At end of my tether - eczema and stupidly itchy dry skin - HELP!

[Theoneandonlyitchymcitch]

As I sit here, smothered in aveeno, instead of being out with all the bright young things, I am begging for any advice or wise words. I have had ezcena since I was 18 months old (I am now in my 30's) and have learnt to manage it pretty well. However, I have had a pretty rough time recently (relationship woes, work stress, etc, and my bastarding skin has decided to make my life even more difficult by going completely crazy. It is red, flakey and unbearably itchy. I average about two hours sleep a night because of the itching, which makes me unbelievably grouchy at work. I can't wear most of my clothes as I cannot tolerate anything other than pure cotton on my skin. People at work have started making snide remarks about fleas as I literally cannot stop itching and do it without thinking. I literally bathe in emollients and Aveeno, am popping antihistamines like they are going out of fashion... Can't wear dark clothes as my skin is flaking so badly. Have to wash my hair every day as the skin on my face flakes into my hair and looks like I have horrendous dandruff. Then it gets so dry that trying to bend my arms and legs is absolute agony. GP doesn't help, I am more of an expert than them having had bad skin for so long (see a different one Everytime and they just google) ... It is seriously denting my confidence, my sanity and I am begging you lot to suggest something else I can try... Sorry for the essay, but I am literally at my wits end. Help anyone???

Hi
Well into my 40's and still not got a handle on it... But some advice that works for me.

Don't put anything on your skin that actually stings. Aveeno is, in my experience, not very good. That's just about all creams. I don't use any creams at all anymore.

I bath with Neals yard foaming bath and soap. Get some sudamed soap. Its wonderful.

The hair. Its awful isn't it. Again. I wash my head with sudamed bathsoap and condition with coconut oil. Massage the oil into your head.

Use coconut oil on your skin and pure potions (holland and barratt) when it gets bad. I used an entire tub of pure potion in 2 days just on my face. Or other pure oil. Neals yard rose oil is also good (my eczema is on my face though).
Look at ingredients and stay away from lanolin products. You will soon get the gist of what you can or cannot use. Most poducts i use have less than 5 ingredients. Aloe vera is NOT my friend but works for some.

If you have carpets rip the fuckers out and put down wood. I just moved into a new (old) house and the difference is huge.

Good luck. I know the feeling and the tears and the pain. I Hope you sort it.
Ps. If i get an infection and my eczema is bad my doctor will prescribe steroids and antibiotics combi. Works a treat to get it under control. But you need a secondary infection for it to work. (eczema on the head is good for causing secondary infections! )

To the PP who recommended the moogoo, thank you so much! I got some yesterday, and it has literally been an overnight miracle! The flaking has all but disappeared and skin is less red and feels so much better! Thank you thank you thank you! now to work on some solutions for the unbearable itching...

Oh and the coconut oil... Weirdly it has come in lumps? But just 'defrosted' mine so it becomes cream like, and put some on my arms... It worried me when my colleague told me she uses it to cook with! But so far so good. Also invested in some more aloe Vera stuff, and am using my plant although I do not trust my plant housekeeping at all, it will be withered before the week is over it helps that I have no shame and will happily wander about with shit loads of gunk on my face (and under my clothes), sexy I am not, during a flare up. Although I have started routinely waking up at 4am for a good old scratch., it is still waking me up. Anyone else have a massive scratch, then put moisteriser back on? Seems like it is... Argh, can't think of the word... But it seems that I wake up, scratch and then put cream on. Any other advice gratefully appreciated

Take a pain killer if it itches

Know exactley what you are going through. I had what felt like cradle cap on my scalp and dry itchy skin on my neck and running down my back. Creams would work for only a few hours then it would come back with a vengeance. Drs could only prescribe creams.

Went to the US for 2 weeks where the bread was so sweet it was inedible. After 2 weeks without bread I had patches of clear skin on my scalp. Never in my life had I any patches of clear scalp.

Went to the Drs when I got back to discuss whether I had a reaction to wheat and to ask if I could have an allergy test. Dr refused the test but said if i wanted to I could just test myself by spending a week cutting out wheat, followed by a week cutting out dairy then a week cutting out eggs then rather condescendingly telling me to book an appointment for 3 weeks later so he could prescribe me more creams.

1 week without wheat I had already done so I started to go without dairy. By 4 days in my skin and scalp was clear for the first time in my life. Going without wheat and dairy is tough but constant itching and thick crusty weeping scalp is tougher. I have gone back to eating wheat and dairy to see what would happen and it comes back

My DS had fairly bad eczema since birth. We found Aveeno bath stuff with the cream slapped on afterwards helped a lot too. But the absolutely biggest difference was realising that modern energy-efficient washing machines are the scourge of eczema sufferers. They just don't use enough water to get rid of soap powder particles properly. Ours has medic rinse for allergy sufferers which is supposed to be a larger amount of water in the final rinse or something. But DS was still having major problems even with this and with non bio and no fabric softener. In the end I actually filled The sink up and put some of his supposedly clean clothes in the water and honestly, the water went opaque. There was still clearly a lot of power left in his clothes despite the medic rinse setting.

