hand eczema and irregular menstrual cycle

[housewife28]

I am a 28 year-old woman and for the past year have been suffereing from severe hand eczema and irregular menstrual cycles, neither of which I have had before.  All testing from allergist and ob/gyn have come back normal...no reason for either.  I personally feel there is a link between the two, as in maybe an immune system problem, but cannot seem to get any answers other than more steroid creams for the eczema and regulating drugs for the menstrual cycle.  I'm wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar?  and also, does anyone manage his/her hand eczema without the use of steroid creams (I am using gentle cleansers, avoiding water, wearing cotton gloves, using aquaphor, etc. already).  Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

'Anti-itch drugs, often antihistamine, may reduce the itch during a flare up of eczema, and the reduced scratching in turn reduces damage and irritation to the skin.

They do not cure eczema, but are highly effective in controlling or suppressing symptoms in most cases.

For mild-moderate eczema a weak steroid may be used (e.g. hydrocortisone or desonide), whilst more severe cases require a higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide).

Eczema can be exacerbated by dryness of the skin. Moisturizing is one of the most important self-care treatments for sufferers of eczema. Keeping the affected area moistened can promote skin healing and relief of symptoms.

Light therapy using ultraviolet light can help control eczema. UVA is mostly used, but UVB and Narrow Band UVB are also used. Ultraviolet light exposure carries its own risks, particularly eventual skin cancer from exposure.

The first and primary recommendation is that people suffering from eczema shouldn't use detergents of any kind on their skin unless absolutely necessary.

Dermatological recommendations in choosing a soap generally include:[citation needed]

* Avoid harsh detergents or drying soaps
* Choose a soap that has an oil or fat base; a "superfatted" goat milk soap is best
* Use an unscented soap
* Patch test your soap choice, by using it only on a small area until you are sure of its results
* Use a non-soap based cleanser
* Use plain yogurt instead of soap'

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eczema

Let us know if you need any further information.

Do consult your doctor about this too.

Keep us posted on how you are doing and if you have any other doubts.

Regards.

[lh123]

Hi there,

Your symptoms sound like mine.  I have been suffering with hand eczema for the last 2 years, and have noted that it would flare up around the time of my period, or after eating certain foods like flour-based products, eggs, beef, seafood, etc.  I still haven't had much success with treatment - so far tried acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine (which helped in the past), cortisones, etc. Just found what this condition might be called autoimmune progesterone eczema.  And the description of symptoms sounds like what I am going through. Will try a naturopath after this. And will update you after treatment.  Hope you have found some relief. Please share if you have.

[housewife28]

Hello.  The only relief I found was while I was pregnant with  my daughter.  The eczema completely cleared up for the last 5 months of my pregnancy.  Now she is 6 weeks old and it is just starting to come back (I have those clear watery blisters starting under the skin).  I will update you if I find any relief.  Please let me know if you have had any success.  Good luck.

[FurballsMom]

I agree about the food sensitivities and allergies.  I have had eczema on my hands that would put most peoples' eczema to shame.  I had a severe allergic reaction to latex gloves from when I had a dishwashing job.  The skin on the backs of both hands literally disintegrated.  That wasn't the end of it.  That was years ago, when I was much younger than you are now.

I have also had eczema that was one giant blister on the heel of either hand when it started.  The blister was about an inch in diameter.  I knew not to pop the things, but they eventually did this on their own.  It's rather difficult for this to not happen, since the heel of the hand is on the palm side of the hand.  Even if I tried to avoid certain things, it was impossible for me to keep my hands completely still.  Oh, and by the way, those blisters were so big that they interferred when I had to write and sign my name.

I discovered that I am allergic to petroleum based products.  Guess what your commercial detergents are made of?  And, they're things that the doctor mentioned above to avoid.

Getting back to food sensitivities.  Check it out.  Most of us have food sensitivities and allergies that we're unaware of.  Do some research about the basic elimination diet.  It will really help you narrow down which foods you could be sensitive to.  I just read an excellent article on mercola.com that you really should investigate.  You don't have to subscribe to read this great article either.  Go to mercola.com to find the latest newsletter.  Find the article called "How Yeast Wreaks Havoc on Your Life (Health) and How to Address it".  This is vital information for just about everyone I know.  It was mentioned that up to 75% of women have this Candidas and don't know about it.  It affects men, too.  Candidas is linked to many common illnesses, including food sensitivities and allergies.  Untreated Candidas leads to serious illnesses.  Conventional medicine doesn't really know how to deal with Candidas.  Check this out, you'll be glad that you did.

