Slimming World & Eczema

[Trefoil]

Hello All,

Bit of a weird one really!

Started with Eczema in November last year- for which I got referred to dermatology and got nearly 400 types of creams and horrible shampoo that smells like Alcoholic Handrub

Almost all of it went away after Christmas and I was well chuffed! (I left SW post-xmas)

Now its come back?!?!?! Really sore and bright red- anyone else had anything like this when on a healthy eating plan or when changing their eating habits?!?

Having a really good first week! Feeling excellent and looking forward to WI on Monday!!!!!

Ruth
x

 

[fillymum]

No, no experience of anything strange but DH suffers from really bad psoriasis which is aggravated by things like coke a cola, alcohol and some foods.

Have you been offered an allergy test?

 

[Trefoil]

Hi fillymum,

By the way- hope your horses are doing ok

When I went to dermatology in January I got offered patch tests and they said they'd refer me. Im still waiting but rang them up about 3 weeks ago to be told im in the next batch of patch tests.
I had general pinprick tests in September last year as I have sinusitis and they thought that it could be allergy based but they all came back negative.
I had cows milk, dogs, cats, 2 types of mould, a type of flower, 2 types of trees and a couple of others.

The Eczema appeared when I first starting doing SW so I think its something im eating! Im not sure whether its to do with an uptake of Fruit & Veg or Eggs?! I can't think of anything else really.

I haven't had alcohol at all- I don't really drink, and im drinking 2ltr bottles of Fizzy Water as my main liquids. Before SW I loved coca cola but ive given it up for good now as I want to keep my teeth!!

Strange!!!

Ruth
x

 

[maclynn]

hi, i've really bad psorasis, mine isn't food related(according to the spec) but it has flared up realy bad lately, i am trying to let as much air to my skin as poss as the mo. Seeing the nurse on tues, who's going change my treatment. The only thing i would suggest is go back for some more creams as they do help. Hope you get it sorted soon

 

[LornaGrace]

Hi Ruth. I have had eczema for around 3 years, having a bad breakout around once a month. The docter referred me to the hospital, i had all the various tests done, and the hospital were still non the wiser, so i kept it under controle with cream and tried to not fret about it too much.
Since starting SW a week after christmas, i havn't have one break out of it at all, so im thinking its also food related. mine seems to be the opposite of your experience! lol.
since SW iv had hardly any dairy apart from my allowance, and before every day i was having lots of chesse, and plenty of milk. in my case i think it was dairy, im hoping that now (i think) iv found the trigger that i can controle it without creams!
Sorry to ramble on! Hope it gets better for you soon. xxx

 

[Trefoil]

Hi All,

Thanks for advice and suggestions!

My letter has just come through for Dermatology Patch Testing (phew!!!) so hopeully will get everything sorted! Ive worked out when my Eczema is really noticeable and its in the morning when I have my breakfast and I always have milk with my breakfast so maybe Ill cut it out for good! I used to drink lactofree but that has dairy in it- I think ill just cut it out full stop

Thanks

Ruth
x

 

[*EB*]

Is it stress related? perhaps the stress of SW is bringing you out worse???

It seems odd that you stopped SW, it went away - then you restart and you get a flare up.

Again, it could be diet related?? are you eating more of a certain foodgroup than you were off plan?

x

 

[Lucky7]

The Tesco and Sainsbury Own brands of Sweetened Soya Milk are well worth a try if you want something to put on cereal / in tea that isn't dairy. (Not much use for coffee as it curdles).

 

[debbief]

hiya
try taking omega 3s (fish oils are the best)- a lot of skin disorders are because of lack of essential fatty acids. also, make sure youre getting enough vitamins, maybe take a good multi vitamin? obviously check with your GP first!
good luck, I hope you get it sorted soon. x

 

[Trefoil]

Lucky7 Thanks very much! Don't have a Tesco but will get some Soya from Sainsbury's

Ellebear as far as food groups go im a huge lover of cheese/ice cream/yogurt etc basically dairy but I haven't eaten cheese since I started the plan 8 days ago and ive only eaten muller light yogurts and calippo ice lollies/v low fat ice cream. So surely that should be a good thing. However, last year I was told to give up Dairy and any foods with high amounts of Additives/preservatives which I did and it made me ill so I stopped it. I was shaky, dizzy, sick and had to go to bed! But that was because of allergy-based suspicions. I've had a pinprick test for cows milk which came back negative.
The main part of my eczema is on my right arm at the elbow joint which is where I had my pinprick tests last October/November- could this have anything to do with it? I don't think it does because I also have it on my nose, on my lip, on my legs and in my hair

This sounds utterly ridiculous but the main thing that has changed is the amount of fruit & Veg that I eat! So it makes me wonder whether its fructose or any other sugar things that are found in those foods. I also eat more pasta but Ive always eaten pasta
SW does stress me out a lot because im in my first week and im struggling which is ridiculous! Im so conscious about my weight at work that maybe its stressing me out a bit too much but im usually stressed and worried about my weight so its nothing unusual.

debbief- Thanks will take some multivitamins. I eat oranges etc and have a good immune system (no colds flu sickness etc for ages) but will start taking them. Ill pop to my GP to make sure its ok first.

I do have a serious latex allergy but I don't think that this is linked as ive had the latex allergy since my early teens and my eczema only flared up last year.

The patch tests are testing my cosmetics and other fabric/soap items- not food unfortunately!!!!

