Monday, November 29, 2010

Crazy new theory!

I know it sounds totally nuts but I have begun to believe that drinking red wine is essential for my skin.  I discovered a couple of weeks ago that on the mornings after having a glass of merlot my skin looks better.  If I drink a beer I'm more inflamed in the morning.  The red wine even counters my milk allergy to some extent.  I have cheated horribly over the holiday weekend and my scalp is flared but my face is not.  It's unbelievable!  I tried to research the idea but all I could find was info on the other benefits of red wine (heart health, etc).  I don't know exactly how or why the red wine is helping but it is.  So I guess I'll be drinking a glass of wine every night from now on.  ; )  There are certainly worse medicines.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Still a work in progress

Well, I have to retract a comment made in my last post.  The Florasone is not working after all.  In fact, I think it's making things worse.  I am going to go back to using some leftover steroid cream that a dermatologist gave me awhile back for a different skin issue.  It seems to be very effective.  I'm hoping that if I can get rid of the flare I can maintain without continuing to use the steroid cream.

I don't know quite what conclusion to draw from this, but since I've been really consistent with taking my medicine and supplements my progress has been wonderful.  I had run out of vitamins and my skin looked awful.  Now I am wondering what it is about my multivitamin that is working.  Is it a particular vitamin, the calcium, the immune boost complex?  Whatever it is it seems to be key.  Hmmm...

I feel like a detective working on a case.  Except that I don't think I'll ever find just one clear solution.  I've found a lot of clues but I know there's more to learn.  I will say that a friend made a good point to me the other day.  I was saying how I'd like a skin transplant but she pointed out that it's not my skin that's the problem; eczema is an immune system disorder. I think that should be the next lead to follow--looking for ways to boost my immune system to see if my skin benefits.  I can't imagine that improving my immune system would be a bad thing so I might as well give it a shot!

I would like to mention that I'm always open to suggestions so if you're reading this and you have ideas, please feel free to leave a comment!  I love getting new perspectives and ideas!  : )

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Problem skin is always problem skin.

Apparently I'm a terrible blogger!  It has been a lot longer than I intended since my last post.  I really want to stress something that I had to stress with my husband recently--problem skin will always be a problem, it just depends on how you manage it. There are ups and downs and you just have to find a plan that works and stick to it.  If you stray, you will flare.  I'm hoping that eventually I will have my skin under control enough to give the illusion of good skin but I know I will always have to be careful or I will end up broken out.

I am currently flaring but I knew it was coming.  My husband and I went away for a weekend during Oktoberfest and there was really no way to eat dairy-free.  That plus lots of beer led to some inflamed spots.  I am finally getting to the point that I can tell the difference between a pimple and an eczema bump before it's fully erupted.  This lets me know which product to start using on it.  In a post from awhile back I mentioned a product called Florasone.  I recently started using it myself and I have to say that I'm impressed.  It takes the itch of eczema away pretty well and seems to be working on both the scaly patches and the bumpy ones.  It has reduced the big bumpy patches in about half the normal time (or faster), which thrills me to death!    It is all natural and contains NO steroids.  I am VERY happy with this so far!

My progress before this recent flare was wonderful.  I am hoping to post an updated photo soon but I want to wait for these few spots to subside first.