First time on list
Hi,Just wanted to introduced myself.My name is Glenda Aver from South
Africa. I’ve been having eczema since 18 years old now 31. I am on
this new medication called METHOTREXATE and Folic Acid to stop the
side effect. Has anyone try this tablets, does it work and are there
any side effects? Would like to hear from you all.
Regards
Glenda
May 20th, 2004 at 1:19 pm
HI Glenda, my name is Terri and I want to wish you good luck. How long have
you been on these medications? Have you done any research on the mediations?
Terri
May 22nd, 2004 at 1:27 am
Dear Glenda,
Welcome to the Group. My advice to you about this new drug is to look it up
on the internet - just do a Google search - and when you have read all about
it - do another one typing in the name of the drug+dangers - or drug+
side+effects. also try drug+withdrawal - as that can be a shcok too.
You may find some good links as well - you may find that some links will
lead you into reasearch done by Universities. Usually interesting. Do not
worry if there are some side effects as all drugs have some . I have done this
with everything which I take.your sincerely Jan
May 23rd, 2004 at 9:18 pm
Good advice
Terri
May 25th, 2004 at 5:01 am
Hi Terri, Thank you for responsing. I just started this medication for
a week now and yes, I’ve already started to do research on this
medication and on eczema too. Are you on this medication as well? I
hope we keep in touch with each other.
Glenda
May 25th, 2004 at 11:41 am
Hi Jan
Thanks for advised. I already started the reseach on this medication
and suprised what they say about it. I just wanted to hear from
anyone who are or had uses this medication. Then i know that they are
also uses this drugs. Will be doing more searches on it and food as
well. I see the lady name Angela Jones mentioned about the book called
‘Eat Right For You’. Well, I am going to my public library and
borrowed from them and see from there. Hope that help.
Regards,
Glenda
May 26th, 2004 at 2:37 am
As a matter of fact Glenda, I am back on medications. I am on prednisone,
antibiotics and medication for itch and pain and I am sick of it. I am 36 years
old and this is taking over my life. I have a 4 year old which I would like
to enjoy his young years instead of crying and wishing for something that seems
to never comes which is clear skin. Right now I have a lot going on in my
life which stress probably plays a big part in it.
Sometimes I am in so much pain I can’t move which means I can’t do what I
need to do to take care of myself which is exercise. Being on the steroids
makes
me eat, so I get depressed about putting on more weight and I can’t do
anything about it. Right now my feet are so swollen from either the medications
or
the infection from the scratching.
I am so tired of it all
But I wish you all the luck with the medications. Let me know of your
success witht the medications so maybe I could discuss with my physician
Thanks
Terri
May 27th, 2004 at 9:26 pm
I am so sorry that you are going through tough times. Me too, I am
also going through that stage and can’t even sleep at night as well.
I always get up in bad mood cos I didn’t sleep well. While you are
taking those medications, are you taking any vitamins with it. As my
doctor gave me Folic Acid(vitamins) tablets with the new drugs. The
vitamins help and stop the side effects. I only been on for a week
and still trying to figure it, is this tablets working me on not.
Maybe try the vitamins! And don’t give up hope. I will be praying for
you even thou I don’t know you. I’ve also 2 kids age 7 and 3 years
old and they don’t have any skin problem.
Take care
Glenda
May 29th, 2004 at 5:16 pm
Glenda, even though you and I don’t know one another I feel a kinship. I
feel at times that I am being punished for what I don’t know. But I feel that
my
entire family suffers from my suffering. I am going to try the Folic Acid.
Because right now the steroids and the antibiotics are making me feel
horrible. My feet are so swollen that it is painful to walk and the mood swings
are
very irritating.
Please keep me in your prayers and please keep in contact because I feel very
alone in all of this
Terri
June 1st, 2004 at 9:24 pm
Terri, what type of steroids and antibiotics are you taking now.
Maybe that medication is not helping you and you might be allergy to
them, you should tell your doctor. Don’t feel that your entire
family suffers from you. I sure they understand what you are going
through. Please don’t feel that way and also you got people to talk
to and our eczema group to talk to as well. We all here to talk about.
Take a easy and try to rest alot especially the pain you are now.
