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‘Up Close…’ is a new section where the personal experiences of Health Users are shared in their own words.

Warning - Please read the following (in addition to the disclaimer at the bottom of the page):
The views and feelings contained within this ‘Up Close….’ section are the thoughts and experiences of individuals who may not have any medical training. These are not the views of the Health of Men Healthy Living Initiative. They are not recommendations and we do not necessarily endorse any content. If you have any problems, queries, concerns or symptoms please consult with a Health professional.

ECZEMA

Background:

I am a 35year old male of Mancunian extraction who has resided in West Yorkshire for the last 10 years. I’ve had Atopic Eczema since childhood - at first just behind the knees and ears nothing major then the changes of my teenage years made it more severe. The doctors said I’d grow out of it but after 14 it would increasingly flare up. It’s possible my catching glandular fever around the age of 14 could have been a contributory factor. The result was a couple of hospital stays as a teenager wrapped in bandages and also recently three years ago. My Eczema comes and goes but is made worse by stress/lack of sleep and the occasional beer. In essence it’s skin that frequently bleeds and an itch which can be a bleeding nuisance to all concerned. Every morning and evening I apply creams as faithfully as monks say prayers.

I’m sure my body has personally made a fortune for Glaxo PLC. Every few days I apply cortisone ointment/scalp lotion and I like to have it on hand just in case the skin flares up. The advantage of this drug is for a few days it quickly suppresses the red rash. The downside is that it can thin the skin with prolonged use, and you will need higher and higher strengths to keep getting the same effect. So all in all I’ve been rather keen to wean myself off the stuff.

The rest of my ‘oily’ pharmacy is as follows; Emulsifying ointment as a substitute for soap, Hydrous ointment to moisturise after a wash/bath, a shampoo with Sulphor in it and Aveeno an oat-based oil for my bath. I try and apply the hydrous ointment as much as I can and as a result frequently resemble a channel swimmer (but without the goggles). I’ve used most of the above for at least ten years and I’m comfortable with them. But one day I vowed I’d try an ‘Alternative’ green approach to get me off the steroid creams and improve my skin.




New Regime:

I started a new office job which I enjoy! This coincides with reading ‘Radical Healing’ by Rudolph Ballentine of Himalayan Institute New York – excellent. Very good at relating the medical systems of Chinese and Aryuvedic medicine to western medical terms and also makes a good case for Homeopathy. Also ‘The PH diet’ by Robert O Young & Shelley Redford Young, which is rather evangelical in a Californian way about eating as much alkaline food as possible in a diet – hence the need for loads of veggies! Between them they gave me lots of ideas about seriously trying alternative approaches to restoring health, focussing primarily on diet and homeopathy. I vow to try the new ideas for a month to prove to myself if there is something in them or not. But I worry about the expense for the first time of buying organic food and diet supplements



DIARY - 2004

July – 1st week

I remembered an author I’d read ages ago Jan de Vries saying sleep can be a problem for people with eczema (and to be honest mine is getting a bit hit and miss). So I go to Boots and buy herbal sleeping pills (with Valerian, Hops, Lemon Balm extract). It seems to work although after a few days my body gets used to them and the effect wears off. However a chance visit to Superdrug results in me spotting Dr Stuart’s Valerian Tea with a similar set of ingredients. I take this instead and feel the benefit.

To make sure I don’t waste away or miss out on any important minerals/vitamins whilst on my new regime I buy a complete multi-vitamin pill (one a day) and Echinacea capsules (6 a day) – the latter good for the immune system I’m told.

The big test!! How expensive would it all be? Wallet at ready I visit a local supermarket’s organic section (yikes, expensive!) then Tescos (a tad better) but I can only afford about half the items labelled organic. However as some of this diet will be eaten raw I reason its necessary to have at least some organic. Also I realise this initial shopping would be the most expensive - I need to stock up on spices and herbs to make the ‘green-regime’ palatable.


2nd week July

Still feel I’m on the right track - For the first time in a while I go a whole week without steroids creams on my skin! Still feeling positive I buy a cheap Juicer. My idea is that when not involved in the clockwork of work and travel I might have the energy and inclination to do a detox at weekends – I’ll try ‘Juicing’ and drinking plenty of hot water. A lot of the books I read say the skin may be helped when the liver/kidney/bowels are in better condition, so again I feel it’s logical. I vow to be quite hardcore and try juicing an unappetising sounding ‘Cabbage, Pear and Celery’ drink, especially renowned for flushing out the system. In essence what I’ll do at weekends is a mild version of a mini-fast. The theory goes that when the body is not involved in ‘processing’ new foods it can turn its resources to eliminating rubbish. As a side benefit I might lose weight (but no doubt my sanity and friends?).

I’m also not eating any sugar - this will include limiting the amount of fruit I eat just for the next two/three weeks. The reason here is that ‘The PH Diet’ says that although packed with vits/minerals, fruit contains sugars which form acid and the aim of this diet is to consume alkaline friendly foods. I’m also drinking more and as a consequence eating less.

I’ve started taking Sulphor, a homeopathic remedy recommended by Rudolph Ballentine – in tiny pilule form. I start at 30c, don’t notice anything different after five days so change it to 200c. The strange thing is, Homeopathic doses as high as 200 c strength are diluted so much a scientist would say they have no active ingredient left at all – all that’s effectively left is a sugary pill! Homeopathy claims however that the dilution makes the medicine somehow more potent. I’ll try and communicate the Homeopathic theories of how this works another time!

