Help Wanted Please!

[carol]

I get tired of my husband telling me to stop digging and scratching. Also, when he wants to get cozy and cuddle and I say my skin hurts,why does he get mad? IDK! I can call into work and say, my skin hurts and everybody knows that I am staying home. I Don't do any work that's gonna make me hurt. He does his own laundry. I had the hand eczema when i was young,not so much now. Mine is in the creases of my body and I get hives. I get it on my feet,so I wear flip flops almost all the time. I live close to the beach and go often,that helps a lot. Peace to All, Feel Better. I use Aveeno oil, hemp lotion,baby oil gel on my face. I never wear my clothes twice , I love clean sheets. I will take a shower any time of day. At my worst, I will stay wrapped in a sheet all day. I give my husband his own sheet and blanket for the bed. I make him shower a lot to keep allergens at bay. I get him to rub me to sleep every night. When I travel, I take my own towels and sheets.

[jettablue2004]

'

[jettablue2004]

thanks carol that was very informative, i am really going to have to follow what you do, i have hand eczema, and im in a lot of pain, and now i see it starting to form on my arm, and i havent had it there in over 15yrs, im going to the dr a.s.a.p, and i get tired of my spouse telling me not to stratch as well, they just dont get it.. its not like i really want to rip my fingers to shreds, its involuntary

I get tired of my husband telling me to stop digging and scratching. Also, when he wants to get cozy and cuddle and I say my skin hurts,why does he get mad? IDK! I can call into work and say, my skin hurts and everybody knows that I am staying home. I Don't do any work that's gonna make me hurt. He does his own laundry. I had the hand eczema when i was young,not so much now. Mine is in the creases of my body and I get hives. I get it on my feet,so I wear flip flops almost all the time. I live close to the beach and go often,that helps a lot. Peace to All, Feel Better. I use Aveeno oil, hemp lotion,baby oil gel on my face. I never wear my clothes twice , I love clean sheets. I will take a shower any time of day. At my worst, I will stay wrapped in a sheet all day. I give my husband his own sheet and blanket for the bed. I make him shower a lot to keep allergens at bay. I get him to rub me to sleep every night. When I travel, I take my own towels and sheets.

[benseb]

I've had eczema all my life and general allergies. It got to the point of dermatologist just telling me to take antihistamines at 4x the normal dose - no thanks

Here's what I did to make this a lot more manageable. I still have problems but noway near as often.

Not all of these may affect you but why not try them all, and you can see if it helps. Often with allergies you need to control more than one thing to be effective, and be consistent - don't just try things for a week then give up.

1) Avoid lanolin, perfume, linolene, parabens in hair products. Infact avoid hair products! If you notice a flair up for no real reason, it may be that you've put some product on your hair and when you sleep it rubs onto your pillow and then your face. If you do use anything on your hair, make sure you wash your hair before bed. Without fail! If you forget and have a flair up, wash your bedding to remove traces.

2) Be careful of eye drops - some have preservatives that over a few days seem to make my eyes worse. I seem to be ok with Otrivine Antistin Eye Drops - they sting when you put them in but work well!

3) Careful of what you wash your sheets with. It's very difficult to realise this is an issue. From a small kid I used Persil Non Bio as my parents said this was better for me. When I started using Surcare my sleep was so much better. The fragrance in the washing powders may be irritating you

4) Use anti alergy bedding - dustmites may be making things worse. Wash sheets at 60C every week or two

5) During pollen seasons, pollen in your hair or on your skin may get into your eyes and cause problems. Avoid wearing ourdoor clothes in your bedroom. Wash your hair before bed!

6) 'Hypoallergenic' on any cosemtics, creams, etc is a load of bull****. I've seen hypoallergenic creams with real nasty stuff in. Doublebase is a really good emolient that doesn't contain nasty preservatives, etc - aqueous cream is nasty stuff! It's expensive so get it on prescription

7) Avoid artificial colours, flavours and sweeteners. Things like diet coke are full of Aspartame etc which is nasty. Often these chemicals have a 'histamine releasing' property, which do exactly the opposite of antihistamines!

Hope that helps! Once you find out what helps STICK TO IT!!!! It's easy to forget to avoid things then wonder why things are getting bad again!