July 10th, 2004 at 9:37 pm
Hi Glenda,
I am finally jumping in and going to write to this group.
I have been patiently reading some of your emails, and I am so sad to hear of
the suffering going on here ! I understand it completely, and I hope I can
help you.
Before I begin, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read this note,
and for writing your comments and information. I think it is great to have a
support group.
I really want to thank GranJanHenry for writing her encouraging letters, and I
have to say Jan that you have helped me get back to a more positive outlook on
more than one occasion.
I have had psoriasis since 1988, so I have been through all, the treatments, and
perhaps my experiences can help the group.
I took methotrexate in 1999 for psoriasis for 4 months. At this point my body
was about 90 % covered in psoriasis, and I was not going to go to Israel that
year for treatment. I was desperate, and I had to convince my derm to put me on
it. He did not recommend it as it had so many negative side effects, including
the possibility of losing all your hair. I do know someone who lost all her
hair; it then gre back. I told my derm that I would prepare myself for this
possibility, I could always get a wig.
I was on the lowest dose, 5mg, taken 3 times starting on a Thursday at 9 pm, and
taken at 12 hour intervals. This drug requires specific time intervals. It is
a very dangerous drug, and it has serious side effects. You should do some
research on the net regarding this drug. Sudden deaths have been reported after
its use, disturbances in the liver and blood production.
I was desperate in 1999 to clear my skin, and it was very uncomfortable, hot,
itchy,painful, scaling etc…difficult to move and difficult & super
uncomfortable with clothes on.
You will have to have a blood test every week, and you cannot get pregnant while
on this medication. I had nausea, so the derm told me to get some folic acid
to relieve the nausea. The folic acid works for nausea relief.
Methotrexate has the same molecualr structure as folic acid except for a methyl
group. I am a chemist, organic synthesis, so this kind of information is
important to me. By changing a very small thing on a molecule which our body
easily handles, we end up with methotrexate, a foreign entity to the human body.
I was exhausted while on this drug. I was a couch potatoe, and more a couch
corpse from Thursday to Sunday. I could not clean my place. Towards the end of
the 4 months, I noticed that my hair was dull, no lustre, and lots of grey. I
did not look like myself anymore. I looked tired, dull complexion and about ten
years older.
My skin was less itchy, and I was more comfortable in my clothes. So the
methotrexate did calm the psoriasis down, but it did not clear it. I am
surprised they are using it in eczema.
I finally stopped it, because I wanted to be the powerhouse that I normally am.
I was going to take a course, and I did not want to be tired all ther time.
I think that this drug is overkill for skin disorders, and it did nothing for my
psoriatic arthritis which it is supposed to help.
I think most of us are allergic to foods, stress, and environmental allergens,
and I think more gentle appraoches and combinations of various relaxation and
diet changes are more helpful for us. After all, how did the skin condition
begin ? For many of us it began while under severe stress.
We have been sensitized, and now our skin reacts to anything, I certainly see
this with my skin.
Anyways, in 1996, after additional drastic treatments like PUVA which did not
give me any results, I finally went to Israel to clear my skin, and it worked !
It is not as cure, and some people’s skin stays clear for longer than others.
However, it is expensive.
Germany, Denmark, Austria and Israel pay for their patients to receive treatment
there. However, in 1990 when I had very little my derm told me that he knew
nothing about the treatment.
I later found that the treatment had been published in the American Journal of
Dermatology, as early as 1986. I know a man from NYC who has been going since
1975, he was one of the 1st patients there.
It is a natural treatment, and people from all over the world go there for their
health. We should form a group, that way our hotel and flights might be
cheaper. We can discuss this further; however, we require time and money
together, and it is difficult to find time when one is working. When one is not
working, it is difficult to find the money !
What can I tell you ?
Take care Glenda, GranJanHenry and everyone else here !
Thank you, and let’s keep writing &nencouraging each other !
Maria
Regards
Glenda
July 11th, 2004 at 12:15 pm
Hi,
I looked up vitiligo as I had never heard of stress causing it.
