Eczema?! Please help!

72MonteCarla

I am so frustrated. I have been living healthier in the past two months than I have in years. I have been eating organic veggies and fruits, and slowly reducing the amount of animal-based products (meat, fish, dairy) that I consume. I exercise every day. But now I seem to have broken out in what I think is eczema. It's all over my body. I am very worried because I know it is a chronic disease. I have never had it before. I do not want to see a doctor because I know they will prescribe harmful steroid creams and pills. I thought it might be from chlorine in the pool, or maybe the new laundry detergent (which is dye & perfume-free). But I've been in that pool 4 days a week for two months, and I rubbed the detergent on my skin this morning and so far no reaction. Maybe it is time to finally switch completely to whole foods, plant-based diet. I'm already well on my way, so it's really frustrating that this would happen now. I was planning on shorts & tank tops this summer, maybe even a bikini. Now I fear I will have to cover up this awful skin condition. Never mind that it is itchy and painful. I could just cry. Any advice you can offer will be greatly appreciated. I am only interested in natural solutions, please.

veganbaum

You should go to your doctor to at least have it diagnosed. You don't HAVE to do steroids, etc., or anything else they suggest for that matter, that's your decision. What you can do is get it diagnosed properly, then ask for more natural alternatives, if it is indeed eczema. But maybe it's a food reaction or something. Is there a food that you have added quite a bit more of lately? Search the web, search for books, and I'm sure you can find plenty of ideas for natural remedies if it is eczema. But I would still go to your doctor and have it diagnosed properly before you start diagnosing yourself.

LittleElephant

I've suffered bad eczema my whole life. Evening primrose is supposed to help though I've had little success. Steroids don't even work well for me.

luhluhlaura

I don't suffer from full-body eczema, but I do get patches now and then, along with keratosis pilaris.
For me the biggest thing has always been a lack of moisture + my sensitive skin. Preventing roughness and bumps means literally moisturizing every single freakin' day...
Chlorine is INCREDIBLY drying...if your hair has been feeling more straw-like or shedding/breaking more often, then likely it's the chlorine causing your problem. Sweat is also irritating if left on the skin. Remember to shower as soon as you get out of the pool/after exercising, wash well with a moisturizing body wash made for sensitive skin, and use a non-fragrant body lotion with AHA (this is the only thing I have found to be fully effective) such as AmLactin Fragrance Free or Eucerin Plus+ Smoothing Essentials. (I use and love both!)

Also this is just a guess, but even with the healthier diet, at a calorie deficit you may not be getting the nutrition you used to...I would invest in a good multivitamin and possibly a flax seed oil or Omega-3 oil supplement.

savethecat

I actually just started noticing the same thing recently. So far it's only a few dots on my thumb, but I had no idea what it was when it first popped up and I've been doing all sorts of research trying to figure it out. My diet is similar to yours. No meat or diary and mostly clean foods- and I haven't been exposed to any new detergents or chemicals that I am aware of. The dots appeared about 6 days ago and were very painful as they grew in. Today is the first day they seem to be deflating. I didn't have the funds to get them checked out by a doctor this week (not too mention that I didn't want to argue with them about steroids and such) so I took the advice I found online. I didn't pop them and tried to keep them dry. They seem to be clearing up on their own, as most everything I read said they would. The information I read further suggested that even though it is difficult to diagnose and treat these sorts of skin conditions they only seem to flare up a few times a year and disappear just as quickly. Although, they are still extremely inconvenient! Especially if they're on your body and you want to wear a bikini I'm sure.

It's possible that we are experiencing two different kind of eczema but I just wanted to throw my two cents in and let you know I feel your pain. I worry that the break out I'm having now will spread or that the next one will be worse. If you do go to the doctor I would love to know what information you receive. Best of luck.

Willbenchforcupcakes

Know that eczema is an allergic reaction - you should go to the doctor to have it diagnosed, and allergy testing to see what you are allergic to. My husband, myself, and both my daughters all have eczema, and we've found great relief from natural soaps and lotions with oatmeal, goats milk and honey.

buzzcogs

eczema is related to allergies. You could be allergic to some of the foods you are eating. Go to a doctor.

tonihayden

vanicream.....they sell it at walgreens. don't get vanicream lite....make sure it is just vanicream......works wonders.

3laine75

do you guys have 'Malki Dead Sea' soap over there? i get it from Boots for my daughter when she breaks out - it clears it up within days. Swimming in the sea, if you have that option, when your on holiday is also good. Shea butter is also supposed to help but she finds that too oily but it may work for you.

bio_fit

I have had eczema all my life - I cannot go swimming as I have a severe reaction to the chlorine.

