update on my life

[aliki]

So at 24, I got diagnosed last week with eczema. I thought that was something that started in childhood like chicken pox, and if you made it past a certain age, you didn't have to deal with it. The worst was hearing my doctor say: "Well, you can never cure eczema, you just have to learn ways to deal with living with it." ARGH! It felt like you could've substituted any given sexually transmitted disease like herpes into that box. I almost visualized those herpes commercials on TV where the woman goes kayaking, mountain climbing, and snuggles with some guy with low occurences of outbreaks... I cringe. Eczema is way gross. I look like an alligator with serious red and inflammed skin.

Also, as I walked to work this morning at 4am, I realized this is why I hate fall and winter. The sheer fact that I go to work before the sun rises, and don't leave work till the sun sets (I left yesterday at 7pm) is really depressing. Really. When I have to turn the front porch light on as I leave the house so I can get my keys into the car, and return at night, thankful that I left the porch light on because now I can find the keyhole in the front door-- it's sick! Sick, I tell you! My one neener-neener comment would have been that I don't turn into a deathly-pale vampire because I work outdoors and keep my tan, but the stark reality is that trying to have dexterity in your fingers in 28 degree Fahrenheit weather (sub-freezing!) in the dark, on a rocking boat, with splashing, wet, ocean waves, that six warm thermal layers of clothing don't keep the chill off you and your toes felt like they fell off after two hours is nothing to brag about.

Comments

[aparecida.livejournal.com]

I have had eczema all my life. I get it really, really badly if I don't do something about it -- I used to get green (!) infected patches behind my knees as a kid, and I still have a bleached scar area on my hip. I got it around my eyes, behind my knees and thighs, inside my elbows, and on the backs of my forearms. The site has moved as I got older. They always told me I'd outgrow it, but I never did.

The best solution for prevention is to slather on some baby oil or sunflower oil or body oil or the like, about a quarter-size amount for each body part, right before you get out of the shower. Don't wash it off, just sort of rinse a second. Pat gently dry with a towel, leaving some time for the oil to soak in to your skin a bit. Alternately, that Olay MoistuRinse stuff works okay and is less messy, but not quite as effective.

Salt water and chlorine aggravate the shit out of eczema. I know you can't avoid that stuff due to your job, but rinse off as quickly as possible and apply a light body oil or a really rich lotion, and it will help.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Dana recommended Aveeno's oatmeal bath.

Currently, I have it on my feet-- it spread from my toes (which initially from the itch I thought it was the woeful athlete's foot) all the way to my ankles. When it started on my fingers, I ran to the doctor. Since it's mainly on my feet, I've gotten a small tub that I've filled with that oatmeal bath stuff and it does sooth the itch a lot.

I'll also start with the baby oil in the bathroom suggestion! I used to put a little on before i put my clothes on, but then I found sometimes it stained my clothes, so I had to lay naked in bed for 10-15 minutes till the oil dried... which, I rarely have the patience for.

As for your comment about saltwater-- AHAH! So that's what started it! It began mid-July and aggravaed through till now, but it started after 3 months of constantly wearing sneakers soaked in saltwater! Ah hah!

[aparecida.livejournal.com]

haha, I almost forgot to mention the saltwater, and then I was going to put it in as an afterthought, and then I realized that you must be exposed to saltwater all the freakin' time. I always have a little patch of eczema in various places, but after exactly two dips in the ocean when I went to the beach this summer, it freaked out horrifically and spread all over my legs and arms -- even though I rinsed off as soon as I could and then showered with lotion and body oil. Seriously, I gave up swimming in the ocean for the rest of the vacation. The salt water and then the dried salt does the whole osmotic water-drawing-out number on your skin. I know you can't really avoid it, but do whatever you can as far as rinsing. :)

The Aveeno oatmeal bath does exactly two things for me, jack and shit. :( You're welcome to try it though, it might work for you. The Alpha-Keri bath soaks my dermatologist recommended didn't do jack for me either. The baby oil after showering made a night-and-day difference, though (the key is to put it on before toweling, not after drying off). I used to always put on crappy loose cotton clothes after I showered so that I wouldn't stain any good clothes with baby oil. It was only a few months ago that I figured out that if I apply it while showering, the excess will rinse off but I wind up with a nice moisturizing film all over me. Hooray!

