Small new patch

Day 14 of the Elimination Diet – I no longer crave cheese, or bread. Strange, huh?

Day 6 of Itracornazole 200mg (something doesn’t add up in my calendar, I think I took 2 pills in one day -accidentally- at some point).

I take back what I said yesterday. A few hours after I posted, a patch of tiny blisters appeared on my right index finger, another patch on my right pinky and itch on my left index finger.

I also have some new red spots on my face.

Not sure what triggered it, my hands were so beautiful and soft yesterday. The only thing I did different yesterday was have 100% grapefruit juice (about 1 liter throughout the day).

My feet where itching a bit last night, but I managed not to scratch fiercely.

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To fewer blisters,

R.

It’s working?

Day 13 of the Elimination Diet

Day 5 of taking Itracornazole 200mg + Micosep B (on feet)/Clobetasole Propionato (on hands).

Hands, 95% clear. No itch, no swelling, no pain. They were already starting to heal before taking Itracornazole, but I feel the healing was accelerated and there are no signs of an upcoming flare up.

Left foot still looks terrible, itching has come down but I still get a few attacks a day where I just want to scratch it with a cheese grater, swell has come down. Still painful.

Right foot, I had a flare up the day I started taking Itracornazole. So now it’s in the scaling phase.

 

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Food wise: I feel like an eating machine (I munch all day long), still low on energy. Planning on starting some home yoga today, see if it helps.

Seeing a small light at the end of the DE tunnel 🙂
R.

Maybe this will work?

Day 9 of the Elimination Diet.

So, this morning I went to my old dermatologist and I mentioned to her that I suspected that last time Itracornazole had played a role in making the DE go away.

Incredibly enough, she agreed!

She prescribed:

• Panastat 200 (Itracornazole 200mg) once a day for 15 days
• An anti mycotic, anti inflammatory cream for my feet
• Clobetasol propionate for my hands

I’m very hesitant on the topical steroids (both creams have it) and I mentioned it to the dermatologist, she explained that very little actually gets absorbed as the skin on palms of hands and feet is very thick. That I should never apply it on more sensitive areas like the face and that taking oral cortisone made no sense to treat DE.

I’ll be seeing her again in 2 or 3 weeks before I leave Argentina, hopefully there will be some improvement in that time.

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Still keeping the everything-free diet, 14 days to go. First thing I’ll incorporate after that? Eggs! (or maybe that’s just what I’m craving right now and I’ll change my mind later on).

Stay positive!
R.

Days 7 & 8- Elimination Diet

I’ve only been doing this diet just over a week? It feels like ages!

The upside is that I eat all day long and haven’t put on an ounce nor feel bloated. I’m also barely training and not surfing, which I miss, but I’m not sure I’d have energy to do.

The downside: I can only eat at home because I need to make sure that what I eat is gluten, dairy and egg free. I still feel low on energy.

My hands seem to be better, they don’t itch as much. My left foot it still itching and hurting a lot (still doing baking soda rubs and ice packs), and my right foot had a small flare up 2 nights ago. Haven’t been taking fexofenadine for the last few days either.

Tomorrow I have an appointment with another dermatologist, I want to get a second opinion to alternative treatments other than topical steroids.

Have an itch free night,
R.

Day 6 – Elimination Diet

I can sum up today with:

• Lots of work & low energy.
• Had ham on my rice crackers, that tasted soooo good!
• Got distracted with work and burnt the lentils I was supposed to have for lunch (“carbonized them” might be a better term), ended up eating salad.
• Plenty of fruit (grapes and plums) and rice crackers (maybe they’re not good but I’m hungry all the time).
• Mycotic exam. Doctor made a face when he saw my left foot (currently have it resting on an ice pack after I scratched it mercilessly)
• Watched “Trainwreck” while eating meat and salad. Again (the meat & salad I mean, I hadn’t watched Trainwreck before). Salad was yummy, I love avo. I love lamp.

  

Bring on day #7!
R.

Day 5 – Elimination Diet

Doing the elimination diet while I’m at home is easy, the issue is when I go out for breakfast (something my partner and I do regularly). Lately, I’ve just decided to eat before or after, and just ordering plain tea. Boooring!

Tomorrow afternoon I’m going to get my mycotic exams done, hopefully that’ll bring some light into the whole DE thing and how to make it go away.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking as to how my first outburst stopped: Right at the time I started my first DE treatment with Clobetasol propionate I also had a fungus on my left toenail, so I asked my dermatologist for something to make it go away. She prescribed Itracornazole 100mg and gave me a really high dose (2 pills in the morning & 2 pills at night for one week, a 4 week period of rest and then repeat).

I looked up what Itracornazole 100mg was and this is what I found:

Itraconazole is one of the most broad spectrum antifungals available and includes activity in Aspergillus, Blastomyces Candida(all species including many fluconazole resistant isolates) Coccidioides, Cryptoccocus, Histoplasma, Paracoccidioides, Scedosporium apiospermum and Sporothrix schenkii. It is also active against all skin fungi. It is not active against Mucorales or Fusarium and a few other rare fungi. It is the best agent against black moulds, including Bipolaris, Exserohilum etc. Resistance to itraconazole is described in Candida, although less often than with fluconazole and also in Aspergillus.

