Eczema - I think it's gotten worse since going raw.

[rawfoods]

I've been raw for about 3 months, but even so, I went swimming in a chlorine-filled pool yesterday, but bathed when I got home and put on Aveeno Eczema care lotion. This morning I woke up and my neck was flared up in a huge rash, as were my lips. It's never been this bad before. I honestly think that going raw has made my skin so sensitive to chemicals such as chlorine and chemicals that may be in the skin lotion... because my eczema has never flared up this bad before... and I've used cheap lotions infused with perfumes never having a problem like this, and I used to swim many times a week. Anyone else experience this?

[luvmyzoe]

I too, suffered for years from Eczema before eating Raw.

My experience was that it did get worse before it got better. Just stick with it!!
Trust me, it WILL go away!! I am completely free now of any Eczema!

In the meantime, try calming your skin with food grade coconut oil after you bathe. This seems to help with the itching.

Grace

[DejaVu]

I have eczema on my fingers and I can't say I've noticed any change yet, since I'm not fully commmitted to the raw program. When it flares up, I use shea butter and it really soothes. Maybe try that. I'm convinced that a good raw diet will make a big difference and I will try the 30 day challenge starting Sept 1. Hopefully in time I will see my eczema clear up. I say stick with it. I'm sure it will get better in time.

[symphony]

Low fat diet is key cooked or raw. I have had skin issues for 8 years and the raw food diet did nothing at all, if anything made it worse after being on it for 2 years. Low fat diet took it away within a month

[Aleesha Sattva]

mine is totally gone now!!!

your skin is your major detoxing organ so remember... while you are detoxing it may be worse.

i found fasting worked for me... ;)

[fruitandveggies]

So glad to hear that some of yours has gone away with raw. I started a fast and mine got so incredibly bad that I had to stop. I had just gotten a new job that requires me to wear shoes (ha, weird, huh? :P) and I couldn't be hobbling and oozing all over the place. I'm hoping mine disappears soon for GOOD! Hello, cute shoes!

[sprouts2go]

My eczema is totally GONE!! It got somewhat better as I was doing raw but didn't disappear until I gave up coffee. That was 3 months ago and I have only been raw 8 months.

[margoss]

look up Bragg's ACV for eczema. I think you dilute it & spong it on the areas. I know people with it don't like to be in the sun but I've also read that sun will help dry it up. coconut oil should help too. Hope you feel better soon.

[rawrawks]

coconut oil is a gem for skin troubles. Also MSM will make improvements right away. Take three tablespoons a day of MSM powder. Can also put MSM n coconut oil and a facial (skin)wash....it works wonders!!!

[solarliving]

I also have been battling with eczema on my hands and fingers for the last 2 years. There were times I had to wrap my hands up because they got so bad. It really has caused a lot of depression for me because I am a massage therapist and I've had to wear gloves giving massage. Not fun. At different times I stopped eating grains, corn, dairy, as well as certain raw foods I suspected. Seemed like it would start going away and then outbreak. I would be like, "I've barely eaten anything, what could it be." I went to a chiropractor in my office who does muscle testing, NET, and back flower remedies. At first I was testing sensitive to a lot of different foods. IT was crazy. I'm pretty sure my allergy was initial caused by some deep emotions but certain foods would make it worse. My latest attempt is to finally cut out the coffee also because I have read several stories of people who had eczema that disappeared after quitting coffee. I wasn't drinking but maybe 1 cup a day, but maybe my body can't handle it now because it is much cleaner inside. Who knows, but it does make sense considering coffee affects the adrenal glands, liver and histamine response.

Lately my hands have been much better. The main things that seemed to work was quitting the coffee and doing some emotional clearing. The only solution I can offer for the itching is an ice pack. IT was the only thing that helped me. When it goes through the dry stage, Shea butter helps and just put socks on your hands over night.

[rawfoods]

Hi everyone! Thanks for giving me hope! My terrible rash and inflammation is now completely gone. I went to see a holistic healer who gave me some enzymes to help digest foods he said my body was having trouble digesting, and I don't know if that's what helped or just sticking to raw, bathing in cool water, and soaking in the sun... but it's totally gone now! :)

[Green2raw]

I had eczema on my hands in many years. I tried everything, but now I have tried to use organic schampoo and soap. Other soap are too strong,too much chemicals. I eat more vegetables,fruits olive oil, olives and nuts. I try to eat more raw. It have helped too.

