Well, it hasn't been a fun year so far. Between my back problems and this dyshidrosis eczema, I haven't been nearly as active as I would like. Also I think I just plain eat more, when I don't feel good. I'm also more likely to eat off plan when I feel bad, I think it's an instinctual urge.
My dim witted BiL may have actually figured my back problem out. He suggested it was my shoes. I discounted it at first, because the shoes I was wearing to work, I have purchased in November. Then I remembered I wasn't wearing them everyday until middle of January. So I stopped wearing them and my back has been much better.
The hand eczema kept getting worse. The wife was actually bandaging them every night with an antibiotic cream. It seemed to help heal some of the damage, but didn't seem to stop new blisters from forming.
I had a very stressful week before last at work, and my hands got really bad. They hurt all the time. I was having to put of work gloves to do almost anything, even bringing in the groceries. So finally I made an appointment with a dermatologist, for last Monday.
I had to take our Yorkie-Poo into the vet to get spayed early Monday, and I needed to buy something from the store before I returned home. I skipped my regular breakfast and grabbed a couple of bagels at the store.
That entire previous week I had been averaging 15-20 new blisters per hand per day. I got to my appointment and only had about 5 per hand. The dermatologist diagnosed me with dyshidrosis eczema, but she gave me a steroid shot, and prescribed another topical. I explained my diet to her and asked if this was in some way diet related. She assured me it wasn't. I even explained my super low cholesterol, and she said it wasn't related. She did tell me it was an autoimmune disease. Which as most of you know, after you've hung out around here long enough, autoimmune means "can control with diet" for lots of stuff.
That evening my hands seemed better, but by the next morning, any improvement seemed to be lost. I had about 15 new blisters per hand. I decided to do some more research into dyshidrosis eczema, and stumbled onto some information about a nickel allergy.
http://medicalcenter.osu.edu/mediaroom/releases/Pages/Nickel-Food-Allergies.aspxWhen you look up a list of high nickel foods, it reads like a menu of what I eat, oatmeal, beans, chickpeas, brown ice. Sometimes green leafys were listed and sometimes not. Fortunately there seems to be a fix. A low dose Vitamin-C tablet taken with meals can bind with the nickel and allow it to pass through harmlessly.
Since last Wednesday I have not eaten oatmeal, which is pretty much what I've eaten for breakfast for the past 18 months. I've also started taking a 250 mg Vitamin-C with meals. I haven't had a single new blister since! My hands a healing very nicely.
Happy Tuesday all!
by wildgoose » Fri Apr 05, 2013 9:03 pm 
. Have you noticed any signs of water bloating such as swollen ankles or tight shoes? 
