Eczema

[mitz-e]

my girlfriend has this pretty bad on her legs. It will be fine for maybe a week then it flares up and she can do nothing but scratch it, it is driving her nuts. She is scratching it in her sleep too even when she doesn't know. It looks all lumpy and sore

She says she has tried everything, but surely there is something out there, even just to stop the itch. Anyone out there want to share their experiences?

 

[kSativa]

My mother has battled eczema for years. She gets it on her hands and feet and it gets bad enough for the skin to crack, it looks extremely painful. She has seen many doctors over the years and they usually prescribe a kind of steroid cream, which works, but not when its out of control. The skin on her hands did not begin to heal until she gave up dairy and most meat. Recently she saw an Aryuvedic doctor that recommended she give up wearing leather shoes, after which her feet began to heal as well.

Also, stress can trigger eczema outbreaks or make existing eczema worse.

Hope that helps =]

 

[The Liberal Media]

http://blog.worldvillage.com/health/neem_for_eczema_remedy.html

 

[Busty St Clare]

COTB swears by 5 minutes a week on a tanning bed. From first hand experience I can vouch for the rapid improvement she gets.

Just don't go telling them that in the tanning thread

 

[Pander Bear]

I eventually traced the cause of my eczema to the B-12 supplements I was taking. Eliminating them cleared it right up. Moral: eczema is just a symptom of what is usually an underlying case of contact dermatitis or allergy. Eliminate potential causes one by one until something sticks.

As for what to do during a flare up: soaking in epsom salts did a bit of good for mine-- swimming in the ocean worked even better. Steroid creams never really did much good, but there are topical anti-itch creams you might want to look into.

 

[eon_blue]

My eczema has been getting a lot worse lately. What REALLY sucks is I had a relapse on IV heroin a few months ago (lasted about a month) and the eczema spread to the injection sites giving me tracks that look like I was using for 10 years...

Anyway, I'm desperate to find something to make this shit go away. It's spreading up my upper body So far, the only "treatments" I've tried are OTC creams and some prescribed cream I got awhile ago...none of it works. It'll make the itching go away for a couple hours at a time but then it comes right back and the redness never leaves.

I have yet to try eliminating anything from my diet, so I'm going to have to give that a go. So dairy and meats are best to give up first then? Meat will be hard but I can give up dairy no problem I think. As a matter of fact, I don't eat much dairy as it is, but I do eat meat every meal of the day

I've also heard that Aloe Vera works well, does anyone have any experience with that?

 

[Pander Bear]

My eczema has been getting a lot worse lately. What REALLY sucks is I had a relapse on IV heroin a few months ago (lasted about a month) and the eczema spread to the injection sites giving me tracks that look like I was using for 10 years...

Anyway, I'm desperate to find something to make this shit go away. It's spreading up my upper body So far, the only "treatments" I've tried are OTC creams and some prescribed cream I got awhile ago...none of it works. It'll make the itching go away for a couple hours at a time but then it comes right back and the redness never leaves.

I have yet to try eliminating anything from my diet, so I'm going to have to give that a go. So dairy and meats are best to give up first then? Meat will be hard but I can give up dairy no problem I think. As a matter of fact, I don't eat much dairy as it is, but I do eat meat every meal of the day

I've also heard that Aloe Vera works well, does anyone have any experience with that?

I'd recommend eliminating heroin before bothering with anything else.

 

[eon_blue]

I'd recommend eliminating heroin before bothering with anything else.

Been clean for just over a month now.

The eczema spread to the sites where I was using though, and I'm sure itching while high on opiates didn't help either.

Anyway, today I bought some aloe vera gel and cocoa butter/vitamin E lotion. Also going to stop eating greasy/"fast" foods...I don't really eat out that often but I have a bad habit of microwaving frozen dinners and such. Thinking about buying some hypoallergenic soap and laundry detergent. This shit is getting annoying, but I figure that if all I have to do is hold down a healthier lifestyle then it shouldn't really be something to complain about, heh.

The last few weeks I've been going to the gym everyday too, is there any correlation between sweating and eczema?

I'll have to try the sauna idea, the gym I go to has one so it should be easy to do.

 

[Pander Bear]

i should add that taking a probiotic suppliment did the best for me before i figured out the vitamin problem.

 

[eon_blue]

What's a probiotic supplement exactly? I looked it up on wiki but it's a little confusing...is it something you have to be prescribed?

 

[Pander Bear]

no, health food store capsules (refrigerated) full of dormant bacteria that live in your gut. I read it on a website, and tried it because nothing else worked. something about plugging microscopic holes in your guts villi, thereby stopping larger pieces of food from passing into your vascular system and messing with your capillaries.

 

[LivingInTheMoment]

I eventually traced the cause of my eczema to the B-12 supplements I was taking. Eliminating them cleared it right up. Moral: eczema is just a symptom of what is usually an underlying case of contact dermatitis or allergy. Eliminate potential causes one by one until something sticks.

As for what to do during a flare up: soaking in epsom salts did a bit of good for mine-- swimming in the ocean worked even better. Steroid creams never really did much good, but there are topical anti-itch creams you might want to look into.

I was going to suggest that, sea water does wonders and so does epsom salts, but also sunbaking!

Get her to use gloves in her sleep if she scratches during sleep-mitz-e

 

[glitterbizkit]

My ex had it bad on his hands. Soaking them in water with Dead Sea mineral salt worked quite well to take away the itch (I suppose same as epsom salts). Be careful with steroid creams, they can work but often make the problem worse in the long term if you overdo it. Diet is quite important with eczema too, food intolerances can cause flare-ups. And probiotics as Pander Bear suggested.