[myrtlegurl]

Hi,

I understand your problem I've had eczema since childhood and learned how to manage it. Even before going raw I've found that using natural skin care products and lotions helps a lot. I try and stay away from chemicals as much as possible and always try to make sure its always hydrated. After looking for better natural solutions I've found that olive oil or natural lotions with olive oil work best. It sounds kind of gross but olive oil right on the spot super hydrates it and reduces the irritation. I have seen the best improvement doing this.

Good luck

[Arky]

On a really basic level, skin issues can sometimes reflect an insufficiency in dietary intake of EFAs (e.g. Omega 3)

Chlorine is a skin irritant, of course, but looking a little deeper, it might be pertinent to consider what organ detoxifies chlorine in the body and what substances aid the body in detoxifying chlorine. Who knows...this might provide some clues for you in dealing with your eczema problem as a whole...


Primary organ of detoxification of chlorine:

The LIVER


Substances that aid the liver in detoxifying chlorine:

Taurine, Glycine, phosphatidyl choline.


So, initially, how can one go about improving the above situation?

Well, one can at least consider supplementing with the essential amino acids Taurine and Glycine (I'm not a doctor and I'm not telling you to consume them, I'm simply pointing out that they're an option worth considering). The cheapest and most convenient source of phosphatidyl choline is lecithin - sunflower or soy-based. I use both, personally, although I prefer the sunflower-derived stuff as I'm not a big fan of soy.


Ok, so that's a few bases quickly covered. Now, what about the liver itself? Aside from possible exhaustion of bodily reserves of the above nutrients (which may or not be the case in your body), let's consider why else the liver might be struggling to detoxify chlorine, and possibly other substances, since you have a known case of psoriasis which, presumably, is not exclusively caused by only chlorine.

Well, there are many possibilities, just a few of which can be outlined here:

Overall liver congestion, possibly due to biliary issues (sluggishness of bile flow, perhaps due to gallstones). Note that insufficient bodily levels of glycine, taurine, and phosphatidyl choline can lead to thickening of the bile and thus potentially increase the likelihood of gallstones forming, in the longterm. You're not necessarily experiencing this, it's just a possibility.

Another possibility is that your liver may be being overwhelmed by something, and thus be unable to successfully detoxify everything it is being asked to detoxify.


What can overwhelm the liver?

Acute toxic exposures: e.g. an event when you were exposed to a toxic chemical from the environment (e.g. Agent Orange caused this problem with some Vietnam veterans). Also possible is exposure to heavy metals (thimerosal-preserved vaccinations, placing/replacing/removal of dental amalgam fillings, breathing of dust from sanding old paint during house renovations etc., exposure to various industrial products etc.), ingestion of parasite eggs/larvae during foreign travel etc..

Chronic toxic exposures (there may, and often is, some overlap between the 'acute' and 'chronic' categories of exposure). Some examples of chronic exposure include dental amalgams, parasite infestation (e.g. liver flukes and/or various bowel-resident worms can inhibit liver function directly or by virtue of continually excreting toxic substances - which may also aggravate the immune system and bowel tissues, leading to a cascade of inflammatory symptoms. Not only that, but the presence of parasite-excreted toxins can favour the proliferation of pathogenic bacteria in the gut, which themselves excrete pathogenic toxins that further stress the detoxification abilities of the liver), excessive consumption of fish such as tuna/swordfish/shark/shellfish etc (these contain methylmercury. Interestingly, heavy metals such as mercury can tax the liver to such a degree that they may lead to development of multiple chemical sensitivities, derange immune function -often leading to inappropriate inflammation in various tissues of the body-, mercilessly oxidise EFAs and deplete Vitamin E - both EFAs and vitamin E being vital for healthy skin, deplete taurine and bile production, disrupt endocrine function etc. - many of which may, potentially, cover quite a few of the bases I've covered above).

