Here are some photos of the dyshidrotic eczema on my right foot (the injured one) and atopic dermatitis on my arms and legs.
Unfortunately the night before these photos were taken was horrible–I was up all night itching and trying very hard not to scratch but ultimately failing at that…Until that night I was taking Allegra 24 hour allergy pills daily in tandem with Flonase nasal spray by prescription from my allergist. As you probably already know, this spring and summer were particularly bad for allergy sufferers, so this combo is what my allergist put me on to help reduce all my symptoms (sneezing, coughing, watery eyes, stuffed up sinuses, etc). Once the eczema started, I noticed that the itching got worse when my allergy meds began to wear off, so I figured that the pill and spray must be helping minimize the itching, which was great until I noticed the itching starting at night. Normally the itching would bother me in the morning when it had been a full 24 hours since my last dose, as expected. So when it started to bother me at night, I knew something was up…and when it bothered me that night I knew the Allegra must not be strong enough anymore. I mean, I was crazed by this itching. Itching all over! My back, shoulders, stomach, butt, elbows, legs, you name it! I got maybe 2 hours of sleep if you add it all up. I kept getting up to put on lotion or hydrocortisone or the Halog cream or drink water. Nothing was helping. I finally got up around 5 am and took my allergy meds early. They kicked in and I finally got a few hours sleep.
The next day I decided to try applying another home treatment: coconut oil. It is supposed to help calm and clear up the skin. If you do it, make sure to get organic, unrefined, cold-pressed, raw coconut oil in the jar. You can actually find it in grocery stores pretty easily now as many people use it for cooking in addition to home remedies.
I applied it all over my skin, gently padded off the excess and put on light clothing and tried to relax a bit. A little bit goes a long way, so don’t scoop out gobs of it to put on. Get a small swipe of it, and rub it into an area like the length of your forearm. The coconut oil helped a little bit. The redness went away and my skin calmed down a bit, so that’s good. The bumps from the atopic dermatitis stayed raised though, so that wasn’t so good, but oh well…
In addition to the coconut oil, I called my allergist and they sent in a prescription for a stronger allergy pill, Xyzal (generic is Levocetrizine). I also did an apple cider vinegar soak (ACV) on my hands at 50/50 ratio with warm water for about 6 minutes per hand (about how long it took to start stinging) and I did my best to remove as much dust as possible from my house since it’s a trigger for me. I made sure to bundle up and use gloves for the cleaning to avoid contact with dust if possible. I have also switched detergents to a hypoallergenic, fragrance free, dye free, phosphate free version for sensitive skin from Target’s Up&Up brand called Free & Clear and started to wash all of my clothes and the bed sheets and covers.
Changing the allergy meds and detergent definitely made a difference. The coconut oil made a small impact that I’ll continue talking about in my next post and the ACV soak helped dry up some of those pesky blisters…
So that is the summary for the 9th. More to follow in hopes of catching up!
Allergies and Eczema and Sensitive Skin - Oh My! 