CarrieLee said:

I hope they get to the bottom if it soon. That sucks. I have had many skins tests done for allergies..mine are environmental. Dust, molds, trees, grass...some times I think it is air that I am allergic to.
It is no fun having skin issues..I have acne. My mom told me when I was 14 I would grow out of it...I am still waiting, I am 36 now....

I will go straight from acne to wrinkles.
wow..it is so much fun to be a women..
I think a lot of our health issues comes down to hormones.
Just my

shanti0608 said:

Most of mine are environmental too...every single damn tree, grass, mold, dust mites...ughh! So annoying!

CarrieLee said:

It is very annoying, I know.

Imago said:

Nope, no can do. My food threads are fine just the way they are.

oh my goooooddddd!!!! I have eczema too!
Did you have yours all your life?

I just discovered I had it in January when my elbows broke out in a rash.
I still have no clue what is causing it though.
It's definitely gotten better since I switch to non-flouride toothpaste and limited any exposure to clorine (dish washing detergent, clothes detergent, cleaner, etc.). But its still here and still itches from time to time.

Odd--I dont have asthma or any of the other symptoms associated with eczema though. AND I only this year (year 35/36) got any symptoms on my skin.
Most people get it in childhood and it reoccurs over their lifetimes in cycles.

CarrieLee said:

Imago said:

Careful with that stuff. I swear I got a bunch of cavities after switching to non-flouride toothpaste for a couple years.

I'm sure you can get by without it, but I think you have to be extra careful, especially if you eat sugar like me.

Since I switched back to flouride, no cavities!
[Edited 12/12/07 11:24am]

Imago said:

Mine started in high school mostly behind my knees and inside my elbows. Then it spread to my face...above my lip (EMBARRASSING!!) and under my eyes. THEN I would break out in hives if I took a shower because it was too much pressure on my skin. I could only take baths for about a year, it was terrible.

It eventually got better. When I was a teen it was mostly due to stress and the cold weather. I cannot use fabric softener or drier sheets unless I want to be absolutely miserable. When I started working the bar my hands broke out because of the dish washing detergent. I can no longer wash dishes there or have to use gloves. At one point I couldn't curl my fingers because they would crack and bleed. Steroid creams would help but only for a month or two and then I woudl become immune to them. It sucks....big time.

CarrieLee said:

we switched to tone of those rain showerheads after someone told me that most showerheads put too much pressure on our skin.

Those steroid creams are such BS! They solve the problem almost instantly, but don't heal anything. They just put a pretty band aid on the problem. And in fact, they thin your skin and make it easier for yucky stuff to get in. I used one for way too long before my doctor told me to stop.

NDRU said:

I'm on a new one now that supposedly won't thin your skin. I tried the non steroid creams and none of them worked. I go to bed with gloves on with my hands slathered in eucerin or vaseline and that didn't help either! As long as it stays off my face I'll be happy, that was the worst. It looked like I had a kool-aid mustache because it was all red above my lip

CarrieLee said:

I had it by my eye and mouth, too. That was terrible. I looked like I had a red tear. I used this stuff called Claron or Klaron that was non steroid, and got rid of it on my face, and it hasn't come back for several years.

I get dots on my back, but like you, as long as it's off my face I'm happy.

CarrieLee said:

Wait.

You're telling me that this is ongoing? I thought attacks lasted about a year or two and go away?





Shit.

Imago said:

Yep, I've had it for 14 years now. In fact I just got back from the allergist! My patch tests came back negative so now I go see the doc one more time to see what showed up in the blood work. I have immune issues so I'll probably always battle this.