As you can see, this can all get rather complex, and I can't possibly describe all the possibilities in this post. Consequently, in order to stand any chance of figuring out what might be causing your psoriasis, it is critical for you to spend a number of hours (even days or weeks) painstakingly jotting down every little detail you can think of in your life since your symptoms began, and this includes one or several years prior to onset of symptoms. Things you might not consider related may, in fact, be vital clues.

For example, although it might sound strange to the uninitiated, it is not uncommon for psoriasis to be considered by naturopathic physicians to be an inflammatory disorder, of sorts (arthritis is often viewed from a similar standpoint).

The more symptoms you can think of, historically-speaking, and the more events you can think of that might have involved you being exposed to some toxin or other, the more chance you (or a qualified healthcare practitioner) will have of 'triangulating' some of them with each other and seeing a possible pattern emerging. This can be a tiresome and drawn-out task but I speak from personal experience that it is absolutely worth all the effort, and then some.

Let me be frank with you - it's going to take:

1) a genuine willingness to grab the bull by the horns and really dig deep into your own personal history, in the manner described above

2) TIME to uncover the pieces of the puzzle

3) EFFORT to do the necessary research to begin triangulating the clues and thus putting the pieces of the puzzle into some coherent order.

4) do not expect a doctor to immediately diagnose you and solve your health issues. Whilst this can, on rare occasions, happen, it is a relatively rare occurrence, and in modern medicine there tends to be a trend towards suppressing symptoms with various pharmaceutical substances and/or offering surgery, rather than examining detailed personal case histories and seeking links between subtle clues which may point towards an answer on a systemic level.


In light of the possibly-systemic underlying mechanism of your psoriasis, I encourage you to read some of my other recent posts covering topics of systemic inflammation, heavy metals, gut dysbiosis, gallstones etc. I don't mean to imply that all of them will be relevant to you, but the point is that there is a good deal of overlap between these seemingly-disparate topics and you might just find clues amongst the various discussions that resonate with your personal case history of subtle symptoms which you might previously have not considered relevant to finding the answer you are currently seeking.

In a nutshell, one possible example is as follows (this may or may not be relevant in your specific case but it will nonetheless offer you a potential framework for researching your own clues):

Source of Toxic Exposure (one event and/or ongoing)=>Liver overwhelm=>potential immune dysfunction=>systemic inflammation=>

It is quite possible that those people who claim to have improved eczema after going high-raw may have experienced this by eating a diet which is generally cleaner and less taxing to the liver, more rich in antioxidant substances which support both liver and skin health, better for bowel function due to more fibrous plant-based foods, more abundant consumption of EFAs from greens, nuts, seeds etc.


Incidentally, how is your digestion..? Any bowel pain or food intolerances? Any candida or parasite issues?


Good luck.




Just to get you started...

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=655719#post655719
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=661109#post661109
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=656114#post656114
http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/showthread.php?p=658939#post658939



EDIT: just re-read and noticed your second post - digestive enzymes helped, then. Well, it's worth looking into HCL levels and biliary and pancreatic function. A CDSA (Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis) would be very informative for the latter two. Metametrix do a good one, and so do Great Plains and Genova Diagnostics.

[Raw Angel Mom]

Just a hunch,

The primary organ to eliminate is our guts, if our body cannot keep up, it will use sweat, if it isn't enought then it will be express with our skin. It is indeed an organ of elimination

I would consider to take therapeudic enzyme just in case you may have leaky guts, if you do, it will go everywhere in your body.

Foot bath, to get the heavy metal out stuck in your thousands of gland there.

Research with colonic hydro therapy. Consider to do a detox program. I recommend the book from simplyraw.ca She is so knowledgeable and everything you need to make easy recipe to maximize the detox and they are good.

Also, emotionally if we aren't comfortable with who we are, it will express itself energetically within your skin. Our emotion is connected to our physical body. When you are stress out, notice how your body feel? Use visualization that you are radiant of health and do fun thing that makes you happy. Remember that you are perfect no matter what you think of you or anyone think of you. The rest is just energy seeking to release.

Consider juicing with whatever that is great for your skin (cucumber, leafy greens, herbs etc....)

Don't give up, and consider your dream to be granted. You are on the right path to be free from this condition. And it is done.