This is what I found:
Vitiligo is a disease in which the skin loses pigment due to the destruction
of melanocytes or pigment cells. Areas of the skin become white. The most
common sites of pigment loss are body folds (such as the groin or armpits),
around body openings and exposed areas like the face or hands. Vitiligo is
common; in fact 1 to 2% of the general population has it. Its incidence is
higher in people with thyroid conditions and some other metabolic diseases,
but most people who have Vitiligo are in good health and suffer no symptoms
other than areas of pigment loss. Medical researchers are not sure what
causes Vitiligo. Some researchers think the body may develop an allergy to
its pigment cells; others think that the cells may destroy themselves during
the process of pigment production. Research on the cause is continuing.
My husband has it, along with halo nevi, which is the same, no pigmentation
with moles. His Dad has vitiligo. Now I will have to search and see if they
are related.
Herbalists think sort of along the same lines as homeopathy. It’s what’s in
our bodies causing things. For me, I am allergic to too many things to list,
so there’s no way I am going to avoid them all. However, I don’t think all
things begin with stress. Stress does cause terrible things to happen to us,
it increases cortisol in the body, which in turn, thins skin. Causes the
adrenals to work too hard for too long, and stresses them out.
You mentioned folic acid. It reminded me, my Dad’s doc told him to take that
to thicken the skin. We have a line of VERY thin skin in the family. The
older we get, the thinner it gets, and bump against anything and it will
tear and bleed. He said it’s working. So those with thin skin might try
that.
Maria, what treatment is that in Israel? You said it was natural, do you
know what it is? If they have it over there, we should be able to get it in
other parts of world. Or it might be illegal, such as the dmso/vitamin drip
in Mexico people take for fibromyalgia.
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
July 11th, 2004 at 6:54 pm
Hello everyone,
For this list only, I am going to give anyone who wants it a special sale.
As much as I’d like too, I can’t afford to give away product, but I will
discount 1 oz jars for you.
Anyone who wants a 1 oz jar of Serious Salve and/or Skn Savr, may buy it for
35% off the listed price. Only 1 of each to each buyer and this will be only
be until Tuesday, midnite mountain time.
I don’t know if either will work for you, but knowing the terrible eczema I
have, my heart just goes out to others who have it. The psoriasis I don’t
have, but I am interested to know if esp the Skn Savr would work. I made it
as a moisturizer. It just happens to do other things.
This makes the 1 oz jar of Skn Savr, normally selling at $12.50,
$8.13, and the 1 oz Serious Salve, normally selling at $9.75, $6.34.
I can’t put these prices on my site, but if you will put in the special
instructions you are on this list, I will total it up and send it back to
you with payment options.
Shipping [usps] is almost always $5.50, unless it’s over 15 oz.
Please hear my heart on this. I’m not trying to sell you this, but a few
people have written in saying they can’t afford to buy it to try it, and
this is the best way I know how to help.
I am not trying to offend anyone and I hope and pray I haven’t.
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
July 14th, 2004 at 6:56 pm
Hi Janine,
The treatment is not illegal, as long as you have money you can go on your own.
If you have more money then you go to the dermatologists that are there. Our
dermatologists at home are reluctant to talk about it because it will reduce the
visits to their offices.
As I said there are countries whose national health care systems pay for this
treatment for their patients. It is recommended you stay at the Dead Sea for
treatment for a minimum of 3 weeks, - 4 weeks is better.
It is not even the treatment which is expensive, but rather the accomodation,
because you have to stay at hotels for a long period of time.
The Dead Sea has the highest concentration of minerals of any body of water in
the world. It is in the Judean desert. The whole area is free of allergens, as
we are in the desert ( no trees, grass, pollen etc.. )
When in Israel, I eat everything, and Imy skin heals.
There is also deep relaxation that occurs, and they say that this is because of
the bromate ion in the air which relaxes the nervous system.
We have to spend our days sunning our bodies in a solarium. This is not easy to
do, as it gets very hot at times.
People who burn easily or who are very fair, heal even in the shade.
The first time you go you have to determine the routine that you can live with.
Remember you will be there from 3- 4 weeks.
It is not easy, but when you see your skin healing in the 1st week you are
there, you become very happy. You obviously feel hopeful.