I had a random flare-up last June - and despite all the moisturisers and steroids prescribed by the doctor it persisted until about 2 weeks ago. My mum read something about eating a handful of walnuts every day - I was skeptical, but strangely my condition has improved considerably over the last couple of weeks. Maybe I was cutting out too much oil and fat from my diet? Who knows!

sarah44254

i have eczema on my hands. it is annoying when it happens but the cremes are absolutely not affordable in the slightest so I just deal with it.

doctor recommended dove soaps, or 'the least harsh you can find' as he said. try not to use alcohol products on your skin as they will dry it out and make the itching worse.

get it looked at by the doc. it might be eczema, might not! you can't know til they check it out.

BlessedandBeautifulBrown

shea butter... works awesome mix with some coconut oil.. and what your citric acids....orange juices... ketchup will get you and get the water in..

MrsSamB

My friend developed this soap to help with the skin problems that her family was having. I recommend going to the doctor to get diagnosed so that you know what you need to treat. You don't have to fill the prescriptions that they give you but you don't want to be treating something that you don't actually have.

Then go to this website: http://store.jonessoaps.com/default.asp

Hope this helps.

jjblogs

I get eczema on my hands, ankles and sometimes a bit on my eyelids. My hands were really bad at one point. Read about trying utter cream, which I thought was weird as hell. But, my Mom actually ran across some at my grandparents house and brought it home. I used it....freaking miracle. You don't want to use this every day for extended period of time from what I understand, but my hands cleared up pretty quickly...like within a week or so. I rarely use it now. Here is what I used:

http://www.rawleigh.net/antiseptic_salve.htm

Miracle, imho. Might give it a shot.

Lesa_Sass

Please go to the doctor and find out what it really is. And if he does prescribe steroids, you do not have to take them, IF it is eczema.

Personally I do not believe that is what it is, sounds like an allergic reaction to me, but I do not know because like you, I am not a doctor.

fuhrmeister

I agree with the first poster. At least see a doctor to have it diagnosed. even if you choose alternative treatment.

I use dove sensative bar soap to help and I do use a perscribed hydrocortozone cream for mine that works wonders. I also find cetephil restoraderm lotion to be the best one I have tried. Better than Sauve, Nivia or anthing perfumed.

LaDiablesse

My children have eczema. When I see them starting to break out, I put coconut oil on the area twice a day. My 7 year old has it the worst & tends to break out when the weather changes & when he's feeling stressed. You should see a doctor for it though as it could be something totally different. Talk to the doc about alternatives to using the steroids.

sabulla

I have suffered from eczema all my life off/on in addition to my 3 children. It can be very miserable and embarrassing @ times. I have found that the more natural route to go is the fragrance free Goats Milk Soap and Lotion works well. However, sometimes if you are too flarred up, the Goats Milk Lotion might sting a bit. I'm a big user of Eucerin cream (in the jar). After a shower, you need to blot your skin-dont rub, then hydrate w/in a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, sometimes you do need to break down and go to the doctor and get a steroid pack, shot, or steriod creams to use for a short time. I feel your pain. Im almost 40 yrs old and now I'm dealing w/seborrheic dermatitis on my face. As long as I have had eczema, I have never had it on my face. Now I get something else and it's on my face. Good luck!

Leiki

My bf has had chronic eczema his whole life. When he was a child, what they first did was identify the allergens with an allergy test. It turns out he is allergic to almost everything, including his own sweat. Since every eczema case is unique, each doctor he goes to listens to what works or doesn't work for him, and prescribes based on their own experiences, as well. You should be able to get an allergy test done, and perhaps tell your doctor of your preference for natural medication, and maybe your doctor will tell you of natural solutions.

Also, minimize use of any scented products, including laundry detergent, and try not to get your skin wet too often. My bf had a chronic break out in high school and college when he was on the swim team.

2youngatheart

Sarah-Noelle.com has some great all natural products that do seem to help with this problem. I do like their products...I use several of them. Good luck!

mugsy1335

If it is eczema, I was told by our physician to hit the tanning beds, it seems to work pretty well from my end??

LisamarieBond14

Firstly, it's not a disease, it's just a skin condition

Edit to add more

I have suffered from really severe eczema since I was around 4 years old. I was 20 when my dermatologist finally gave me a patch test to determine if I was allergic to anything. She said I'm allergic to Parabens Mix, Fragrance Mix II, Balsam of Peru and Nickel. There's so many different compounds in these mixes that I have to carry a card around with me, with all the different names and chemicals etc, for when I buy shampoos and just about everything else!
She also told me that I don't justhave atopic eczema, as I had always believed, but I have chronic hand eczema (I do get it all over my body too), severe atopic eczema, contact allergic dermatitis and Pomphylox. She also took me off my steroid creams and gave me a non-steroidal ointment.