There are many more natural personal care products that will certainly help with the hand eczema, because your hands won't be exposed to the irritants that cause the problem nearly so much.  Trust me, changing your shampoo and conditioner will really help.  Earth Science and Jason both make natural fragrance free shampoos and conditioners.  They are not harsh and drying, which really helps your hands, too.

Changing your laundry products will also help.  If you have eczema on your hands, chances are the rest of your skin is affected by the products you use, too.  Seventh Generation makes a natural laundry soap.  There are a couple of others that you can find at your natural grocery stores.

A very big one to change, though, is your dish liquid.  Stop using the commercial petroleum based detergents.  They aren't even soap!  Seventh Generation is an excellent dish liquid.  Don't worry about the lack of suds compared to your commercial products.  Your dishes will still be plenty clean enough.  There is a reason for this with all natural products, including your shampoos.  They don't contain the well-known carcinogen sodium lauryl (laureth) sulfate (SLS) or any of its derivatives.  Manufacturers add this to their products to create an unnatural lather that we're all programmed to believe is normal and necessary.  It's not.  SLS is harsh on the skin and very drying and should be avoided for this reason alone.  I found an excellent type of hand soap that is made from vegetable glycerin (there's your fat) and doesn't irritate the skin.  It has a wide variety of choices.  I use the one that has no added fragrances and is just called "natural", because I don't do well with any scents, including the natural ones.  The company is called Sappo Hill.  The soap cakes are round.  I found that candle bases for pillar candles work great as soap dishes for this differently shaped soap.  I found the one I'm using now that someone was getting rid of.  It's made of pottery, too.  They have two varieties of soaps made with different grades of oatmeal.  This, too, could prove helpful to you, because oatmeal is supposed to be soothing for the skin.  I don't use the oatmeal ones, because I'm gluten intolerant.  Whatever you use on your skin (largest organ for your body) still enters your blood stream.  But, the finely milled oatmeal variety might work well for your eczema, too.  The natural one is the most neutral one, though, that I have found.  You'll love the price of the Sappo Hill soaps, too.  They are so affordable that there is no excuse for even the sickest and most sensitive person to go without bathing and remaining clean.

Watch out, because SLS is also in your toothpaste.  There are natural toothpastes that don't contain any SLS.  You have to watch out even with the natural ones and read the ingredients to make sure they don't sneak SLS into an otherwise acceptable product.  One brand that doesn't have this is called Waleda.  It's a company in Germany.  They even have a variety of toothpaste that has a natural pink color, due to the herb that makes it that color.

Another big help is to actually go without using ANY soap that isn't absolutely necessary.  Well, this works out great for my dry skin and hair.  You can actually get in the shower and massage your scalp without using any shampoo or conditioner at all.  This will actually help even if your hair is oily by nature.  You're still removing the excess oil and dirt, but without torturing your skin.  This is really great for people with dry scalp and hair, because it will stimulate the scalp into producing the oils necessary for the skin and hair, because you're not stripping your scalp and hair either.

Again, this isn't your hands, but you're keeping your hands out of harm's way by doing these change overs.  I speak from experience.

Also, find a good body lotion or cream that you can use on your hands, too, that isn't petroleum based.

The cleansers that the doctor was talking about that have no detergent or soap base can also be found at the natural markets.  Earth Science makes an excellent line of affordable products.  They have cleansers and moisturizers for the face that are even fragrance free.  I have Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS) and I'm not experiencing problems with this line.  The same may not be true of every person with MCS for every product.  I learned that the hard way when I had a severe reaction to face moisturizing cream made by Jason that burned my skin.  It's natural, but it's not fragrance free.  It clearly has herbs in it that I am very allergic to.  On the other hand, I know someone with MCS who can use this one without any problems whatsoever.  Now, you know why I go for fragrance free even with the natural products, though.

I haven't had any hand eczema since I made these changes in my environment and checked for food sensitivities.  And, I have had it very severely, as you read in my descriptions.