So for a while I hand rinsed all his stuff and this made a huge huge difference to his skin. It was such a faff for a time but it was worth it. I then experimented with doing a few extra machine rinses on top of the normal rinse cycle and this seemed to have a similar effect to my own hand rinsing. Although towels and flannels still turn the water opaque I notice! Grrr...... So he still gets little bits of eczema in his crease which I think are probably from his towel.

I am horrified at how little water is used in modern washing machines. Have a look the next time you do a cycle. The rinse cycle is crap - just squirts of water here and there. I remember when I was a kid in the 70s and 80s the water level was half way up the door. I can hardly see ANY water in my modern machine when it rinses.

OP, I only talk from experience of my baby and my friend who had it from 4 to 45. Both him and with my baby everything has been tried, and what has helped both (baby used to bleed out of her face with skin breaking up and inflaming) was cutting out dairy completely and homeopathy. Also scratchsleeves (google them) for the baby initially, you probs can get something similar for yourself (silk mittens?)

But the homeopath needs to be a really good recommended one, and it has to be individual treatment, there is no one size fits all treatment in homeopathy. The consultation was £40, we needed two, it was negligible compared to what I had spent on creams etc by then.

If your eczema is diet based or exacerbated even without you realising it, taking antihistamines (but that could be trial and error, different help with different allergies) could help (NOT a long term solution! but to provide you with some sleep). Also you could try antihistamine cream, like the ones for the stings of bees/wasps, it's sold over the counter with a picture of a bee on it, I don't remember its name. But that can't be a long term solution either. Just if taking antihistamine helps, you need to try and cut out certain food groups out of your diet and see if there is an improvement. Even if you were eating something for ages it doesn't mean you are not allergic to it, sometimes it requires a build-up in the body.

Where in the country you are, if it was within travelling distance for you I could give you my homeopath's details if you are interested.

All the solutions provided by dermatologists concentrating on just treating the skin are about managing (barely or inefficiently usually), rather than healing. I don't know anyone with eczema who doesn''t feel failed by conventional medicine, let alone GPs, their only solution is steroid creams.

I feel really sorry for you, I nearly lost my mind with a baby who spent night after night trying to scratch her face/under her knees off, she was so miserable and looked horrendous, I was infinitely exhausted because I couldn't sleep at all with her constantly scratching and it went on for months! We only needed to cut out dairy for about nine months in the end, then very gradually re-introduced it, all she gets now is rough skin on her cheeks as a reaction. She is also allergic to all nuts though, but it's much easier to avoid in a toddler's diet.

Just read what was written above - yes, switching to only non-bio and ALWAYS doing a wash with an extra rinse (in the machine) helped my child massively.

Oliversmumsarmy Don't just introduce dairy and wheat back! Google 'milk ladder' and try that, plus I'm sure there's something similar for wheat. Or start making your own rye bread?
Also see if consuming raw unpasteurised milk (farmers market or from some farms though in Europe available freely and in supermarkets/vending machines etc) might have a different impact (i.e. no allergic reaction). Some Waitroses sell French butter made with raw milk(actually eating enough fresh butter helped me with flaky itchy scalp patches!), and all supermarkets sell cheeses made with raw milk.
Or at least buy only organic dairy. In any case maybe introduce it back very gradually.

For some reasons all doctors in English speaking countries are taught there is no or practically no connection between skin conditions and diet :(, though it goes against common sense! In many other cultures and countries it's common knowledge for everyone since childhood that your skin is very much a reflection of your gut.

Coconut oil melts at something like 25C, so in winter it's rock hard but, come summer, it will melt in the pot. Don't worry about its form. If it is solid just scrape it with the back of your fingernail. If it is runny just dab your fingertip into it.

Yes, you can cook with it. It is a very healthy fat, I think, and has quite a high smoke point, so is good for frying. I don't care for the flavour, so I don't use it in great quantities.

I have had eczema from a very young age and have tried many things to treat it. Nothing would subdue it or break the horrible itch - scratch cycle.
Last year aged 26, I finally got referred to a dermatologist, after discussing possibly allergy testing and prescribing very strong steroids to no avail, I was prescribed immunosuppressant cream (tacrolimus - sp?) and the effect was fantastic.
It is strong stuff and you have to be careful - no drinking alcohol, put on sun cream at the first hint of sun - but within weeks I was going onto a lower dose and just using three times a week and then just once a week.

Thank you all. I have tried homeothepy, it didn't work for me. I have tried taking out dairy etc. Again, didn't work for me. It is one of those conditions where you have to elimate absoluely everything and try again from square one, all the sodding time. I am 32 now, and it is a blight on my life... Going to have an oatmeal and milk bath, see if that will sort the itch. Just quite glad the flaking has been got rid of. For now...

nodown if you are anywhere near London that would be helpful. And even if you are not, willing to travel!!! Anything to get rid of this.

