desprate pls help eczema diet…
hi everyone, what a nice group to have online, the eczema listserv is good
too…i am having such a terrible breakout right now, first weepy sores on my
and the whole itching thing…i think it is all stress induced, esp. during
school… about every 2 months or so it happens, i get red-faced, look
positively ill, get weepy sores on my arms and scalp that seem to just APPEAR
without me even scratching… this time the doc put me on cylosporin/antibiotics
for the infected wounds, and atarax/antihistimine for the itching..things
haven’t gotten better so he jsut put me on prednisone, 50 mg!! isn’t that a bit
high?? anyways, i am wondering if there is a diet i can follow, does anyone out
there know what i should avoid eating?? also a cream for the face would be good,
it feels like a slab of meat right now i am so sore from scratching it over and
over agian with a towel… pls heeelp.. thx… i keep using creams, even
cetaphil and it just ate up my skin should i use olive oil or something instead?
May 15th, 2004 at 3:23 am
Hi,
It touches on diet as well as everything else.
D. Andrews,
EczemaMiracle.com
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May 15th, 2004 at 9:29 am
You poor thing!
At least you are getting a bit of help.
As far as the diet is concerned - just make it your duty to learn as much
as you can about it for yourself - then you will believe it. Think in terms
of wanting to be healthy even without excema.
It is obvious that certain things like junk foods, fast foods,
additives of any kind - are going to be BAD. Cut out as much sweet stuff as you
can.
I hesitate to go into too much detail - it might make you feel worse if you
feel that you cannot achieve it. some people think that all diary produce is
bad
for eczema but I am not sure. However, learn as much as you can about
Essential Fatty Acids - and if you can afford it indulge in some virgin, cold
pressed Flax oil as that has a lot of Omega 3 - which normally one associates
with fish. It is doubtful if many people eat enough fish to get enough of
this wonderful oil - and it will lubricate your skin from the inside as well as
the outside.
I makefruit juice smoothies adding two tablespoons of Flax oil - a pint and
a half per day - it is delicious and cuts down on how much I need to eat.
Do some internet searches on nutrition and get to know what you need for
your basic nutrition and what to beware of. Good luck and smooth skin. Love
Jan
May 16th, 2004 at 2:37 am
Oh, you sound terrible! I cannot begin to imagine what you are
going through! I don’t know about the diets, but maybe drinking
more water along with eating more fruits and vegetables would
probably be a good think. I know this may sound crazy, but it was
passed down to me as an old-wives tail and it does seem to work!
Steep some tea and make it strong and soak the infected area in it;
however, in your situation, you can soak a cloth in the tea and
place it over the infected area until it cools. Do this several
times a day and you should notice a drastic difference. This has
helped me tremendously with these problems and with pink eye!
Hope this helps if you choose to give it a try!
Daleine Weisenberg
May 16th, 2004 at 7:24 am
Hi
I’ve been on holiday, the sun has helped me tremendously! I feel so much better
about myself, just hope it lasts!
I heard someone mention Pink Eye, whats that?
Oh, you sound terrible! I cannot begin to imagine what you are
going through! I don’t know about the diets, but maybe drinking
more water along with eating more fruits and vegetables would
probably be a good think. I know this may sound crazy, but it was
passed down to me as an old-wives tail and it does seem to work!
Steep some tea and make it strong and soak the infected area in it;
however, in your situation, you can soak a cloth in the tea and
place it over the infected area until it cools. Do this several
times a day and you should notice a drastic difference. This has
helped me tremendously with these problems and with pink eye!
Hope this helps if you choose to give it a try!
Daleine Weisenberg
May 16th, 2004 at 12:01 pm
look for a book by john pagano ive been on the diet for 5 months now skin is
the best it has been in years e mail me for any questions
Phil
May 16th, 2004 at 8:17 pm
Bless your heart! I have a 3-year-old with severe eczema. We have
traced a lot of hers to food allergies. Have you ever been tested?
Ever kept a food diary? If not, write down what you eat and see if you
can make a connection between your flares and your diet.
You might also try to avoid the "common" allergens. Sarah has to avoid
(primarily) eggs, soy, corn, bananas, and tomato - there are other foods
that affect her skin, but not as badly as these do. Wheat and dairy are
common troublemakers for eczema but, fortunately, not for us. We also
have dustmite covers on our mattresses and pillows, and I wash the
linens in hot water and/or special allergen reducing detergent once a
week.
Watch out for the rebound effect after the steroids (you ARE on a
tapered dose, aren’t you?) - you’ll most likely be clear after them, but
after you get off of them it’s possible you’ll flare again. Sarah’s
skin always looks ALMOST perfect at the end of the steroid course, but
then within about 3-4 days afterward she’s broken out again.