[rachel-y.livejournal.com]

I've had eczema all my life too. Some things that may help: ingesting lots of Omega-3 oils (via eating fish or in pill form); flax seed oil (I don't think this is an Omega-3, but it will do your skin good); upping your water intake; cutting out dairy (pr at least milk--helps some people).

The most commonly (to the best of my knowledge) prescribed remedy is a hydrocortisone cream. You can get them in non-prescription strengths over the counter.

The Allopaths I've seen about my eczema tend not to spend too much time rooting out the cause, but just throw remedies at the symptoms. Bottom line, something is causing your eczema. Assuming you haven't developed an allergy, eczema could be an reaction to dehydration, a build up of toxins in your body or to an overload of stress. The skin is a filtering organ.

Good luck. Sucks to deal with.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Cutting out dairy? Like yoghurt, milk, cheese, ice cream!??! GOOD LORD are you crazy! *grin* (Sorry, dairy nut, perhaps as much as I love chocolate... Mmmm... chocolate... Mmmm... Oh, where was I--)

My doc ruled out allergy because I have it primarily on one foot and not the other, hence it wouldn't be a factor of laundry detergent, carpet, and I didn't wear any toe rings (she did ask!).

Stress is probably a big factor-- I'm about to take my quals, which in graduate school, is a "do or die" scenario where my entire life may crumble before my eyes, no exaggeration.

yet more ideas

[cwrubs.livejournal.com]

Even more than topical solutions, since eczema is a stress/immune system related condition, it is good to supplement with things that are going to boost your immune system and lower stress. Increase garlic intake, ashwanga is a good immune system builder, reishi mushroom is also good for the immune system as is ginseng because it is a good adaptogen. In addition, doing things like getting massage (alright so I'm biased), putting your feet up when you get home, taking time to just breathe and do nothing, even if only for 15 minutes are going to do wonders to lower your stress and decrease the eczema.

Re: yet more ideas

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Massage! I am so coming to Seattle..

Re: yet more ideas

[cwrubs.livejournal.com]

promises, promises.

Good luck with all this.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

I know-- isn't that weird?

[krisnake.livejournal.com]

I've been dealing with eczema since about high school. It seems that the weather brings it out in me and I've been trying to keep it under control since moving back to Seattle. The thing that works for me? Taking my multi-vitamin pill every day. When I do get an outbreak, I put tea tree oil on it to help relieve the itching.

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

My son "developed" eczema last year and he just got a really bad infected bout, if you can call it that. (He gets it on his feet mostly and the twit played rugby barefoot -- in the mud.)

You have my sympathies, and make sure you get treatment when it FIRST flares up.

[aliki.livejournal.com]

Hmm.. I developed it after a few months of keeping my feet in salty ocean water-soaked sneakers. Think that caused it?

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

Caused? Maybe. Certainly aggravated what could have been a dormant condition.

Feel better - and don't let it get to the GRRROOOSSSS stage my son did!

[ayn-soph.livejournal.com]

My dad and my brother both have it and they just use eucerine which works great for them.

heya

[(Anonymous)]

Hey Aliki,

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take care,
love,
QumQuat

[sophistimicated.livejournal.com]

have eczema, too. My flare-ups almost always occur when the affected site is exposed to water in combination with other irritants.

I don't know enough about your job to recommend anything for your poor feets, but I've found coating my hands in in petroleum jelly and then wearing rubber gloves has been really helpful for protecting my hands when I need to expose them to water, dish soap, or other household irritants (the mineral oil based jelly provides an extra barrier of protection for my poor handses). Also, try coating your hands and feet with a decent heavy moisturizer before bed, then wearing socks and plastic gloves while you sleep. I like Burt's Bees hand and foot salve, but really any good moisturizer will work.