For those with eczema, U may want to try process of elimination with foods. For two years I suffered itch and scale and was told by three different Drs. that I had simply succumb to eczema; that I would probably have to live with and all I could do according to them was use steroid creams and bath in tar. Allergy scratch tests showed I was allergic to grass, mold, dust etc. - but in my mind everyone's allergic to mold and dust. Grass? Hell I can roll around in grass all day and never get a reaction - so I wasn't believing them. Each one of them seemed bored with another case of eczema and simply wrote out another script for an expensive cream. So I took it upon myself to find the cause and started a one by one elimination on the foods I was eating. This took well over a year and gradually, I had eliminated almost everything except my daily breakfast of which I had been eating for years - oatmeal, banana, sunflower seeds, almonds and peppita seeds (pumpkin seeds). Because I am vegetarian and thought I needed my nuts for protein, I never gave the seeds and nuts a single thought, especially because I'd been eating them for years. One day while shopping I overhear a woman talking about the terrible itch and rash she experienced when eating various nuts. I thought - well - that's the last thing I haven't stopped eating. Next morning I changed my breakfast habbit - and within a week - the eczema had completely disappeared - like magic - every trace gone. Don't let those Drs. tell you that eczema is just something that one can develop for no reason at all. Don't let them push those expensive steroid creams that can do real damage on you. I believe that eczema doesn't just surface for no reason at all. Your body is telling you that you are consuming something it can't handle anymore. Try it, it's a long process, but I'll bet U eventually you will find the culprit. Peanut Butter - no problem. Love it and don't have a reaction - but some of those nuts are deadly...and sometimes it's not the nut itself but rather the microscopic mold that can be found on most nuts from sitting around on store shelves, improper packaging, shipping processes etc. U can't see it, but it's definitely there.

Red said:

I agree, most dermatologists I went to really didn't do anything other than keep prescribing me new steroid creams. This is why I started seeing an allergist. I will find out what foods I need to stay away from and for once I feel like this doctor actually WANTS to help me. He did prescribe me another steroid cream and I told him my concerns with it. He insisted that this one will work and it does not thin your skin like most creams. So far so good.

Eczema is also stress related. When I was a kid staying stress free was easier said than done especially when this was all over my face and I was being teased. Not to mention the physical pain that accompanied it.

If you are suffering from this I agree with Red to try and eliminate certain foods, and also seeing an allergist other than a dermatologist may be beneficial as well.

CarrieLee said:

yes! I got my worst outbreak when I was under terrible stress. And like you say, shit on your face doesn't ease the stress very much does it?

Mine seems to get better with jogging. Maybe a purification thing, maybe a stress thing, circulation, whatever, it seems to help a lot.

I agree about doctors. They just want to patch you up, not make you better. Mine gave me years worth of steroids and didn't tell me to only use them for two weeks at a time.


I'd like to do the food thing, but it takes so much discipline to figure it out.

NDRU said:

Just try fruits and nuts. Make a conscious effort to see if it's getting worse during that time.

CarrieLee said:

One at a time?

NDRU said:

Just don't eat any of it for a while, then one week eat just fruit or something...see if your skin gets worse. Then do the same with nuts.

CarrieLee said:

oh, I knew the leaving it out of the diet test, but I hadn't thought to then try eating lots of it afterwards. Thanks!

easiest way to do it is (hindsight is 20/20 now that I've been thru it)...take a look at what you are eating on the regular. If your eczema is constant, there is a very good chance it is something that you are frequently eating - or drinking. If the outbreaks fluctuate...rewind 1-2-3 days and see what it was you were eating. My suggestion is to make a list of things that you eat regularly, and start there, eliminating one by one/week by week. Give each at least 4 days to see if the eczema goes away or surfaces. Remember, you can pick up allergies at any stage of your life. Just because you have never been allergic to something, doesn't mean at some point you won't. These days they still call it allergies to food - but the real story is that we are allergic to the freakin chemicals they use to preserve the foods.

i love pb

I ask myself the same question everytime I open the jar! It is still ok!
I have been craving peanutbutter quite a bit lately. Good Lord...

Not specifically prepared. Just a big spoon, and a cup of sugar I can dip the peanutbutter-filled-spoon in.

Heaven.