[ironchef]

I know how you feel. I've always been self-conscious about my eczema. It is especially frustrating not to know WHY a breakout occurs. And when you have one you don't feel like socializing. But over the years, I have noticed that avoiding people made it worse because then I really was ALONE. So it's better to push yourself and get out regardless of how you look. Interaction with good friends will boost your spirits.

Steroids help temporarily. The rash tends to come back and worse each successive time. It also thins the skin. My palams are so thin they crack so easily from all the steroid creams over the years. Oral steroids could be worse as you don't know how it is affecting your internal organs and system. If I could turn back the clock, I would have thrown all my steroids away. But it's easier said than done...when the rash is unbearable steroids seem to be the only thing that works. Just don't use it for too long, don't use it continuously.

For me, the root cause of my eczema was food allergies and yeast overgrowth. Once I avoided dairy, alcohol, and sugar, I got better. Diet is key. Fish oil and evening primrose oil helps too. Probiotics/acidopholis stops yeast overgrowth.

Drink purified water, i.e. have a reverse osmosis filtration system in your home if you can. This includes the shower as well. I found it helped me significantly. Salt water baths too...use epsom salts.

Good luck...let us know how it goes. Feeling sad and frustrated when a flare occurs is normal. I guess the key is that there is NO quick fix. Be patient. Stick to a healthy diet free and take supplements. Exercise regularly. It has taken me a lifetime to figure things out and now I feel alot better.

[ellesea]

Hi Rose,

I hope your getting better soon. I agree with ironchef - it helped me tremendously to have a dairy/gluten/refined sugar free diet. Other triggers for me are: nickel (annoyingly found in wine!!), laundry detergent, stress

I was sick of going to expensive private dermatologists for steroids that were making my eczema more aggressive so I turned to a naturopath/nutritionist which has helped out - but I'm only human (and american) so I like to indulge in the odd pizza, ben & jerry's etc. and when i do i notice my eczema gets bad again.

I recently went home for a few weeks and my mum sent me straight to the natural food store and the gentlemen was really nice and recommended (because he himself suffered from psoraisis) probiotics & a natural creme and it worked fast and really nice!!!

http://www.nowfoods.com/index.php?actio ... m_id=10908

http://international.drugstore.com/prod ... m=sespider

Hope this helps xx

[ellesea]

I feel the same way!!! I have a cleaner and dishwashing machine because I refuse to do those things that aggravate my skin. My eczema is on my hands and it is totally crippling - I sometimes rub my hands together so hard that I feel like an old woman with arthiritis afterwards because they are so swollen and painful.

I have been going on different messages like a gospel.. tee hee. but I have to say my hands are soooo much better since I have been taking these two things:

3 tablets per day
http://www.nowfoods.com/index.php?actio ... m_id=10908

creme stops the itching and isn't greasy.
http://www.drugstore.com/qxp83730_33318 ... _creme.htm

this is not in place of a good healthy diet but it definetely helped me! I tried this when I wasn't following my dairy/gluten/refined sugar diet - which is excellent and totally do-able by the way!! I just went overboard when I went on holiday to US recently : )

hope this helps!! xx

[loutaylor]

Hi

I need help.For the last two years I have suffered with eczema.I have been to my GP who last week told me I only have eczema and I have to live with it!!But i cant.The last week it has got so bad I havent slept.I have tried antihistimines,steroid creams and ointments,countles moisturisers the list goes on.For the past two years it seems that I spend my lunch breaks in Boots looking for something else to try.I am going to see a homeopath next week as I am done going to see the GP.

I have spent today crying and upset as it is getting me down which I know is making my skin worse!!Please someone say I wil find out what the trigger is and I will find the right treatment.I feel completly defeated by eczema .I dont want it to win!!!!

[AnnaB]

I so feel for you. I once left a hospital in tears after being told my son then 2 had eczema what do you expect. I then transfered to a different hospital after just one visit to the GP. It is your right for good care. You refer to your GP, you must get a referal to a hospital dermatologist. You need a specialist care plan and advice.

Anna

[loutaylor]

thanks. i am going to see a dermatoligist in december so hopefully im will get somewhere then.its just so frustrating!!