Hope things improve for you soon…
Becky
May 17th, 2004 at 8:43 am
yes be careful when on Prednizone….I was put on it a bunch of times in the
past and now stay away from it. It used to be the only thing to clear me but
as soon as I was off, I’d flare up again. I had a couple of different Dr’s
that liked to keep putting me on it and it’s not safe to do that. Finally I
went to another Dr who wanted me to stay away from it! Haven’t been on it
since.
It also makes you gain weight (your face bloats up) Not easy to lose the
weight either! I also wonder to this day if my immune system problems could
have
been caused from being on steroids and/or other meds they had me on….
Hope everyone finds some sort of relief soon. I think diet is a very
important factor.
I seem to be pretty clear right now, my hands finally healed up and still not
sure what had them so bad. But I also started a new job this week so maybe
some stress had lifted, who knows.
Sue
May 17th, 2004 at 2:07 pm
Oh, you sound terrible! I cannot begin to imagine what you are
going through! I don’t know about the diets, but maybe drinking
more water along with eating more fruits and vegetables would
probably be a good think. I know this may sound crazy, but it was
passed down to me as an old-wives tail and it does seem to work!
Steep some tea and make it strong and soak the infected area in it;
however, in your situation, you can soak a cloth in the tea and
place it over the infected area until it cools. Do this several
times a day and you should notice a drastic difference. This has
helped me tremendously with these problems and with pink eye!
Hope this helps if you choose to give it a try!
Daleine Weisenberg
May 17th, 2004 at 8:47 pm
Hi Becky… just curious… has your daughter had eczema since infancy or
did it start recently? How did you test for allergies… my son is almost
six months… just wondering if that’s old enough.
Bless your heart! I have a 3-year-old with severe eczema. We have
traced a lot of hers to food allergies. Have you ever been tested?
Ever kept a food diary? If not, write down what you eat and see if you
can make a connection between your flares and your diet.
You might also try to avoid the "common" allergens. Sarah has to avoid
(primarily) eggs, soy, corn, bananas, and tomato - there are other foods
that affect her skin, but not as badly as these do. Wheat and dairy are
common troublemakers for eczema but, fortunately, not for us. We also
have dustmite covers on our mattresses and pillows, and I wash the
linens in hot water and/or special allergen reducing detergent once a
week.
Watch out for the rebound effect after the steroids (you ARE on a
tapered dose, aren’t you?) - you’ll most likely be clear after them, but
after you get off of them it’s possible you’ll flare again. Sarah’s
skin always looks ALMOST perfect at the end of the steroid course, but
then within about 3-4 days afterward she’s broken out again.
Hope things improve for you soon…
Becky
May 19th, 2004 at 5:16 pm
I just use the basic Lipton tea bags. Nothing special. You can use
it on a baby; however, you want to make sure it’s cool enough for
them to keep from burning.
May 19th, 2004 at 8:09 pm
Diets are a subjective issue… Like 6 years ago, I
was on a strict diet, but that didnt make any
difference. Today I am in my best shape, but I have no
diet, I dont need it, the treatment is the only thing
that changed, I use a little of Betnovate and for my
face I use Elidel (I would use Elidel over all my body
but it is very expensive, at least here in my
country…. well it isnt expensive it is jsut that the
pack is fro 15 grams and that doesnt help I would have
to use a lot of it, because it is a slow but safe
treatment) .
May 20th, 2004 at 6:39 am
That was my next step to try to eliminate certain foods. Because something
is wrong. The last time I had an extensive break out was in ‘95 and then it
can back with avengence in ‘01 and I don’t know what to do, it has affected my
life in the worst way. Now the doctor has me back on the steroid, antibiotics
and meds. for pain and itch because my skin was tortured and in bad condition.
I am glad for people was are experiencing a remission with this disease I am
not one of the lucky ones. I just hope and pray that eventually I can be
one of those lucky ones. So I guess my next step will have to be to start
eliminating foods.
Good Luck to Everyone
Terri
May 20th, 2004 at 5:35 pm
Just a warning - we tried elimination with Sarah, and got no results.
BUT it was because there are SEVERAL things she’s allergic to that
really make her flare - without eliminating everything, we couldn’t get
an improvement.
Have you considered getting allergy tests done via a blood test? They
just draw the blood and you get the results within about 2 weeks.
Sarah’s allergist had us keep a food diary for a week and then he
basically tested her for everything she eats. They’ll rank the foods in
"classes" - we avoid class 4 and above, and we’re avoiding class 3 and
will re-introduce and challenge those one at a time to see what happens.
Good luck - I’m sorry you’re going through such a bad time.
Becky
May 21st, 2004 at 2:39 am
Thanks Becky, I was tested not by blood, I had the skin test but the funnies
things I was allergic to I didn’t eat on a regular basis, like avocados and
asparagus.
That’s for the advice
Terri
May 21st, 2004 at 6:55 am
I’ve heard that skin tests on folks with e. are not real accurate - you
might check with your allergist to make sure!