I had such a severe flare-up over my chest in my early twenties during a period of keen emotional stress that I looked like a burn victim. Fortunately, it didn't get infected, but yikes!

[manipul8.livejournal.com]

If you can control it without the topical corticosteroids/cortisone try to do so... they seriously should be a last resort as they've got a lot of really nasty side effects.

Stress seems to be the biggest factor in most people I've come across who end up having their first breakout as an adult and my own skin condition flares up incredibly when I'm under stress - although for me salt water is a great way to calm it down as long as I don't let it dry on my skin.

Keep your skin moisturised, don't use anything highly perfumed and try to keep that stress under control. If you can - look into your diet as it can really help or hinder.

oh yeah!!! exzcema (had it all these years still can't spell it

[vwsrmylife.livejournal.com]

i have had it since i was a very small child. it is just one of those things that you have to spend all of your time keeping it under control

i take
1. atarax (prescription) to stop the extreme itching
2. i use elidel (prescription) for the the eczema on my face and my hairline.
3. i use protopic (prescription) for the other areas of my body.
4. i also do not take a bath or a shower every day. :D
4a. if i do take a shower, i use not so hot water because that only makes the itching worse. and then you CAN'T stop scratching it. even if the skin is coming off.
hydrocortizone breaks down the skin over time and it is not good to use it continually.
aveeno is used just because i like to put something in my bath. does nothing for my ezcema.
seasonal changes in the weather mess me up royal. i try to keep my body hydrated by drinking tons of water and skipping out on the caffeine.
my biggest trigger has been sugar. SUGAR of all things. i don't know what it does to me. i just want it, but then i can't stop myself and before i know it, i am covered from head to toe in itchy spots.
when i was in high school, i was allergic to my clarinet reeds (bamboo)and had to go out and buy very expensive plastic reeds. can you imagine that? i would get these secondary infections all around my mouth. just imagine the teasing. i also had it on every finger but my thumbs from the bottom knuckle to the cuticle. my mom understood my pain. she always took me to the doctor for it. my brother has it really bad too.
stress is the other big factor. when i was getting divorced, my skin was a crawling and itching.

i have learned to live with it, but it sucks. every once in a while, i go tot see my dermatologist and he tells me the same thing, that it will never go away. it is worse when you are an adult. you don't get teased, but you feel that god could have done better when picking from the disease grab bag. i dread even getting a scratch because i know that when it starts to heal, my ezcema may take over.

it'll be okay though ms. c

g

Re: oh yeah!!! exzcema (had it all these years still can't spell it

[aliki.livejournal.com]

SUGAR....!? Dairy!? (suggested by someone else) Oh Lord, I can't take this!

[(Anonymous)]

I have it too!

Elecon is a marvolous powerful cream.

Eczema caused hives to break out 3 weeks before my wedding. I get bumpies in a day compare to someone who would take longer.

I hate having it, and it explains why I get infected very quickly after a bug bite.

Eczema has spread to my face and my allergies doesn't help. I have to remind myself not to touch my mouth or face.

Good Luck!

:: Mona (http://www.macaby.com/) ::

mom has it too!

[(Anonymous)]

hi clare! sorry to hear about that, i think my mom has it too... i think my skin's kinda terrible too. Put lots of lotion, and take care of yourself!!!! i know it's kinda hard when u have to work under such weather conditions... remember, take care!!!!!!! -lyd-

Re: mom has it too!

[aliki.livejournal.com]

You're Kidding.. I think it is genetic.. but malaysia is so moist...is Mom under stress since she won that contest? LOL
-Brian.. (can't wait to see all of you again)

[worldforger.livejournal.com]

You could never be less than gorgeous, eczema or no.
:-)