dear

Over the past several months my diet and finding an attentive dermatologist have dramatically changed my condition. I have recently seen a lot more messages and articles about how severe each years allergies are getting and how children and getting more asthma and eczema. My site has even gotten a lot of searches for eczema and people trying to find any sort of answer. Finally I have gotten a small handle on my eczema and it started with going to the dermatologist, keeping running lists of food sensitivities, and having past allergy tests on hand. The answer was simple to the eye of a good dermatologist.

The Symptoms

The Diagnosis

The doctor knew the eczema was likely due to environmental factors due to the rash centralizing above my neck. She ordered me to consistently take and increase the dosage of antihistamines. She had seen this too many times and confident it would work. Of course I was in the office irritated, literally my skin was irritated, and I was frustrated too. Apparently the itching causes the rashing, which causes the eczema, which causes the restless nights and insomnia which causes stress which causes more rashing and it’s an infinite loop. Previously I’ve tried taking two (2) 24 hour Claritins in a day and nothing had happened before. But now I’m up to 2 in the morning and another at night. Prescribed ointments including Protopic, Clobetasol and Desonide Lotion for topical healing. Occasionally I take a prescribed antihistamine if it’s getting worse. Zyrtec and Singulair don’t have much of an effect on me some reason. Others have mentioned it working better for them.

The Results

So after the first week, there were dramatic changes. The rashing and itching reduced incredibly and I was sleeping a ton better and in turn my sleep deprivation and stress were reduced. Some prescribed Protopic ointment has helped in some of the healing as well. Protopic is incredibly expensive and not covered by many insurance companies, and even if they put it through, you will likely need to pay a deductible. Anyways, it’s been getting progressively better as the scars are slowly disappearing and dark spots lightening up. I’m not sure how long might be too long to be taking so many antihistamines. They say it’s fine, but I’m just not big on having to rely on medications and truly hope my body will become resistant to the pollens here over a few years. With the recent incredible changes I have snuck in some gluten and am seeing that the itching tends to increase with more gluten. I would not say it’s a full allergic reaction but it is clearly a high sensitivity towards it. Being gluten-free really does help and not to mention helps with ridding belly fat.

Other remarks towards food allergies related to eczema is the notion of reducing beef and dairy products as several people have mentioned before, yet I have not found that connection. Possibly it would have to be a longer trial of that food elimination in order to see the effects.

I truly hope people who are suffering from red scaly, flaky itchy eczema and any sort of inflamed skin reads this and hopefully gets a good dermatologist and allergist to figure this out. It will take some time to figure out the symptoms and creating a food diary or food blog to help find the culprits. Make sure to check with your doc before taking higher doses of over the counter medicines and remember that each person reacts to medications differently and are allergic to different things, so one persons remedies might not work for another. Good luck to all!

It’s been 45 days, half way to the 90 day mark and I don’t have a lot to show for. Literally, each day I think I look different but nothing to point to as a true success. One day I’ll be less itchy and the next a mess. One day my face is less red, but then my arms will be itching like I have poison ivy or something. Another day my neck is turning into chicken skin and my leg into an alligator. Oh and remember the week my left eye looked punched in due to the Singulair. Today my leg looks bitten by a shark, but my elbow is smoothing out.

So this blog is about being gluten-free. I’ve been enjoying it a little actually, because it’s a challenge. The only problem is, I’m not getting the reward I was expecting to have. Gluten doesn’t quite appear to be effecting my skin but rather it does seem to be making me eat more wholesome and organic foods and shrinking my belly fat ever so slightly. I’ve also found that I don’t get food coma anymore.

Even though I have a strong hunch that gluten is not the culprit I’m going to continue on with the 90 days and give it even more time. Doctors have said it takes at least 6 weeks to try elimination diets and that the first weeks can sometimes have a withdrawal effect where symptoms get worse before better. At the very least I’m more aware of ingredients I’m taking in and eating better high quality foods.

I can’t believe it’s already been one month of this gluten-free escapade. The seasons have changed and the air is no longer cold dry but humid and cool. I’ve been getting less panda eyes the last few days and yet the itch isn’t reducing enough. New York didn’t fix my skin like I thought it would. I’m starting to think it’s not wheat or gluten but more my environment or just me. Doctors have consistently said to have it fully out of your system it must go on for at least 6 weeks and my case going to keep doing it for 90 days.

The week before leaving for the NY trip I was on a trial basis of Singulair with Zyrtec and somehow the Singulair made me look like my left lower eye area was punched. It was really weird. I stopped after a week of that and now I don’t look like I got in a bar scuffle. It made me think of this one story where this girl once said she got hit by a door in Vegas an got a black eye and hence missed all her meetings. Strange but true story, she never came back to work. Odd. Anyways watch my next post it’ll be the New York trip condensed into one or 2 posts! Bagels burgers and gastronomy in all!

I have been asked a lot as to the progress of my skin. It’s been two weeks now and there have been lots of ups and downs. Since coming back from my weekend trip, my skin has smoothed out considerably. Don’t get too excited because I was in Southern California and relaxing. Just the relaxing alone may have reduced my stress and healed some major trouble spots for the moment. The most noticeable areas are the neck and behind the legs that have gotten smoother and less flaky from the weekend. My inner arms have not changed much, they are still flaky, dry and itchy. Additionally right around the eyes are a little less dry, but still red though.

On the contrary last week prior to leaving it was a little less scaly than when I first started this journey but still very itchy and raw in some areas like the neck and inner elbows. My eyelids were peeling quite a bit. It doesn’t sound possible but it was. I’m still not really able to fully turn my neck due to tightness and some rawness as well.

I did find out this weekend that makeup can do wonders to hiding redness. Also I was outside and moving around playing Beatles Rock Band more. Could it be singing the Beatles makes me happy and clears my skin? Could it be the So Cal sun helping me? Sleeping with my hair wet last night adding moisture in the air? Maybe the excess olive oil intake at Bazaar. Or could it be the good times, relieving my stress?

Well in conclusion, it’s been two weeks and there has been a little improvement but it seems there are many environmental factors that are not making it clear as to whether gluten-free is making a substantial change in my skin. While I’m back at home I’ll give you all and update the end of week to see if my skin starts a decline or steadies in it’s progress. Also please remember to be gluten-free generally will take more than just a week or two of eliminating to see it completely out of my system and the longer term effects on my eczema and overall skin.

My Itch Factor today is about a 5. Not itchy, not scaly when I woke up. My arm and behind the legs seem to be retaining moisture better today than the end of last week. It’s a good day today.

Thanks everyone for asking and tracking. It’s making this so much more fun than I thought it would be.

Scale 1-10. 10 being the itchiest. I’m a 9 tonight. Figuring out what’s making me inflamed tonight.