Day 40 (I think)

Tash face rash face. The itch is back.

Everything is angry and itchy and red raw sore.

The lack of sleep due to the persistent itchy has at least given me time to mull over the reasons for this sudden onset. I have my suspicions who is the blame but I'm not yet sure which one is the definite culprit. Picture the scene: my skin has been fairly happy, bit of a redness and itching, nothing special. It's a beautiful day. I take this opportunity to wash all my bedding and a lot of my clothes, innocently putting them outside to dry. I also spend a lot of time cleaning and washing dishes (gloved - different gloves to the ones mentioned previously, fear not). I did not take an antihistamine. I go to bed, showered and calm and wake up with a tingly itch all over, especially around my face and on my arms.

So its either mr. detergent or some kind of free radical pollen that hopped onto my linen when it was out.

Guess its time to go back to the washing machine and straighten things out, once and for all.


On a brighter note, this has made me suspect that emitting sugar is actually not of that great a benefit to me. Which is nice because I really want a chocolate bar.

Day 28

All night essay writing seems to have dehydrated my skin. I only really have myself to blame now.

Also, innocent smoothies are owned by coca-cola. Bloody'ell! There are no nice little companies any more.

Eggs for breakfast now....

Day 27

13 more days to go.

The toilet is fully functioning again! I finally told my housemates who relished my humiliation.

My skin is not so good. I don't know what has made it take a turn for the worse. I went home this weekend and ate quite a lot of pasta and bready things, which I've not had a lot of lately. I didn't think these things would be particularly aggravating so I don't know what's up. Maybe i'm stressed but I don't think so.
I'm going to try avoiding bread and pasta. Just for a bit.

I brought a new cream, Vichy 24hr Hydration because they didn't have my favourite avene stuff. I have to say I don't think it is as good, I felt a little tingling as I put it on (usually with Avene my skin feels calm straight away) but it seems to be doing a pretty good job.

I was starting to feel pretty fed up with not eating sugar. Until I made these....sugarless truffles!! Just amazing. It s wonderful to get that chocolate hit again.

Day 21

Somehow its easier to write things down. I feel slightly less weird because this isn't just for my own benefit, but also a bit strange for sharing it with strangers.

I've just experienced something horrific. I don't really want to talk to anyone about it so I'm hiding in my room, feeling disturbed. I went to the toilet and well, things wouldn't flush. I don't really think my deposits were to blame - in fairness the toilet water was high when I approached. Well, in the panic of the moment I did some pretty feverish flushing and swilled things around with the toilet brush. The water raised to worrying heights, showing me no sympathy. I then decided to go into my room in the hope that it would just fix itself. It didn't. I live with 6 friends and I really really just wanted to solve the problem without any of them needing to get up close and personal with my digestive system's handy work. To cut a long story short (most of which involved me pacing the bathroom and dashing around trying to find a miracle) I donned my marigolds (for the last time EVER, they need to be burnt) and scooped my poop. Yep. I caught I glimpse of myself in the mirror, holding the faeces. I stood there for a good 10 minutes (most likely actually 1 minute but it felt veeery long) frantically wishing the whole situation would just disappear. I then hopped, the most surreal guilty hop, to the toilet next door and successfully removed it from my life. However, the toilet is still blocked, I'm scarred for life, and I'm still going to have to come clean (mind the pun) to my housemates.


Most inappropriately this got me to thinking about my stools, and subsequently my eczema. I decided the poo was lighter than it should be (what I was measuring this against I'm not sure, we can just call it logic). I did a little google on stools, feeling completely odd but also relived to discover such sites do actually exist. Apparently it means I'm not absorbing nutrients! Which is unfair. I pay good money and attention to my nutrient intake and apparently my body can't be bothered to process it all. No wonder my skin is in such bad condition if it isn't getting the goodness I so lovingly feed it. So now what?

I took myself back to google to research methods on improving digestion. Some of the stuff I found I thought was a little , well, inane. Such as only eating cooked food so as not to cool down the stomach and extinguish the 'fire' of digestion. I think the woman was basing her logic on an old proverb.

New resolutions:

1. Chew my food more
2. Don't drink water with a meal
3. Don't eat late at night
4. Don't eat fruit straight after a meal


I still don't have any cider vinegar because the supermarket didn't have any.

Today was so sunny and spring-like and I didn't feel very itchy which was lovely :) I am taking an antihistamine daily I should add...

Day 19

I'd like to take a moment to praise Avene!! If I had more money I would buy all of their products. The no-wash wash, thermal spring water and skin recovery cream together make the skin on my face so calm, soft and clear. Unfortunately it is pricey so I use coconut oil most of the time, as well as some other creams (although I find a lot do more bad than good). Ponds is quite good. And superdrug's own brand Vit. E range. But for flare days this Avene stuff is a miracle :) The thermal water isn't too pricey and I spray that on my eczema after the shower because I find the hard water where I live drives my skin nuts.

I have a good feeling about today :)

Day 18

Feeling really good without the sugar - no longer full of rage. I'm still not being as healthy as I could be though, my sugar cravings have meant that I just eat anything in sight (without sugar). I'm hoping that these will eventually subside.
My skin hasn't changed a great deal. It's still dry. I have noticed its less red and less angry though.

I've been told cider vinegar really helps eczema and my google search seems to suggest its a bit of a cure-all (along with bleach baths - not cool, not ok. Does seem a convenient way of ensuring a clean tub though). Unfortunately they suggest taking it internally as well as topically.  Swallowing down a vinegar/water mixer seems a little alarming but I'm going to give it a good go. Fingers crossed!

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.