I have met people with vitiligio that go to the Dead Sea from Germany. With
vitiligo they have to stay 2 - 3 months, and of course there are no guarantees.
I have been many times, and I have come to the conclusion that it is a
combination of factors, the deep level of relaxation brought about,
remineralization by frequent dips into the Dead Sea waters, and exposure to the
sun.
Arthritic conditions are also helped, and researchers in Israel believe that
even Crohn’s can be helped due to the relaxation effect.
Eczema patients have to be especially careful, but so does everyone else as
well. You can only go into the water for a few minutes at a time, when you
arrive. If you stay in too long you will irritate your skin.
I believe, stress is the root of so many diseases. It is what is going on in
our minds that destroys us ! Our thoughts !
We don’t even know how stressed out or wound up we are at times. Stress and
worry become a way of life so to speak, and obviously there must be some
repetitive thought pattern going on.
Keep writing !
Maria
I looked up vitiligo as I had never heard of stress causing it.
This is what I found:
Vitiligo is a disease in which the skin loses pigment due to the destruction
of melanocytes or pigment cells. Areas of the skin become white. The most
common sites of pigment loss are body folds (such as the groin or armpits),
around body openings and exposed areas like the face or hands. Vitiligo is
common; in fact 1 to 2% of the general population has it. Its incidence is
higher in people with thyroid conditions and some other metabolic diseases,
but most people who have Vitiligo are in good health and suffer no symptoms
other than areas of pigment loss. Medical researchers are not sure what
causes Vitiligo. Some researchers think the body may develop an allergy to
its pigment cells; others think that the cells may destroy themselves during
the process of pigment production. Research on the cause is continuing.
My husband has it, along with halo nevi, which is the same, no pigmentation
with moles. His Dad has vitiligo. Now I will have to search and see if they
are related.
Herbalists think sort of along the same lines as homeopathy. It’s what’s in
our bodies causing things. For me, I am allergic to too many things to list,
so there’s no way I am going to avoid them all. However, I don’t think all
things begin with stress. Stress does cause terrible things to happen to us,
it increases cortisol in the body, which in turn, thins skin. Causes the
adrenals to work too hard for too long, and stresses them out.
You mentioned folic acid. It reminded me, my Dad’s doc told him to take that
to thicken the skin. We have a line of VERY thin skin in the family. The
older we get, the thinner it gets, and bump against anything and it will
tear and bleed. He said it’s working. So those with thin skin might try
that.
Maria, what treatment is that in Israel? You said it was natural, do you
know what it is? If they have it over there, we should be able to get it in
other parts of world. Or it might be illegal, such as the dmso/vitamin drip
in Mexico people take for fibromyalgia.
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
July 17th, 2004 at 1:33 am
Hi,
In California there are lots of hot springs. You mentioned the high
mineralization content of the water. I would bet it could be duplicated in
one’s own backyard.
Where are you located Maria? You talk in celcius I think. <g>
I am in the desert also. Phoenix, Az. But there are many allergens here, as
people who have moved here have brought all their plants with them, or the
nursery stocks them. But it’s hot and dry. Right now, it’s 10 p.m., it’s 87
degrees F, and 17% humidity.
LOL I would think ANY vacation of 3 or 4 weeks would relax anyone!
Vitiligo is depigmentation. I don’t see how soaking in salt/mineral water is
going to cause pigmentation.
While doctors have eliminated emotional stress as a cause for the disease,
they have not ruled out as to whether it is the result of a malfunction in
one’s immune system.
I know our salt pool is lovely to swim in and is more bouyant. It would be
fun to be even more so in a heavily salt body of water!
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
July 19th, 2004 at 6:54 pm
Janine,
One of our problems in western civilization is that we listen to our doctors too
much. We place all of our trust in them, as if they were God. Western medicine
focuses on teh symptom at hand, and never goes to the root cause of the problem.
The more I deal with my doctors, the more I realize how limited they are. Two
of my dermatologists did a double take when they first saw me after I had been
to the Dead Sea. They had seen my skin before and after when it was healed.
They could not believe it, but what I noticed from both of them was that neither
one was happy for me, or said, - oh Maria, isn’t it wonderful !