Sorry for the long message!!!!

Thanks

Ruth

 

[bevhunter1986]

Hi Ruth

I have to agree! Mine has got worse but it is coz I have been eatin huge amounts of veg and fruit more than ever before.

My doc said it might never ever go, you can only try and control it. My baby boy had a bath emoillent and that worked wonders for him. In the interim between applying steroid creams, he was given a huge tub of acqeous cream which soothes the dry skin.

My hands r so dry and flaky that most days they bleed, but acqeous cream is helping. My doc yesterday said EVERY time you wash your hands cover them in acqeous cream in between using the sterios creams twice a day.

You've prob heard that before, and I wasnt feelin positive, but my baby boy doesnt have any now x

 

[Trefoil]

Ive just found out something quite interesting...

I was talking to a personal trainer where I work yesterday and I had a polo tshirt on.
She said oooo whats that on your arm pointing to my eczema. I told her and she'd asked what Id eaten,
2 boiled eggs, 2 apples, fruit salad, rice and veg. She told me that apples and eggs bring a flare up of eczema and that one of her clients sons had been told this, he'd cut them out and now has no eczema or very little.
I stopped eating eggs and watched what I ate. I didn't eat another apple until last night and my arm was bright red within half an hour itchy as hell!

Interesting...

Ruth
x

 

[bevhunter1986]

Well I never knew that, how odd! I dont eat apples and very rarely eat eggs too. Mine seems to have settled now though, constantly moisturise the doc said to me, and that seems to be helping my hands x

 

[Kankles]

I get eczema on my elbows and sometimes my eyelids of all places. I use a cream called Eumovate which you can get on prescription or buy over the counter.

For me stress is the trigger. If I am worked up and have a lot of stress in work it flares up really bad to the point where my elbows bleed, but 2 days if using the cream and it calms down again.

I just need a stress free island, with no hassle, no worries and mine would be sorted! X

 

[bevhunter1986]

I just need a stress free island, with no hassle, no worries and mine would be sorted! X

Love the stress free island Kankles We all need that wen times r difficult xx

 

[Lumps]

Hi, I was thinking dairy too. That and sugar are the things that you will def be eating less of on SW. I have eczema too but it's always been quite mild and usually I just control it with moisturiser. I use Body Shop Shea butter. It's not cheap but works really well, and works better than the moisturiser my doctor prescribed me!

 

[Kankles]

Love the stress free island Kankles We all need that wen times r difficult xx

Oh I know, I'd be there in a shot right now! Seclusion, peace & quiet.....just what the eczema ordered!!!!! X x

 

[dudette2001uk]

Hiya hun! Could it be that you need some more Omega 3, 6 and 9? They're important for oil production by the skin, which would help to moisturise the skin naturally. SW is quite a low-fat plan, so it may be that you're not taking in enough of the essential fatty acids.

You said you have a serious latex allergy...I looked up foods to avoid on the internet:

Food to Avoid

Some foods to avoid may cause an allergic reaction even though they don't contain latex because the body confuses the proteins in certain foods with the proteins found in latex, according to the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Foods to avoid if you have a latex allergy include: banana, potato, kiwi, aubergine, avocado, fig, papaya, pineapple, peach, cherry, plum, strawberry, melon, nectarine, grapes, tomato, celery, wheat, rye, hazelnut and chestnut, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

It seems like there's a lot of fruit in the list...maybe the extra fruit and veg you're eating on SW is causing a reaction which is manifesting itself as eczema, which is a common symptom of food allergies?

I've had eczema since I was a baby, which used to be really bad when I was in school and university, but has pretty much cleared up since leaving uni. A lot of mine was stress-related in my teens, and I still flare up now if I'm very stressed out. My doctor prescribed me with Diprobase (pretty much an emollient) and Diprosalic steroidal cream for if it gets really bad. I only ever use the Diprobase now as it clears any flare ups quickly, so that I don't need to use the Diprosalic.

I digress however...what I was going to say was that when I was young they wouldn't give me my MMR jab until I was 9 because I had eczema. It was grown on eggs, so they wouldn't give it to me as they suspected I had an intolerance or an allergy to eggs. There's a lot of studies that link an egg allergy/intolerence to eczema flare ups. It might be worth cutting out eggs to see if that's one factor causing the problem. It seems you had a reaction to apples...maybe try cutting them out completely, then re-introducing them on their own to see if that's causing a problem?

I hope you get it sorted hun, having eczema can be really miserable xxx

 

[Trefoil]

Wow Id never looked at those and I eat tonnes of them- lots of pineapple for my indigestion and things and they ruin me!!!

Bananas, Kiwis, Tomatoes, Pineapples and Strawberries cut the inside of my mouth and potatoes and avocados bloat me outwards! I eat A LOT of celery! Goodness me!
Thank you so much for this- I havent eaten eggs since and I get enough protein anyway I haven't had an apple since yesterday but my eczema is still there and ive had 3 plums, 2 kiwis some pineapple, onions, tomatoes and celery eek Ive got melon and grapes with me today at work too!

I will mention this to the dermatologists when I see them in May

Thanks again!

Ruth
x

 

[now-or-never]

hi i suffer from excema/psoriosis they can never decide lol, anyhow im a student nurse currently on a theatre placement and a surgeon recommended epaderm ointment which is an intensive moisturiser they use for their burns patients. I get free prescriptions but paid £10.08p as i couldnt get in the docs and within THREE days i have seen a massive difference !