You have to cope with that from colleagues? Goodness I am so so sorry. It's bloody awful living with eczema I know too well. It's hard leaving the safety net of your front door when you feel like your skin is too tight for your joints to work, or your skin is burning hot on a cold day, or you can't smile because your lips will break open at the sides, without snide and bullying remarks from colleagues. (

OP, homeopathy didn't work for my friend 12 years ago, he saw someone random though and they didn't dig into his history (from early childhood). But last year it worked, because he saw someone more experienced, who also knew him personally as friend initially. You have to have constitutional treatment (not for exzema specifically), you need at least 1 hour long initial consultation, did you have that?
Anyway, if you don't want to, I'm not gonna insist ;), it's just my friend who practically eradicated it now after 40 years of suffering wishes he had looked for an experienced practitioner first time round.

Putting coconut oil on the skin of my baby didn't work at all (it has to be cold pressed organic oil), but it's delicious and good for you anyway (to eat).

How long did you cut out dairy for first time round? You usually need about(at least) a week for your immune system to calm down.

I hate having advice thrown at me as I've usually tried it all but here...see if you've tried these as you seem to want advice!

Bleach baths
Sun beds
Dr Aron (on FB you'll find him if you search)
Hypnotherapy
Diet restriction (dairy, wheat etc)

Aside from the usual advice re creams and lotions and potions, these could be some suggestions.

When mine or my children's is really bad, won't respond to the strong steroids, is intensely itchy and feels almost like sunburn, that's infected and needs fucibet to make it go down followed by a stepping down to a lower steroid.

It sucks, it really does.

People who don't have to deal with it day in, day out, will never ever understand that it's more than 'just an itch'.

The itch is nothing like any normal itch. It's like it goes to the depth of our bones, right into our bodies where we can't reach. Like there are a millions tiny insects crawling deep down just to taunt us.

'Just don't scratch' is no option. It's a reflex like blinking. We don't know we're doing it until we've suddenly realise, or notice our finger nails have blood.

It knocks me out too. When I have a bad flare it knocks me for six I struggle to deal with the day.

I type all of this because I just wish there was more education. So you wouldn't have to deal with those awful comments from your colleagues.

A very good dermatologist at a well known hospital told me non-bio is a big con. Just avoid powders, use liquids, use biological to rid the clothes of any allergens and wash as hot as possible, then do extra rinses.

Hi OP, both of my DC - now in 20s, have been plagued by this all of their lives. Stress is definitely a factor and exam times were horrific. Dd found two things effective. She rated Salcura spray and cream, but is currently using Avene trixera and cicalfate and says her skin is the best it's been for years. They also suggest keeping smooth pebbles in the fridge to soothe the itches.
(allergen-free)

thready you just made me cry, you summed it up... I am so sick and tired trying to claw my own skin off... It is exhausting. I average about three hours sleep a night, and then have to be bright and sparky at work, when I get the sly comments which make me feel bad

Hi OP. A fellow flaky itcher here.

I had really bad eczema on my face a few years ago, constantly itchy, bright red, hot etc. I even bought a chillow to help me sleep, as my face was so hot. I eventually went to my GP and happened to see one who also worked in dermatology in the local hospital. She took one look at me and told me that my eczema was infected, prescribed steroids and antibiotics and took swabs to see what the infection was. To my surprise a few days later she rang me to tell me I had MRSA! Gave me another antibiotic cream and my skin soon improved.

Do you think yours might be infected?

Oh, and I just remembered I've used cider vinegar to stop itching. Does give temporary relief, but will sting!

I could have written your posts. I am stressed and have severe eczema on my face. It really does get you down. Moogoo is good.

Lifeisgoodish
Coconut oil is not a very healthy fat at all, it is a marketing myth, not particularly good for eczema eithet, didnt help for me as too thin.

Bruffin it's interesting you say that. I used coconut oil myself for a number of months but like most oils it just made my skin hot and itchy. It was expensive, organic virgin stuff too so the quality wasn't the issue.

McItch oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to upset you. I was in the bath at the time, on mumsnet to keep my hands busy to avoid tearing at my back and shoulders - I guess I just vented some frustration at the whole thing.

Personally, I think you should see a doctor and get signed off for a week. Could you do that?

Bruffin - sadly, there's no universal remedy for eczema. It works for me. It does not heal the eczema, just helps life be a bit more bearable during a flare-up.

Its more the fact youare saying it is good for you to eat. Its not any healthier than most other oils, it is a marketing myth put around by mercola, who was told to remove the claims by the fda. Although those claims are oft tepeated on other quack sites.
However as i said i find it too thin to moisturize and doesnt help with my eczema.
As i said above a painkiller does get me out of the scratch cycle. My problem is my feet with dyshidrotic eczema. The itch from that is horrible and there are lityle blisters deep under hard skin sometimes, it stops me sleeping. I now find taking a painkiller stops it within 20 minutes and since i have started doing that my feet are far better, than they have been for years.