If dyshidrosis.co.uk‘s theory that Candida is one of the causes of DE, then I might be onto something.

I wonder if my dermatologist will be willing to prescribe Itracornazole or Nystatin to test if there is a link and if it helps with my DE.

Have an itch & pain free day!

R.

 

 

Days 3 & 4 – Elimination Diet

Honestly, today I feel like I will need to get my left foot amputated: Swollen, painful, itchy, cracking, oozing (it feels a lot worse than in the picture).

Right foot is ok, there are blisters and sores but at least it doesn’t itch much and it doesn’t hurt.

My hands hurt because they are so dry and cracking, I’ve been putting on a natural cream with Vitamin A and Aloe Vera (unscented, recommended for psoriasis), but the skin’s still cracking.

Painful, swollen, itchy, oozing liquid, basically: disgusting.

I’m going back to Capoeira training tomorrow (took 3 weeks off due to travels for Christmas, New Years and Holidays) and if I can barely walk, I’m not sure how I’m supposed to be jumping around. On the other hand, I can’t let DE take over my life completely, it already fucks up so many things.

Still going steady with the elimination diet, on the evening of day 3 my partner cooked some chicken with salad and yesterday I had lentils for the first time in I can’t remember how many years. I made plenty so I could have leftover lentils for today’s lunch.

Lunch: Yummy Argentine Steak with Lentil, tomato, roquette & onion salad

Afternoon Snack: Blueberries & Banana

 

The diet is definitely doing something…I now poop different. That’s as much a difference as I’ve seen so far. Oh, and I feel tired all the time and got a sore throat in mid summer (I haven’t gotten sick – other than DE – in years!).

I’ve only completed day 4 of No Gluten, No Dairy, No Fast Food, No Alcohol, No Eggs, No Soy (although it feels forever because I’ve been gluten free for a month), let’s see what results the next 19 days bring!

Crossing my fingers for an itch-free weekend,
R.

Interested in the Elimination Diet? Check out the basics here

 

Day 2 – Elimination Diet

Ok, this shit is not easy, but I can’t say it’s boring. I need to be resourceful and creative with my meals, and have a lot of self control to avoid just having a chunk of that yummy cheese or eating some real bread.

Something very trifle I’ve been wondering about as I eat my dry, dull, gluten free, dairy free rice crackers in the morning is, what can I put on them?

Avocado maybe?

Ham? It’s so processed I’m hesitant of eating it. Although I do enjoy it.

I’d probably make some hummus if I had a blender.

 

My Lunch today

Today for lunch I had:

• Gluten free spinach pasta (accidentally over cooked)
• Cherry tomatoes
• Rucole salad
• Added some olive oil and random seeds.

Made the same for my partner but added cheese to his.

My right foot is hurting a lot, and it’s hot, like when there’s an infection so taking extra care of it.

R.

Day 1 – Elimination diet

My day so far has been chaotic. Woke up at 10:30 only to realize I didn’t hear the alarm clock over-slept for 2 hours!

Quick shower, turned on my laptop and started working straight away as I had a client call.

After the 1st call I made myself some mate (Argentinean tea) and realized I
had nothing gluten and dairy free at home. So my breakfast was just mate.

After running some errands and going to the supermarket it was already lunch time. I wasn’t feeling too creative, nor had time as I had a lot of work to do so this was my lunch (had to be careful as I’m not used to eating dairy free):

• Last night’s leftover meat with caramelized onions (I had it with mashed pumpkin and potatoes last night)
• some olives
• baby onions
• cherry tomatoes
• rucola salad
• some seeds that were labeled gluten free in my sister’s cabinet and olive oil
• 4 rice crackers (checked and they were gluten and dairy free).
• water

My foot got itchy after lunch, so I applied a Baking Soda and water rub and now put an ice pack on it while I work.

R.

 

What I’m trying

Today I’ve started the Elimination Diet (have been doing gluten free for a month with absolutely no results).

I’m a nomad (as in literally a nomad; 3 months here, 6 months there and so on. I work online and live off a backpack since 2007), so sticking to a very strict diet is very hard. I do however eat home cooked meals every day, so I believe I can stick to a simple diet that eliminate gluten, dairy, processed foods and sugars. Basically eating meat, veggies, fruit & gluten free grains (my normal diet contains a lot of glutten – bread & pasta, and dairy -cheese and eggs).

I’ve never had any issues with food, so I’m not sure my DE is connected to food allergies, but I’m so desperate I’m willing never eat gluten or dairy if that’s what it takes to avoid DE flare ups.

I’m also getting tested for any mycotic infections on feet and hands. My dermatologist recommended it, he said it can be a trigger. I’ve got an appointment on the 11th of January, 2016.

I’m on birth control pills, has anyone found a co-relation between DE and their birth control pills?

To soothe the itching and pain and accelerate healing, I’m applying a paste of Baking Soda and water and rubbing the affected areas for a few minutes with it and then rinsing with cold water. It seems to help, but it doesn’t avoid new break outs.

Sometimes I also soak my feet in a bucket with water and Baking Soda (used to do it with water and apple vinegar but I stopped because it might affect the mycotic exams, the smell of vinegar is very hard to get rid of, I hate stinking of vinegar and it only soothed itching temporarily).

What (if anything at all) works for you?

R.