I have tried every single thing going over the last 20 years and nothing has ever worked. It's incurable because they don't know what causes it, so they can't counteract it. Many people have theories and have suggested all kinds of treatments, including natural remedies, but I have never found anything to work. I use my doctor's prescribed moisturiser - I can't use vaseline, E45, Sudocrem etc because of my allergies - and if my itch gets really painful, I keep it in the fridge as it's soothing. I can only use one type of laundry detergent and I stay away from my known allerens and irritants, such as citric fruit juices, latex, dust, etc.

Please feel free to add me and we can share our experiences

Edit again! - When I was around 7-8 years old, my dermatologist suggested I cut out dairy - it didn't make a difference to me. I guess we just have to remember that every single person is different. What works for one might not work for another. I strongly suggest you have allergy testing done though, it makes it easier (still really difficult though!)

PeachKitty

First, get a proper diagnosis. There's various skin conditions out there, some worse than others.

I've had eczema for most of my life, and it's such a tetchy condition. Sometimes I'll randomly clear up for no reason at all, and other times I can use all the lotions and potions I want, and it won't help me at all. I've the vague feeling that stress causes mine to flare up, a holiday away from work saw my skin becoming extremely clear, despite the incredibly bad diet I had while I was away.

Someone else mentioned using soap with honey and oats in. I've found that it's helped my skin a lot, it's softer and calmer than it's been for a long time. I even recommended it to a friend who suffers the opposite problem of me, she has very oily skin that's prone to spots, and it even helped clear her face up.

Moisturising wise, Hemp Body Butter is very expensive, but really helps. I also use Cocoa Butter Cream, which is cheaper and lasts for ages. You really need to experiment to see what works best for you.

Green tea also helps me a lot, if I ever have a severe break out I drink the tea like it's going out of fashion, and it tends to calm my skin down a fair bit. It's also good for you, boots metabolism, and has various other health benefits.

Adeolulu

My 6 year old sister has terrible eczema. I make her an all natural whipped body butter consisting of natural unrefined Shea butter, coconut oil, Jamaican black castor oil and olive oil.....sometimes tea tree oil depending on the batch and her severity at the time.
I suggest researching all these ingredients and others and customizing a batch for your skin and symptoms. Mix it all with a hand mixer and you have a creamy, thick body butter.

Also short showers with cooler water as opposed to hot steamy showers or baths.

Hope this helps!

MrsTWard

shea butter... works awesome mix with some coconut oil.. and what your citric acids....orange juices... ketchup will get you and get the water in..

I agree!! Shea Butter works wonders. My neice & newphew has it and it really helps.

TexasRaised89

For at home treatment, well something to help it.... Athletes foot spray works great and hydrocortisone cream. Go to the doctor and if they deem it Eczema ask for Elidel....that cream works miracles!!!!! I had eczema really bad growing up.

RenaPink11

I know you said you don't eat fish, but I have psoriasis and I take fish oil and it's helped

jaimebarth

Agree completely! You don't HAVE to do any medicine you don't want to. BUT you need to know what it is because if you start to treat it yourself you can easily make it WAY worse. Good luck!

72MonteCarla

Thanks everyone. I have an appointment with a dermatologist tomorrow morning. Maybe they can diagnose it, but I know the "treatment" will be bulls*^t. Most doctors know little to nothing about nutrition. They treat symptoms, not problems. They make as.much money from kickbacks from drug companies as they do from their patients. I have been trying to retrace every step since this began last week. I can up with two changes that may have triggered an allergic reaction: 1) I switched laundry detergent. 2) I bought a new salad blend (Organic Biologique Herb Salad Blend). I did a patch test on my skin with the detergent and I have seen nothing. So maybe it's something in the salad? A third option might be a change in the type or concentration of chemicals in the pool, which I can't track. The most notable thing is that it is completely bilateral. It is in the exact same places on both sides of my body, which makes me think "contact dermatitis", likely from the laundry detergent.Anyway, mostly I am just rambling my thoughts here. I am a scientist, and I can't help but employ deduction to find the solution... Trips to the doctor always prove frustrating for me because they spend more time writing the prescriptions than they do diagnosing the ROOT of the problem. I should mention that I also had allergy patch testing done recently which determined that I am not allergic to trees, pollen, weed, dust, mold, etc... No food allergy testing was done. I will buy the old detergent tonight and wash a load of clothes to wear tomorrow, and I will skip lunch today (the salad).

Embell0830

Pretty much like everyone else said, see a doctor first. A couple of my coworkers use this stuff called black soap that they get at a farmers market for their kids with eczema. They say it really helps and makes the skin soft. It's an organic all natural product.

AnnaCVeach

I used to get eczema only during the winter but I've been battling it on my legs for well over a year now. And I just started using Aveeno Eczema Therapy and overnight it was greatly diminished!!! However, I agree with the other posters to get it looked at by your doctor and you DON'T have to take any medications they offer up. It's your decision. I hope you find the answers you are seeking.