I end the week feeling pretty healthy. Credit card/wallet and cheque in hand I buy cookery books, a juicer book and root out an old stir fry tome – I brace myself for the battle to come.


3rd week July

The toughest week yet – I’m lacking energy, have a mild headache by the end of each day and my eczema (now that it’s not being suppressed with cortisone) is making a bigger comeback than old Frank Sinatra. Also suitable Vegan recipes are proving a pain to acquire – I realise I need more variety and the occasional ‘treat’ to keep my interest from dipping. Semi-cheating I buy a carton of ‘Rice Dream’ at lunchtime – it’s a milk made from brown rice and has a sweet taste I love.

So many of the ingredients I’m cooking with now are straight substitutes. The main ones are Soya milk for dairy milk, Brown rice for white, and lots of green vegetables for just about everything else! I’ve knocked off bread (because of the yeast in it which is supposed to be particularly acid forming). I do miss not having something to dip into my soup! What I’m eating now is basically a Vegan diet as there are no dairy product or eggs in it. Of course I’ve cut out the ‘Devils Own’ of sugar, tea, coffee and am drinking hot water or herbal tea instead.

By the end of this week I’ve held firm to the detox, but have had to compromise by applying a little cortisone cream at night. Immediately I put it on my body calms down. I decide to be sensible about weaning off this drug which I’ve taken for so many years and book a date next week at my doctor’s to get 2 or 3 decreasing strengths of cortisone cream. The plan is to steadily decrease the strengths of the cream until I gradually come off it. The plus side is I’m definitely feeling a bit physically lighter with my diet - trousers are a bit easier to put on!


4th week – July

I go along to a consultation with a Natural Medicine practitioner. When I walk in he says, 'Do you know there are 13 energy types'. (yipes - scary). I look a mite non-plussed so he explains he was just reading a book on the subject before I walked in. He looks a bit like a shaman in sandals to me behind a big mahogany desk. I answer a series of questions from him about my life-story in relation to the eczema. He also asks such questions as 'do you like the colour red?', 'are you a particularly organised person?' 'any recurring dreams?', ‘do you prefer any foods?'. After he deliberates for a bit he explains that my skin condition is probably hereditary and that it would react favourably to being treated by both Acupuncture and Homeopathy. Apparently these treatments free long-standing blockages in the energy body. He also thought that continuing my diet was a very good idea, probably contributing as much as third of the cure.

I’ll make 3 appointments for Acupuncture in September to see if this therapy improves my health – if I find this is not enough I vow to be referred to a Homeopathist. (The practitioner said it’s important to do each separately as otherwise you will not know which you are getting the actual benefit from).


SUMMARY

It's been an interesting four weeks. So what have I learnt?


Diet

A vegetable (almost Vegan) diet is a good idea. I believe it will pay dividends in the long-run. It took me a couple of weeks to get into it and get past the usual food cravings. To be workable you've got to enjoy your time in the kitchen preparing food.

When lazyitus struck it helped me to cook in a large pan/pot and freeze portions for use later in the week.

The whole experience was expensive. This might be because I’m buying substitutes for common allergens such as egg, cows milk and wheat. I sought out organic to avoid the effects of pesticides and chemicals in the soil but have tried not to get hung up about it if I can’t buy them – I reasoned any kind of vegetable in the diet to eat is better than none. In reality I could afford only about half my veg organic, and I frequently used ordinary tins of chick peas, butter beans, tomatoes, sweetcorn.

Once my palette ‘detoxed’ from sugar and salt the flavours really do come through in what were to me hitherto to me rather ‘boring’vegetables. No more daddies sauce or ketchup?



Homeopathy and Acupuncture

An obvious one really; Homeopathy needs careful diagnosis to discover the remedy that closely matches the individual symptoms you exhibit. My 'do-it-myself' prescribing was not a success and I've stopped taking the Sulphor 200 c. Of course it's possible that my cortisoid cream confused signs of healing, but I’m not really sure. Although I’m informed there are no‘side-effects’ with Homeopathy, in future I'll pursue this avenue with the advice of a qualified practitioner!

Generally speaking all alternative therapies, whether massage or Homeopathy are expensive. My phoning around showed you can pay anything from £25-35 for a single session of Acupuncture. (It’s vital to check up that your practitioner has the necessary qualifications)

I found it helpful and motivational to read a little beforehand on the theory of the therapies I tried. A book by Rudolph Ballentine finally convinced me there was a lot more to Homeopathy than I’d realised.

Finally with regard to Acupuncture I did try it for 7/8 months a few years ago and found it relaxing, so I’m already past my initial scepticism over this one. I’ve since read up on the Chinese system of medicine behind it. I would like to try Shiatsu as it’s a ‘hands on’ massage which apparently makes use of the same meridians and maps of the body’s energy as Acupuncture.

- - - - - - - -

…In summary I hope this short ‘Diary’has given an insight into ‘alternative’ methods to improving Eczema. I personally had practically tried all the other recommendations of conventional doctors before I started to take the above seriously. My advice is - Give it a go full on and see if it works otherwise we’ll all be debating this for ever! The proof is in the pudding (although I definitely do miss my pudding). But my health has improved with the diet. I will keep doing this for another couple of months and reassess things then. To have a life free from aggravating Eczema would be as they say in the advert a ‘refreshing change’! - for one thing I could get back to regularly doing sport and not breaking off every now and then when the Eczema gets too bad.