All is well.

p.s I am not a doctor, please research

[sprouts2go]

I was very raw EXCEPT for my coffee with a bit of milk. Once I gave that up my eczema was gone. Any time I try to have a cup it comes back.

[laughalways]

I too had a bad flare up of eczema and got rid of it by detoxing and eating raw. I found that several things I was eating/drinking that prevented me from getting rid of it completely and these were coffee and processed sugar. When I gave up coffee, I finally cleared it up even though the detoxing and eating raw allowed me to clear up most of it. Then I visited my Mom and ate some of her biscotti and that caused a flare up. I figured it was the sugar. I also recommend giving up wheat and dairy as I think this helped me to improve the condition initially.

I hope this helps!

[Arky]

I don't think it's a coincidence that many people experience improvement in symptoms when they eat a high-raw diet. However, there are many facets of eating a high-raw diet.

On the one hand, there is the inclusion of a great many nutrients that may have been lacking in a daily SAD intake.

On the other, there is the exclusion of a great many refined or synthetic ingredients that pose detoxification challenges to the liver.

However, it obviously goes much deeper than this.

There's the fact that natural foods contain EFAs and vitamin A, for example, which nourish and protect the skin, enabling proper turnover of epithelial cells. A raw diet also avoids temperature-damaged oils which foster inflammation and displace healthy EFAs from their rightful place in otherwise-healthy cells and skin cells.

Eating a clean diet also enables better bowel function and liver function because both these organs are given greater natural stimulation by water-rich and fibre-rich fruits and vegetables. For example, the hepato-biliary system (liver-gallbladder) is stimulated when bitter dark leafy greens are consumed.

Furthermore, an abundant intake of natural plant-based foods provides thousands of phytonutrients that help disarm free radicals and thus ease the livers detox burden in that regard, and also reduce the propensity for free radicals to give rise to inflammation (systemic or specifically in the bowel, for example). The bowel and the liver both play a huge part in skin conditions.

As mentioned in previous post, naturopathically-speaking, eczema tends to be viewed as a symptom of inflammation. If immune function is deranged then detoxifying certain substances from the liver, the bowel, and the body in general gives the immune system a better chance of operating correctly without perceiving quite so many substances as potential invaders.

However, taking it a step further, whilst the removal of one or more specific substances (e.g. coffee) from the diet may result in reduction in eczema symptoms, it might suggest more than just one thing.

The obvious conclusion is to simply assume that "my body is sensitive to coffee and it's coffee's fault, therefore if I eliminate coffee, I don't have eczema as an underlying condition." (laughalways, I'm just using that as an example, not aiming it at you personally). Whilst one possibility might indeed be that coffee is the sole 'cause' of eczema for a particular person, this overlooks a deeper question - WHY might coffee trigger eczema symptoms in one person's body when so many millions of people are able to drink it without issue? Correlation does not imply causality. Therefore, it is just as possible (if not more likely) that coffee is merely a trigger of a deeper underlying issue - e.g. that something is impeding the liver's attempts to detoxify compounds in coffee such as caffeine, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid etc.

For example, chlorogenic acid is a phenolic compound and the livers ability to metabolise phenolic compounds can be impeded by certain conditions or substances (e.g. mercury).

SO...whilst a raw diet may have a happy propensity to incorporate only, or almost only, foods and drinks which tend to favour good liver, bowel and general health, and thus stacks the odds of remission of eczema symptoms very favourably, it does not imply 'cure' or imply that the eczema symptoms were 'caused' by that which has been eliminated. That might be the case, but it also might be the case that the eliminated dietary substances were merely triggering a deeper underlying condition which has not been dealt with at the core level.

Of course, in some circumstances, liver detoxification pathways may simply be being impeded due to overall physical congestion (intra-hepatic stones, for example, and/or poor bile flow through the bile ducts). In such circumstances, it might actually prove to be the case that raw foods provide sufficient useful substances and stimulation to eventually break down congestion and, yes, 'cure' the underlying condition that gave rise to hepatic inability to detoxify the substances within one or more problem foods/drinks.

Not trying to be a smart-ass with all this, I'm simply attempting to point out that whilst remission of symptoms can be a wonderful thing, there can be more profound benefits to digging deeper, and far from being viewed as purely 'bad', symptoms can often be a valuable gift that, if diligently followed, may highlight an underlying condition/imbalance which can be dealt with, in order to achieve more vibrant health.


