The experiment

NB: This is all about itchy skin , if you don't suffer from eczema I'm pretty sure you'll find this quite unpleasant to read, so step away :) 

Eczema

I hate it. The alarming and unpleasant appearance is the least of the problem. I hate trying to ignore the angry itching all day, only to scratch in my sleep extensively to the point of waking. The red raw heat, the sting from the uncontrolled scratching. The itchiness is so unrelenting and impossible ignorable , it's with you day in day out, disrupting sleep and concentration. 

I'm going to fight back.

I had eczema as a child and grew out of it, which I believe is a fairly typical process. Unfortunately, mine came back. I attribute the cause to my multitude of rings combined with a waitress job which involved a lot of washing up. At around 17 the eczema flared back all over my hands with a vengeance. I'm quite sure hormonal changes may have also had an effect. I went to uni at 18 and the problem persisted – my university town, Southampton, seemed to aggravate the situation entirely. I am now 21 and my eczema has been flaring and disappearing like the British sun – there in the background but occasionally coming out to remind us all just how hot it can be.

Moisturising has become a habit and form of relaxation for me. Apparently, it is still not quite enough for my skin. I feel I'm learning lots more about it – what it likes, how much cream (make sure not to apply when its in the red and vicious faze, here it much prefers sudo-cream or calamine lotion to cool and dry it), it loves the sun and the sea (but LOATHES spring, where it goes nuts and out of control), it doesn't like the doctors and can repair itself just days before your appointment.

This lent I'm going sugar free. Sugar apparently creates heat in the body (therefore – crazy red eczema), plus all the bad stuff seems to include it.

Day 6

I've been feeling pretty crabby without sugar (I ate a lot), guess I may have been a bit dependent, I'm getting a lot of headaches. My skin seems to be getting worse and I woke up this morning with really itchy skin. I hope its just the change in diet and that it suddenly will improve...

I should perhaps mention I'm quite stressed at the moment. I have 7,000 so far unresearched words to write by the end of this month (part of which is for my dissertation). My laptop, whom I ask to do nothing more than browse the web and open word processing documents has decided its all too much and has stopped working. I don't feel insanely stressed though...

Spring is coming. Maybe my skin will just always be defeated by this otherwise quite lovely season.

Today is also the day I began writing this. I hope I keep it up. 

Day 8

Well, I wasn't sure at first if I was writing for myself or if I should share with other eczema sufferers. I've decided on the latter - even if no one else finds this useful at least I will have finally made a mark on the internet. 

I feel a lot more normal today, less sugar drained and hungry all the time. My skin is still quite bad but its 'dry' itchy and not red and inflamed any more. So, onward with the coconut oil, my newest friend in the moisturising kit. It's only £2 from superdrug and it is delicious. I slaver myself into coconut bliss before bed.