Becky
May 22nd, 2004 at 8:42 am
Terri, Good luck to you too. I really hope you find some relief soon.
May 22nd, 2004 at 3:22 pm
When I was getting skin testing (skin prick testing) done back a few years
ago, I’m not sure how accurate they were. When I finally had a clear enough
spot to do a patch test, I had to remove it before the alloted time becasue it
made me itchy, yet I supposedly wasn’t allergic to anything on it. I had rasp
(sp??) tests done too (blood) but I got different results on some of the same
tests. For example, I was told I was allergic to latex then a year or so later
I was told I wasn’t. But I do react to it sometimes so I figure I am. Also
after I was diagnosed with the low immune system, they told me all the allergy
testing I had done prior was probably inaccurate and I had TONS done! Not
sure if the muscle testing is accurate that I had within the last year but you
don’t have to draw blood. And I have stopped dairy and flour (supposed
allergies) and for the most part my eczema is under control. A big difference
from a
year ago….
May 22nd, 2004 at 9:27 pm
I have seen eczema and other rashes and cuts heal quickly with
tea tree oil. It is very soothing and healing to the skin (all the way
down the seven layers of the skin. My mother had a horrible
eczema on her wrist. It looked like leprosy. After using tea tree oil
(a high grade, not the kind you get at the healt food store) her
eczema, dry elbows and psoriasis were gone. I have tons of
information on it if you’re interested.
May 23rd, 2004 at 7:58 am
I like tea tree oil. It is very healing. My son had given me a ring worm
and from all the scratching it grew. So when I knew it was actually a ring worm
I read where tea tree oil could heal it. So I started using it and within 3
weeks or so the ring worm was gone. With my eczema which is wide spread
combated with a whole lot of dry skin how do you get pass the smell. It is very
strong. Also if you don’t get it as the health food store where do you get the
"good" stuff? One more thing can I mix it with my lotion since I need to stay
moisturized?
Terri
May 23rd, 2004 at 2:38 pm
My next step was to start an elimination diet. I understand the dairy but
how do you know when things are mixed with flour because some flour could be
disguised
Terri
May 24th, 2004 at 7:21 am
I just read the labels and avoid anything I know has flour or wheat in it.
Dairy is hidden in a lot of ways too, even things that say non dairy still have
dairy in them, so be aware of that. Casein and whey are dairy.
and sometimes you find wheat or flour in the strangest things, come to think
of it dairy too! I find some alternatives in the health food stores. In the
regular supermarket I found a "butter" called Earth balance- no dairy and it
takes like butter. The best substitute so far that I have tried. I also found
some rice based crackers.
good luck to you and everyone.
May 24th, 2004 at 12:45 pm
I have been doing the elimination diet for six weeks (for my son who is
breastfeeding and has eczema)… I basically eat only whole foods (fruit,
veggies, quinoa, rice, lentils)… I keep a food journal with details about
what I ate and how his eczema was that day… However, in our case, I
haven’t seen any noticeable improvement… unless of course, my son is
allergic to pears, apples, rice or lentils… which is unlikely… Be
careful though… I’ve lost some weight without even trying because it’s
easy to just get paranoid that everything’s a potential allergen and end up
eating a very limited diet… My first suggestion would just to take dairy
out of your diet, and try to eat whole foods (nothing with added
preservatives, chemicals, etc). Then if still no improvement, possibly try
a rotation diet… A great book I found is "Overcoming Allergies" by Dr.
Christina Scott-Moncrieff… it details the different approaches to
identifing food allergies through diet…
Best of luck.
My next step was to start an elimination diet. I understand the dairy but
how do you know when things are mixed with flour because some flour could
be
disguised
Terri
May 24th, 2004 at 8:41 pm
Terri,
I think dairy is a common problem especially for people like us who can be
sensitive to many things. I’m not sure that you need to eliminate flour, that
was only my personal allergies. Although wheat is a common allergen. Maybe
you should just start with the dairy and see if you improve. And also try to be
aware of any symptoms after certain foods, or even after anything. Like I
tend to get puffy eyes from being around smoke or cleaning products.
What I did was have muscle testing done at my chiropractor to see what
allergies I have to foods and she also gave me tons of vitamins and supplements
to
take.
Take Care!
June 12th, 2004 at 8:08 am
I can empathize with you. My experience was similar.
The skin test made me very very ill each time I did
them — for the entire period I was tested. It was
horrible. Each time I got different results too. I
have done the blood test with Great Smokey Mt’s a few
times now too and each one tells me something
different as well. I don’t know what to think about
the results. I can tell you that I will never do a
skin test or allergy shot again.
(My last blood test, in December, told me I’m only
have the mildest allergy to a few different foods and
I’m severly allergic to about every inhalant possible.
Traditionally I have had many severe food allergies as
well.)