Odd Skin Condition - Need Advice

[JRP193]

I have had this odd skin condition for the past 10 years and I need someone advice on what to do, if someone can relate. I am now 25. I have seen numerous civilian dermatologists over the years and I do not believe my condition has been correctly diagnosed or treated. I even had a biopsy performed recently and the tests were inconclusive. Dermatologists have said it is not psoriasis. My symptoms are:

Very dry, scaly skin patches under my arms, on my inner elbow, my lower back right above my buttocks. The skin can sometimes be red, but is always dry and flaky, and it doesn’t itch or burn. It will burn, however, with certain moisturizing lotions.

Occasionally, the patches will also show up on both of my shoulder blades, right near my belly button, and my pelvis area.

Treatments I have tried are:
 Antifungal cream,
 Stronger antifungal cream,
 Oral Antibacterial,
 Cortisone cream,
 Stronger Cortisone cream,
 Extra strength hydrating lotions.

Some diagnoses I have received are:
 An odd form of eczema and to always keep area extremely moisturized. (Although being in the military, I received a smallpox vaccine prior to being deployed to Iraq. Military doctors concluded that my condition was not eczema. If it were, the smallpox would have reacted with the eczema and broke out terribly on my body.
 My own personal bacteria that will never go away and to always keep areas dry…
 A fungal infection as a result of hockey gear (10 years ago)
 Scar tissue as a result of my fungal infection that should go away over time

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi
Thanks for writing to the forum!
As I see it, you have dry scaly patches on areas that sweat a lot. Hence Sjogren’s syndrome should be looked into especially if you also have associated dry mouth. This is a condition where glands of the body work less causing dry areas.
Hypothyroidism and diabetes too should be looked into. Hypothyroidism is often associated with skin lesions.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!

[caregiver222]

The condition you have is often associated with an insulin utilization syndrome.

This is the easy way to determine if this is the case:

Go on a fast for ten days. You can drink as much liquid as you like but keep the calories way down. Under 500 per day.

If the skin condition disappears, or goes into remission, you have nailed the problem.

Metrformin will often cause such skin conditions to disappear.

Square two is to get a glucose fasting test.

If this works (it may not) you owe me a chocolate egg cream.