One of them actually said - well, I guess you won’t be needing me anymore, and
the other one had to rush to see other patients. If I ask for one of the new
medications, he tells me that he does not recommend them because of serious side
effects to liver and kidney, - and he says, - anyways you go to the Dead Sea.
I also believed in my doctors and placed my faith in them, but after being so
ill, and seeing so many doctors, I began to understand that it was good when I
was ill, - it was good for their practice. After all, in their mind there is no
urgency, skin problems don’t kill the patient. It’s actually the perfect money
making problem for a dermatologist’s office.
As to the theory that the immune system is overactive in psoriasis, perhaps this
is so, and that is why we have the continuous skin growth, - or vice versa ?
All I know is that I am always tired and cold from this skin problem. I feel my
immune system is weak, and emotional upsets or shocks also effect the immune
system.
Re: the Dead Sea, it cannot be duplicated (put in a bottle and sold), it is a
combination of many factors that results in healing, and the environment there
is the most important. A clinic for asthma is also run out of this area in
Israel.
Re: Arizona, this should be a great place for allergy sufferers, but why are
people bringing new vegetation into the desert ? I suppose they need to see the
green grass ? This will ruin the desert environment.
They should only be landscaping with desert plants..
If any of you are near the hot springs, you should try them. They may have some
positive effect, if nothing else at least relaxation and remineralization.
Maria
In California there are lots of hot springs. You mentioned the high
mineralization content of the water. I would bet it could be duplicated in
one’s own backyard.
Where are you located Maria? You talk in celcius I think. <g>
I am in the desert also. Phoenix, Az. But there are many allergens here, as
people who have moved here have brought all their plants with them, or the
nursery stocks them. But it’s hot and dry. Right now, it’s 10 p.m., it’s 87
degrees F, and 17% humidity.
LOL I would think ANY vacation of 3 or 4 weeks would relax anyone!
Vitiligo is depigmentation. I don’t see how soaking in salt/mineral water is
going to cause pigmentation.
While doctors have eliminated emotional stress as a cause for the disease,
they have not ruled out as to whether it is the result of a malfunction in
one’s immune system.
I know our salt pool is lovely to swim in and is more bouyant. It would be
fun to be even more so in a heavily salt body of water!
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
July 20th, 2004 at 9:02 am
Maria,
Sometimes all you have is your faith in your doctors. I noticed people
mentioning the Dead Sea and how it has healed their skin problems. But this is
not
a reasonable thing for the majority of people who are average, hard working
people that can’t travel or have to money to do any of it.
All alot of us have is just our dermologist and we must continue to have
faith because they are within our reach
Terri
July 20th, 2004 at 10:52 pm
Hi Maria et al, [hey, this is LONG]
I agree to an extent on doctors. I am an herbalist, so I tend to things in a
different manner than most people. At least in the not-to-distant-past. More
and more people are wanting natural methods for healing, if they can be had.
I believe in complementary medicine, where medical and herbal doctors work
together, I also believe sometimes only herbs can help. And vice versa, only
an MD can help sometimes. If I got a broken bone, I sure wouldn’t go to a
Naturopathic doctor to have surgery on it if it needed it. [they are not
allowed anyway in some States]. I would go to an MD. Conversely, with a
liver problem, I will eat raw foods and do what I can to reverse whatever
damage there might be before I went and did meds.
To each her/his own, and we each must decide what is best for us. When my
beloved hubby split his head on a bar not too long ago, we put cayenne on it
to stop the bleeding and then our comfrey ointment on it to heal it. IF he
had gone to the doctor, they would have stitched it. He didn’t need that.
But we are in a free country and allowed to decide what we will do for
ourselves, as adults.
I do not believe vitiligo is caused by stress, although it can be. It is
mostly hereditary, imo. Ditto hyperactivity.
Personally, I believe ezema is caused by allergies, stress, and/or a
predisposition. [heredity].
As Terri said, some people have to trust in doctors because that is all they
have around them. However, I believe that people should also look in to
other remedies and take charge of their own health. When docs try to give me
meds, I either won’t take them, won’t fill the prescription, tell them ‘no’,
or sometimes I take them.