Best to all.

[Eva]

Often this is as simple as cutting out nightshades. I find that nightshades, cooked food, and stress are all bad for eczema and am sooo glad to not be dealing with it for the most part.

It does act up when I have a high amount of nightshades though, 100% raw or not!

[MysticTree]

I don't get eczema on the whole.

I have had a couple of outbreaks my entire life (usually on my wrists or inside my elbows) which in 40 years is pretty good.

A couple of times lately I have noticed an angry area on the inside of my elbows - looks like razor rash. Today is the second time since I have been raw this time (last time I was raw it didn't happen).

I think I am attributing it to the pint and a half of fresh orange juice I have had in the past 24-36 hours. The area is slightly sore and very mildly itchy. It is starting to subside. I wonder if I got zest from the oranges on my fingers and then transferred that to my arm but think that it was already starting to come up before todays juice so I guess not.

Arky, maybe I am headed in the same direction as my sister :eek:

[Arky]

A couple of times lately I have noticed an angry area on the inside of my elbows - looks like razor rash. Today is the second time since I have been raw this time (last time I was raw it didn't happen).

I think I am attributing it to the pint and a half of fresh orange juice I have had in the past 24-36 hours. The area is slightly sore and very mildly itchy. It is starting to subside. I wonder if I got zest from the oranges on my fingers and then transferred that to my arm but think that it was already starting to come up before todays juice so I guess not.

Arky, maybe I am headed in the same direction as my sister :eek:


Funny you should mention the zest - I went through a (brief) phase of enthusiastically eating organic oranges in their whole state - peel/zest, seeds, segments, and pith - the whole nine yards. I soon found that if I ate the peel/zest, I got symptoms identical to those you just described.

Now, I don't know if this means I am genetically predisposed to be sensitive to certain essential oils or other compounds contained within orange peel, but, in light of the fact that I've since established that I have mercury toxicity in the liver, and in light of our previous chat regarding possible reasons for your grapefruit sensitivity, which included discussion of mercury-inhibition of certain enzymatic detoxification pathways in the liver, it is ...interesting that here you are with an identical symptom to that which I experience when exposed to orange peel/zest.

Of course, orange peel/zest may inherently have this ability to cause a reaction in certain people,
with no need whatsoever for metal-instigated derangement of liver detox pathways to play any part in proceedings...or perhaps not.
It's a funny old world...

[MysticTree]

It is only on the inside of one elbow. I think I shall let it get fully better and then do some experiments. I don't fancy going as far as eating the whole fruit though ... too hard-core for me.

Do you still use citrus, minus the zest?

It is my sister who has the grapefruit thing btw.

[Arky]

No, I'm now avoiding citrus altogether because my bowel inflammation (part of the whole mercury-related liver + biliary + pancreatic issues) is aggravated by citric acid. I'll overcome this in the coming years, once I chelate the metals out. Until the metals, I happily consumed citrus my entire life.

Re' the specific issue with the mild itchy rash (I had pin-head-sized spots of blood beneath the skin), this was only when eating the outer peel/zest, not related to the more general citric acid sensitivity, above. I would get small patches of this rash on my wrists.

yes, I recall it was your super-successful sister who has the weird intolerance of grapefruit. Still think that's odd, in the way that you described it in our earlier thread. Always something new to learn wherever the human body is concerned, isn't there? :)


BTW, my reasons for eating the pith and skin are that that is where the flavanoids are concentrated (e.g. hesperidin). Also, the pith contains lots of pectin. These flavanoids plus the pectin are superb for the arterial/vascular system (provided one can tolerate them!).

.

[MysticTree]

I have raised dots but not specifically blood. The dots are surrounded by red trails. I wonder whether the skin has been breached, albeit lightly and the zest has got there from my fingers being zesty from juicing.

[Arky]

One way to find out... ;)

[MysticTree]

I am going to wait a while ... then ask bf to juice me 4 oranges for breakfast two days in a row and drink the juice and observe the results. If that shows any kind of result I shall note it. If no result shows then I will try rubbing a tiny amount of zest onto the skin. I will have to wait a week before I can do the first test.