Help - I have eczema!

[Jade]

For the first time since early childhood. I remember getting awful rashes behind my knees as a child which had long gone before age 7 or 8 but looking at eczema images online I'm sure that's what it was.

Four months ago I started to get itchy patches between the fingers of my right hand (I am right handed). I showed my naturopath who said that since it was in between my fingers it was probably fungal. I believed her and threw everything natural I could at it and of course changed my diet to reduce sugars etc. Eventually when nothing was working I gave up and tried an over the counter antifungal cream which didn't work either.

I was just starting to wonder if I had it all wrong and it was indeed eczema when I friend noticed it. Since our discussion revealed that it seemed to behave in the same way as the ezcema she had healed by giving up gluten I decided to trial GF for a few weeks before seeing a doctor (because I'd rather not use a steroid cream). I felt that it might not make that much difference since I didn't actually eat that much gluten. DH's sourdough and soaked flour in kefir pancakes plus the occasional ordinary bread or pasta when out.

Of course it magically started to get better within a week and of course I fell off the wagon on Sunday when a friend handed me a mince pie :( I had a huge outbreak on Monday. Ugh. Monday and Tuesday were really painful although gradually improving and only today is my hand vaguely comfortable again. Wow. I honestly thought I didn't have any food sensitivities (and thanked my lucky stars for it). Wrong.

 

So...How do I heal this? What does it mean? Leaky gut huh? Why do I suddenly have eczema after decades of not having it and after three ish years of moving closer and closer to a TF wholefoods diet? Is it actually evidence that my body is healing from a childhood of frequent antibiotics? Or is more sinister and I'm actually getting sicker?

[Jade]

No advice?

[Lorna Fay]

Do you think your problem might be season related?  I'm wondering if lack of Vit. D might have something to do it.  I get eczema in the winter.  I have no problems with eczema during the months when I spend a lot of time outdoors in the sunshine.  Last year I tried taking a Vit. D supplement during winter.  It proved to be helpful.

 

I am also wondering if you dry between your fingers after washing your hands.  In warm weather it isn't important, but in cold weather dampness between fingers could cause chapping (which is painful).   You might want to try  rubbing olive oil into your hands and wearing white cotton gloves to bed.

 

It is possible that you have developed a food allergy.  Allergies come and go throughout our lives.  If you have recently changed dish washing detergent or hand soap, you might be having a dermatitis reaction (allergy to the soap).

[Jade]

Well it could have been seasonal because it did start in WInter but it is midsummer here now. So that's six months it's been hanging around. During that time I've tried all kinds of things wrt dishwashing/soap/hand drying etc. Now DH does the dishes as often as he can and when I have to I do it one handed as even wearing a glove exacerbates it.

 

Cutting out gluten has definitely made it more manageable but it's still here :( Today I have a little outbreak of staph at the base of one finger but it's healing already after happening at around 5am this morning which is a huge imporvement on a month ago when an outbreak would weep for a day and be incredibly painful for three. Other things I've done are to start taking FCLO regularly (because I've read vitamin D can help with ezcema) and taking extra C whenever I have a staph outbreak (like today). DH also asked me to take a generic women's mutlivitamin (gluten free) because he feels despite our emphasis on diet it could be related to a nutrient deficiency from 5+ years constant breastfeeding and pregnancy.

As I said it's Summer here and now I have awful hayfever too. Unlike ezcema I've often had hayfever, especially around midsummer. This is the worst it's been in around 12 years. So bad that I actually broke down and bought an over the counter 24hr antihistamine. I do the the ezcema and hayfever are related. We have been doing a bit of berry picking at a community orchard we are involved in and my hand usually gets worse when are there (I don't much picking, mainly toddler wrangling ;) ) but the one time I actually took the antihistamine (the night before) it was absolutely fine.

 

TBH although I know it could be much worse, the current combination of ezcema and hayfever is really really unpleasant. I desperately want to heal from this and I'm willing to do whatever elim diets etc it might take. Does no-one have any advice?