Dry skin nightmare

[jaype]

Hi - just wondered if anyone else had suffered really bad dry skin postpartum? If I don't moisturise twice a day (read: cake whole body in E45 or Demabase) my skin starts to crack in lines (back, stomach, the lot). My face looks like an old lady as you can see so many lines when I move any muscles in it. I am only 36! Baby is 16 weeks, btw, and I had two transfusions after birth owing to unexplained severe anaemia (no huge blood loss at birth). It is driving me mad, especially as that moisturising time could be better spent sleeping.

Hello -sounds to me like you have a hormonal imbalance following birth. Try finding a natural oil replacement that you take in cpasule form but I will have a quick google cause I'm guessing that you probably can't take one whilst breastfeeding- are you BF?

Okay - so have just found that GLA (gamma-linolenic acid) which often is much lower in people with hormonal imbalance eczema, isn't deemed safe for breastfeeding mothers to use in any medical form. You could ask your GP how to increase your levels of GLA safely if breast feeding.

Never mind moisturising, you really need to fix it from the inside with quality foods. Rather than looking at tablets, get your diet in super healthy shape - cutting down on carbs & sugar and adding protein and veg. Also, use things like flaxseeds sprinkled on foods and herbs and greens for iron, esp parsley. Beware over-relying on wheat as it stops absorbtion of nutrients in the most healthy foods. All those cereals are not as healthy as advertising is making us believe.
Include avocados, butter and olive oil in foods and watch the improvement with amazement. Also, meat proteins for Zinc (which helps with skin also).
When my ds had v v dry skin, no lotions or potions made ever any difference, what fixed it were ground flaxseeds.

I'd be wary of amounts of flax seeds during pregnancy though. They might be fine but anything in large quantities should be double checked.