilter: We're an itchy bunch. oh, yes, we are *scratches armpits* One of the grandkids has eczema, and GranMa is the only one that can clear it up when it flares up. I think three of the most important things to remember are to jump on it when a flare up begins, rather than waiting, to be very faithful to treating it several times a day or whenever your RX calls for, and to continue treating it for a day or two after the obvious symptoms subside. I agree with what everyone else has said: find out what triggers it and remove that trigger from your life. Oh, and keep your mitts off of it when it does flare up. Scratching causes irritation, irritation causes spreading, spreading causes suffering. /end Yoda
• Count me in the itchy-scratchy set. It used to be seasonal, worse in summer not so much in the winter. Now it's a year long aggravation. Grrrr. One treatment i haven't tried: evening primrose oil . There is some scientific evidence it works. Guess i should also try cutting back on certain foods to see if it's allergy-related. Some of the newer meds like Elidel are supposedly highly effective. But they mess with your immune system, and recently a warning has been issued about increasing the risk of skin cancer. Great.
• Hey Patita, I was curious about that Epitrex website you linked to. The company who makes it isSelmedica. The website says: "Epitrex™ contains ingredients that go to work instantly to help to stop eczema flare-ups from the inside and the outside and prevent new eczema flare-ups from ever occurring." Then further down it says in the FDA disclaimer: "These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease." Oh, I see, I get to pay $127 for a tiny little bottle of something that doesn't work. Gee if i did that i could end up pretty mad like say this Selmedica customer. A check of the BBB report shows these guys run over thirty websites, all selling "healthcare" products. Cures for everything from infertility to kidney stones. And you know they must be okay because the proprietor used to sell candles and crafts except he was never very good at actually delivering the goods Some bad, bad people out there. Itchy monkeys beware.
• Yeah, Epitrex was definitely the most suspect of all of the remedies I found online. I wish I could say that I'm surprised at what you discovered. They have that FDA disclaimer because in the USA one cannot market a formulation that hasn't been through FDA testing. Lots of stuff that has therapeutic benefits carries the warning as well (including products with evening primrose oil as well, I suspect).
• Yikes. Well, I could tell you about lots of products that don't work. Don't think I can help much though. I will say this though- if a doctor tells you that it's can't be stress-induced, then that doctor is a filthy rotten liar. Having scaly spots on your face often causes stress, and the best advice I can offer is to just relax and not worry about it. Also, I think sunlight and fresh air helps. I get it around my hairline, and I'll hit it with every drug I got, trying to minimize it before getting a haircut (that's the only time I'm embarassed about it anymore). Nothing works, but once the hair's gone, it goes away in a couple of days. I may try the wheat thing- I already don't eat dairy. Not sure how I'm supposed to do without wheat though, I thought wheat was supposed to be good for you. Fucking hell, can't eat anything these days.
• Patita, on your cautionary note about FDA disclaimers, I dug into it some more and whoa, looks like I may have been punk'd! That scientific evidence article i linked to for evening primrose oil (EPO) had a nice patina of respectability to it. Lots of references and also mention of uncertain experimental results, it had the ring of truth to it to me. But I just found this: Details of the clever marketing of EPO and quasi-legal business practices by a certain Dr David Horrobin. Turns out it's the same Horrobin who wrote that scientific article I cited. Doh! Horrobin died in 2003. And the British Medical Journal called him, in an obituary the greatest snakeoil salesman of his age! Wow! He certainly suckered me. (He was quite the character. spending most of his life here in Canada (ugh!), marrying an Iraqi princess, writing "The Complete catalog of British cars".) Back to EPO: Here is a summary from the British Medical Journal about we really know about its effectiveness.
• Thanks, too, to all the monkeys. I'll try some of these suggestions. But if it really comes down to cutting out wheat, or scratching myself bloody, I will choose the latter every time. Thankfully, my eczema dwells on areas covered by clothing.
• wow, StoryBored. That's quite the tale! I'm glad you followed up on it. That article about what is currently known is sobering.
• Dear cute and cuddly smallish bear: It's tough to cut wheat out totally, except perhaps as a test for more than a week or two to see if it actually makes a difference, but cutting way back on wheat is fairly easy with a few diet modifications. Sammiches are the hardest things to do without, so perhaps you could just eat fewer of them, but cutting out pasta and substituting rice, barley, and potatoes is a option, as is eating different kinds of breads such as rice bread or rye. Just think low carb diet and go with some of the suggestions there. Obviously, you're not totally allergic to wheat, but if eating lots of wheat makes your eczema worse, why not cut down? Oh, and when you do eat it, switch to whole wheat breads rather than that goddaful white bread stuff.
• Just for monkey interest, the British Med Journal's website I ran across today has got a ton of research articles on the subject. Some quite fascinating. Read about the inverse correlation between eczema and the number of siblings you have. The article also mentions a weird connection to the size of your head at birth. I kid not. Another correlation of allergies/eczema to the use of central heating An overview of aforementioned Chinese traditional medicine. ...along with a serious caveat . Finally, here is a concise summary of eczema treatment that also mentions a surprising link to the dust mite. Note the summary was written in 1995 so it doesn't mention the new immunosuppressants.
• A couple more things that I forgot to mention last time. My dermatologist told me that using straight cortizone cream over time can allow a fungus to get started in the treated skin area so often they will prescribe an combination cortizone/antifunguscide. You might want to be aware of that possibility. He also told me that one of the best and cheapest treatments is to soak in the tub in a weak solution of baking soda and water. About a cup or two per tub. My dermatitis has actually died down quite a bit since I have chilled it on working out (the metal exposure that I wrote about above) so I've not done it in a while, but I think tonight I might just give it a shot.
• My dad had an extreme bout of the creeping scalies that several dematoligists ran from screaming in horror. He tried several special potions, including one that cost $127 for a tiny tube. Nothing helped. An old German lady neighbor suggested a folk remedy - vinegar. It worked. So I would suggest trying it before you plunk down hundreds of $$$. If it doesn't do the trick, mix in some nice olive oil and put it on your salad.
• fascinating. squidranch thinks base, GuitarMonkey thinks acid. I can always use the flax oil for the salad dressing! squidranch, I have encountered the fungus in the mix before. That led to a round of just treating the fungus and wondering why the red patches stayed behind.
• Here's the good news for allergy/atopic sufferers. You don't get to die a horrible death.