On Sept 1, 2002, I got a horrendous, for-the-first-time itching on my neck
and back. Several times since then I’ve had it. It wakes me up from a DEAD
sleep, itching. Docs at the VA don’t know what it is. One said, not eczema,
another said, hives, another said, yes eczema. I don’t CARE what it is. I
had to find a way to stop the itch. I did. I found an herbal way, but before
I got all the kinks ironed out, I took the hydroxizine [sp?] they gave me.
I finally got some sleep AND no itching.
I imagine that everyone is doing what they can. Sometimes we all need a
little help in some direction, a way to have a new perception, a new lane to
go down in our thinking, or a new suggestion.
I agree with you to a point on our bodies. It has been my training that when
taking herbs, they help your body heal itself and it begins with the last
first. As in, I got a cold, it turned into the flu and then bronchitis.
Herbs would first work on the bronchitis, then the flu and then the cold.
I am a *firm* believer that herbs help the body heal itself. I have been in
too many situations where that has proven true. When I was depressed, AD-C
put out by Nature’s Sunshine did the trick in getting me back to ‘normal’.
That worked when doctor prescribed prozac didn’t. And it wasn’t a placebo.
If it’s the environment at the Dead Sea that accounts for most of the
‘healing’, I would guess a placebo effect, OR the relaxation.
I think the immune system is the culprit in most of people’s sicknesses.
Just read around what all the folks have. The immune system is at the heart
of it. Stress affects the system, as does bad eating habits, [waving my hand
wildly] and not enough sleep, etc. I can eat healthier, but I still was
getting it when I was juicing twice a day and eating only organic and
healthy for several months a while back. My Ige levels were off the charts
when they did the blood tests.
Today I broke out in little blisters on the top of my feet, while they were
encased in tennis shoes, which I normally don’t wear anymore. itched like
crazy. After putting Serious Salve on, still itched a little, now nothing.
I wish I could make stuff to help everyone. But I have made products that
help some. I wish Serious Salve would have helped Tara’s baby, it didn’t,
but it did help her friend. It helps me and lots of others and doesn’t help
some. I don’t believe eczema is a disease, I believe it’s a symptom. Serious
Salve gets rid of the symptom, til the symptom comes back.
So I guess we should all try to figure out what is causing it, the root
problem.
I was reading on thyroid and eczema today and apparently there is a relation
to hyper/hypo thyroidism too.
Stress isn’t that easy to get rid of, neither do poor eating habits change
very quickly.
Re; Az. People want the nice plants they are familiar with. The desert is an
inhospitable place to live. And yes, they have created a place that is now
higher in allergens.
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
Healthy Skin & Happy Bodies
August 5th, 2004 at 5:12 am
Hello Janine,
I don’t open this mail often enough apparently because
I just found your email below. Is it still possible
for me to order at the discounted rate?
Thank you,
Shannon
August 6th, 2004 at 9:27 pm
I/we have valley fever. It’s nasty stuff. If the immune system stinks, like
mine, then it takes longer to get over it and may require meds. [and you can
bet I’ll take them if the VA gives them to me. This stuff can be fatal] If
the immune system is good, like hubby’s, obviously the get well time is
shortened.
It lasts generally about 3 weeks, can take up to 6 months to get fully over
it. It’s a spore fungus in the dirt. Not contagious. Common thread is
extreme fatigue. I’ve _never_ in my life been this tired and sleepy. ever.
Worst part was sitting up sleeping. Not reclining like with bronchitis, but
sitting straight up, else I couldn’t breathe. Not everyone gets a fever, and
it usually feels like the flu.
I’ve been sick for 3 weeks. It’s supposed to ‘come and go’, til you get over
it.
Along with this, I just broke out in the eczema-herpeticum. I knew it was
coming because my leg has been pins and needles for days. If I get the
hives/eczema next, I may move back to california.
So excuse me, but this is the only list I’m on where people actually know
what it is to suffer and probably have compassion.
Janine
August 9th, 2004 at 2:46 am
well, obviously I was wrong.
Janine Phariss
www.BlueSageNaturals.com
So excuse me, but this is the only list I’m on where people actually know
what it is to suffer and probably have compassion.
Janine