Saturday 23 January 2016

32 Months TSW

Hi everyone,

How the time flies! It has been roughly 3 years since I set up this blog in order to spread awareness of severe eczema, then learning of steroid induced eczema or 'Red Skin Syndrome' and in this time I have had a staggering 330,000 blog views. Your kind emails and comments also mean the world to me as I am humbled to learn that my blog has achieved it's aim of spreading awareness and showing people that they are not alone in this. I am truly grateful for the opportunities that have been opened up to me and for those of you who share your own experiences with me to show that I am not alone.

Thank you.

In other news sorry I have been AWOL recently. I work full time now and find it hard to find the time and energy to write on here. But I am still here! Although something scary happened on Christmas day morning. My Google account was 'hacked'. 2 weeks of trying to get hold of Google later, to discover that Google had just decided to change my email address, thus locking me out of my whole account. Cheers Google! Never mind... It's all resolved now!

I bet you're all dying to know how my skin is? Well it still isn't exactly great. My face, neck and arms have recently flared and I think the trigger is stress related. I mentioned that I'm now working full time - it's still within the same company but it's in a different department and I'm learning a hell of a lot. There's only 2 of us in the department and my colleague had a week off after Christmas which was probably the worst time for her to disappear. Needless to say I struggled immensely, and hence the result is that my skin is a bit of a mess. But that was weeks ago now, I hear you cry. Yes it was weeks ago but now that I no longer have the adequate time to heal (read; laze around and do nothing), it's going to take a little bit of time. It is however slightly better today than it was though.


Rashy, dry and wrinkly!


Yes my brows need sorting. But I have some!! & I'm also noticing more baby hairs on my head :)


Splits on my eye lid creases





I am now officially vegan. Shane and I have seen the light and don't want to consume any more dairy - I stopped eating meat months ago. We even enjoyed a vegan Christmas, at both of our parent's houses and it was glorious.

My next step is to try to incorporate more raw fruits and vegetables into my diet, but it is hard to think meal-wise what I can eat for lunch at work. I work from 7am so am hardly in the mood to make meals for work. I've been enjoying the night before's left overs or pitta breads and hummus with tomatoes and spinach but I want to try to get away from bread and consume more vegetables instead.

I've been snacking on fruits - kiwis, blueberries, bananas, oranges and apples but find they don't sustain me for long. I can't take huge portions of these things either because I don't have much time to eat them and we're forbidden to eat at our desks so that's a bummer. I would take salads but the prep thing is the only thing holding me back - I haven't actually tried it but I imagine it wouldn't taste so fresh making it the night before? I don't know.

Breakfast is usually a variation of overnight oats or smoothies so I'm definitely getting my quota of fruits in there. I just need more during the day. Also considering probiotics now. Something I've been thinking  I'd try for ages but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for them. Does anyone have suggestions of good but cheap ones?


17 comments :

  1. Thanks for the update Jenny!
    Are you still taking cyclosporine?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good day Jenny!My name is Yolande and I am from SA.I have been struggling with eczema for 11 years now.I recently found a product manufactured in Cape Town.It is made of goats milk and it really works:-)I have tried all steriods;ie prednisone,lenovate and the effective one Dovate,you need just a little dash if you have a flareup.Also flareups happen in stages.Becareful what you eat!Not too much diary,dont cut it out completely.Try and eat more fish,chicken fillets,tuna and veggies.Do not eat tomatoes!This could be a trigger.

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  2. jenny, i think probiotics is a good idea. its possible to make live sauerkraut which would contain good bacteria and would be cheap and vegan. my eczema's driving me mad at the moment, i mixed some clove oil in olive oil rubbed it in and i'm sure it helped a bit but im fed up with applying emollients and oils. i just found this page on the internet regarding sauerkraut and eczema, might help some people:https://mrheisenbug.wordpress.com/2014/01/27/l-plantarum-cured-my-eczema/
    Take care

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for great information you write it very clean. I am very lucky to get this tips from you.

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  4. I feel so sorry for you. I have this thing with skin too. Did you try solcoseryl cream?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I didn't know that stress can be a factor for eczema. I know quite a few people with eczema and there are so many different treatment options. My little brother had it when he was really little and was able to get rid of it before it ever got worse. The road to treatment is a long one for some people. It is a good thing that you have a doctor to help you out. http://www.drtoome.com/medical-dermatology-vineland/medical-conditions/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hi Jenny before you jump to probiotics. I might have something you'd be interested in trying first. http://www.juiceplus.com/+jk14430

    ReplyDelete
  7. I tried prebiotics / probiotics ( you can see my review of prebiotics on my blog myeczematales.com). Didn't see the impact on my skin straight away, nothing which told me these heal my skin but if you suffer from any digestive issues or IBS prebiotics helped me a lot! I believe my internal state is linked to my skin so I started to notice that I had negative digestive symptoms such as stomach gurgling after foods, uncomfortable bloating and so forth. I used Molasken vitality and I don't think it's too much for how long it lasts. It helped me to feel more at ease digestive wise. I don't eliminate any foods I just reduce my gluten and dairy intake and with the prebiotics I think it works well?

