Hello Everyone!
It has been a few days since I lasted made a post about the Keratosis Pilaris finding and also my thoughts about it & Cholinergic Urticaria. So I thought I would give a quick update on things regarding all of this since the last post.
The Eczema on My Skin Is Almost Completely Gone:
First, I want to talk about the diet thing briefly. As I have mentioned numerous times before, I have noticed that when I remove certain foods from my diet, my skin and overall health improves. So far, I have not been able to completely remove CU by diet, but I have been able to clear my skin of any eczema.
I recently made a post about eczema bumps on my finger . The bumps were itchy and developed after eating a lot of wheat and junk food (no milk). So I decided I better back off for a while and eat more healthy. I cut out all wheat/gluten, and basically all junk food & highly processed stuff. As of today, these bumps are 99.9% GONE! I can only see a very small trace, and they are very dry and going away fast. So I expect in a couple of days they will be gone completely. My stomach is also once again much better.
Basically I have been eating a lot of lean chicken, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, gluten free salsa chips, chili w/brown rice, and more. It is all gluten and milk free.
Update on My Keratosis Pilaris Treatment:
I also realized in my last post that I had the “chicken skin” condition called Keratosis Pilaris. Basically, it just causes a few bumps on the back of the arms, sometimes the upper thighs, back, cheeks, etc. I mostly have it on the back of my arms, although I suspect I have it a little on my back & upper thighs as well. Mine is not very noticeable at all unless you really focus your eyes on it and look at it.
In an attempt to treat the small bumps (but mostly to see if it helps the cholinergic urticaria), I decided to start a cycle of intense scrubbing with a sponge in the shower, exfoliating body wash with a loofa, and then adding normal body lotion to help keep the skin moisturized. I have been doing this for a while now, and I thought I would share the results, so here they are:
- First, I still have the Keratosis Pilaris spots. I have scrubbed them quite a bit in the shower with a very stiff sponge thingy that feels kinda like sandpaper. So far, I have not really noticed them getting any smaller. They may look a little better, but it is hard to notice any difference, and they are still there.
- The cholinergic urticaria (heat hives) has not been quite as intense lately, but I still have reactions on occasion. I am not sure if it is from the diet, skin scrubbing, just a coincidence, or what.
- I can say that overall my skin feels better. Now that I have been adding lotion and really scrubbing it, it feels more smooth and comfortable. But again, I still have CU at this point, so I can’t get too excited.
So that is what has been going on recently after finding all of this out and making an attempt to alter my diet and scrub my skin better. Some mixed results, and I still have CU.
According to the thread I started on the cholinergic urticaria forum on this topic, it seems as if many of the CU people on here have also noticed they may have this skin condition. This is very interesting. I am unsure if the two are related, or if they just happen side-by-side as symptoms. I still think there could be a strong possibility of some sort of genetic issue which causes our keratin to be produced to an excessive amount which could clog our pores or something. But I still have no idea.
One factor that I really hope to experiment with is sun exposure. Most articles i read on Kertosis Pilaris said that the sun seems to help this condition, and as most of us know, it also seems to help CU. So perhaps I can kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak (unless of course there is really only 1 “bird” causing 2 symptoms).
Spring & Summer Are Coming Soon
March 21 marks the beginning of Spring here in the U.S., and I can’t wait. I especially can’t wait until June 21 for summer to arrive. I really look forward to getting some sunshine and hopefully sweating again. I feel like a zombie during winter sometimes, as it is so hard to get some sun. Even though it will be Spring here in a few weeks, it really doesn’t get warm until late April/May.
I also have very high hopes about getting a house by the end of this summer. Words can’t express how much it will mean to me to finally get one, and be able to go outside without a neighbor right in front of you every day smoking and being nosy. I will feel like I have freedom again. Plus I can get lots of sun & hopefully try some more experiments in the journey of living CU free.
Well, that is it for now. I just wanted to update everyone on the progress. If you have any results, let us know in the forum.
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Posted under Diet, general information, managing hives
This post was written by Ben on February 20, 2009