    For skin I don't know, it really depends on whether you want to heal your digestive tract and just feel a bit "smoother" if that makes sense!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your blog made me realize I had eczema. I never went to the doctor about my painful skin until a few weeks ago, when a particularly bad outbreak made my eyes swell shut and the skin on my face peel off. I was googling for answers and found your page, and something clicked.
    So I wanted to thank you, your openers about your condition definitely helps other people

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dear Kiri.How is your eczema doing?Hopefully the doctor didn't give uou any cortizone to use...too much will damage your skin.Goats milk soap and cream could help you....if you require more information you may contact me:yolande@toplaw.co.za.

      Delete
  9. Hi Jenny, I've spent a while reading your blog now and think it's great how you manage to write about your experience with Eczema in the way that you do, keep it up! I am also an eczema sufferer. Have been all of my life and have used steroids and Protopic at various points. I have now stopped using any of those creams and have been 'clean' for 7 months or so now. I have also been looking into the link between diet, digestion and my skin. I am convinced that my eczema fluctuates with the state of my internal health and has a lot to do with my diet. I suffered for my whole life with IBS, although I only recently discovered this diagnosis and so I have spent the last year and a half trying to get to grips with it. This is now thankfullly under control, which has been down to changes in diet and some supplements. I also keep a very strict food diary that I use to track everything I eat and the condition of my skin. Something I have noticed is that certain foods will trigger my eczema but sometimes this can be delayed by up to 3 days. Suffice to say, my skin has vastly improved in the last 6 months, I was at a point where I was unable to sleep for most nights, kept awake by the incessant urge to itch. I had eczema in all of the usual places, face, neck, elbows, behind the knees, ears, hands, even inside my ears! That was a dark time. So I suppose, all I wanted to say was, it might be worth really looking into your diet and your gut health because I think there is a strong link there, but then again eczema is different for every person. Oh, also, I take ecodophilus probiotics every day and they seem to be really good. I take these ones because I did a test that told me that I lack 2 particular strains of probiotic in my gut, so this probiotic contains the 2 I needed. Anyway, I wish you luck with your TSW and keep up the good fight! Jimmy

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  11. Probiotics are definitely the way to go because your gut is your first line of immunological defense. I use the Align brand which cost about $34-40 per month, then I take it every 2-3 days because I know that is how often gut microflora needs to replenish. I had tried prebiotics like making my own kefir, kombucha, yogurt and sauerkraut but I think if your gut is inflamed or doesn't have a good probiotic base, it just gives you gas and you struggle with digestion. Also having sufficient D3 and B12 is key as these will likely have become depleted either with a poor diet OR because of an over stressed gut/digestion/bowel. Additionally, doing yoga helped with my gut as did clockwise adominal massage following a hot castor oil pack, to keep things moving smoothly. I also took psyllium fibre and slippery elm bark powder dissolved in liquid. I think gut health is the key to a lot of these inflammatory conditions. It's too bad we couldn't coordinate enough people with similar conditions to follow the same standardized treatment protocol for a month to see if the differences are significant

    ReplyDelete
  12. Probiotics are definitely the way to go because your gut is your first line of immunological defense. I use the Align brand which cost about $34-40 per month, then I take it every 2-3 days because I know that is how often gut microflora needs to replenish. I had tried prebiotics like making my own kefir, kombucha, yogurt and sauerkraut but I think if your gut is inflamed or doesn't have a good probiotic base, it just gives you gas and you struggle with digestion. Also having sufficient D3 and B12 is key as these will likely have become depleted either with a poor diet OR because of an over stressed gut/digestion/bowel. Additionally, doing yoga helped with my gut as did clockwise adominal massage following a hot castor oil pack, to keep things moving smoothly. I also took psyllium fibre and slippery elm bark powder dissolved in liquid. I think gut health is the key to a lot of these inflammatory conditions. It's too bad we couldn't coordinate enough people with similar conditions to follow the same standardized treatment protocol for a month to see if the differences are significant

    ReplyDelete