Allergy?

bounty_hunter

Hi all

Before anybody hits me with "Go to Doctor", I actually have been to two seperate doctors about this, and am just looking for any similar experiences before I head to yet another, in the hope that I might be able to go armed with some suggestions.

Basically, I'm suffering terribly from some kind of skin irritation that I just can't get to the bottom of. The skin all over my arms, legs, back and stomach is itchy and uncomfortable, and in certain areas there are little bumps that would appear to be some kind of allergic reaction (see pic - very bad but it's the best I could manage!). On both my trips to the doctor I have been presented with some cream and the explanation "ah, you're just allergic to something so you are, just use this cream and everything will be fine". Needless to say, cream hasn't worked.

I have suffered from eczema all my life so I'm fairly confident it's not that, I'm very familiar with the kind of irritation it produces and this is not it.

I suspected a lactose intolerance a while ago due to various reasons, and have since cut out all dairy products. This has improved the situation, but the problem is still there.
I have switched my washing detergent various times (I am now using non-biological) to see if that was the problem, and all to no avail. I have even tried washing clothes with no detergent at all, and still nothing. The problem is occuring with all clothes, so it's not fabric specific. I'm not using any new shower or cosmetic products or anything of the like.

Does anyone have any idea what on earth this might be? I've run out of ideas.
Any suggestions/experience would be appreciated. Thanks.


Note: It's not chicken pox, measles or anything like that

Trinity

Sorry no advice other than the health food shops and some of the chinese medicine shops do allergy tests and can tell you very quickly what it is you are allergic to.

SOme chemists do this too

I know its another goose chase but in fairness i imagine thats very irritating so would try anything!

bounty_hunter

Do you think it sounds like an allergy then?

Would you have any idea how much allergy tests would cost? I've never had them before. Thanks for the advice.

Trinity

I honestly dont know.

When i break out from detergent or whatever they are much smaller and close together and cover the whole area - disgusting.

I usually know what its from as i am quite set in my ways so when i try something different i react straight away. i cant use clairol products for example.

Have you been abroad lately - changed your diet or even brand of alcohol?

I would double post this in biology too.

I will be near a health food shop and a chinese herbalist tomorrow i will get prices for both and get back to you if that helps?

In the meantime you can chat to your pharmacist, ask for him/her dont deal with the sales assistants and he will recommend an anti-histamine to relieve the irritation.

kizzyr

I have particularly sensitive skin and psoriasis and have at different times developed an allergy / intolerance to something I've been using for ages. Its a pain in the ass to work out what is causing the allergy but it has to be done. You've said that you have changed your washing powder, you may need to keep doing this until you find something that works with you. Also look at your shower gels, perfumes, body lotions etc, any particular change to your diet over the last month or so. I use Sanex shower gel as its very very mild and Nivea body lotion and pure aloe vera gel, Eurcerin shampoo and Fairy non bio to wash my clothes in. I also can really only handle cotton in my clothes as most other materials drive my skin nuts. You could also think about asking for a referral to a consultant dermatologist if you want or see an acupuncturist. I attend a very good one in Lucan, PM me if you want the contact details.

Supercell

bounty_hunter, unfortunately for many of us, myself included, excema is most often a case of containment rather than cure.

There IS extremely promising research into it that should lead to a cure for most in the next ten years or so, but in the interim we have to live with it.

You can do common sense stuff like, keeping your bedroom airated (leave the window open as much as possible - stagnent air is a huge source of allergens), flip the matress over every couple of weeks, change the bedsheets every week.
Wair cotten as much as possible (however cheap cotten can sometimes be worse - wair what feels soft on your skin - silk shirts on ebay can cost less than an ordinary cotton Dunnes Stores shirt (just order about two sizes bigger than here as the sizes seem to be smaller).

In the shower no shower gels or anytrhing strong - mild soaps such as Imperial Lather will do wonders for your skin - the stronger the smell the more likely it will irritate your skin.

Try keeping the diet as varied as possible - hyper sensitive people become sensitive to common foods - a little of everything (you can tolerate) is better than only focussing on bland (or small ranges) foods only imho.

I had blood tests done in the Blacktrock clinic several years ago and my GP said that as far as she can see I'm allergic to pretty much every thing to a certain extent and there was no point in suggesting a regome bar a little of everything and not too much of one thing!
Unless you have a specific strong reaction to fish or nuts for example would not recommend an exclusion diet, you'll just become allergic to everything under the sun eventually if you start excluding.

I find that trying to stay less stressed, keeping my room temperature low and air clean and varying my diet as much as I can tolerate all help to keep the skin as good as possible.

For days where you are like now - shower in cool water and wash with as mild a soap as you can find...no shower gel crap.

Talliesin

What sort of doctors have you been to? Maybe see a dermatologist, or the GP on Dame St is quite good and dermatological things as GPs go.

bounty_hunter

Thanks for the great advice everyone. No diet changes, trips abroad, or changes to cosmetics I've been using.

Trinity1 - that would be really lovely of you, thank you so much. Please don't put yourself to any trouble!

bounty_hunter

Talliesin - just standard GPs. I did suggest to my own GP that I would like to go for some kind of testing, and he said he would have a look into it for me. It never went any further than that.


Longfield - it seems that I am already doing a lot of the things you mention you do for yourself. I hoover my bedroom daily and change my sheets every week. I also leave doors/windows open to allow as much air as possible to circulate.

Strangely enough, I am extremely allergic to Imperial Leather, along with a lot of other things you may think would be the least problematic. The worst offender, believe it or not, is the Johnson's range of baby products.

As it stands I don't use any products in the shower other than shampoo and conditioner, for the simple reason that I find it extremely difficult to settle on something my skin doesn't react to. Even if I'm fine with something initially, after a certain amount of use I often begin to react to it too. I vary my shampoo constantly so as to avoid the same effect.

I already have a very good and varied diet, so I don't think that is the case for me. There were several dietary reasons for my decision to exclude dairy products, which I won't go into here as they're not particularly pleasant, but so far it has only improved the problems I was having.

As for the clothes thing, I already abide by this to a large extent, because I can't tolerate anything rough or scratchy touching my skin! I have a lot of silk/satin and otherwise soft fabrics for this very reason. Perhaps I'm just condemned to the same fate as you!

Trinity

No trouble at all. Will PM you tomorrow with the bad news

Supercell

bounty_hunter wrote:

As for the clothes thing, I already abide by this to a large extent, because I can't tolerate anything rough or scratchy touching my skin! I have a lot of silk/satin and otherwise soft fabrics for this very reason. Perhaps I'm just condemned to the same fate as you!

Well I wouldn't say I'm condemned to anything!!, but I know what you mean.
It's a matter of trial and error as to what is suitable for you and whats not.

It's largely a matter of trial and error to see what is right for you - Imperial Lather works for me but am sure other products that your sking can tolerate would be no no's for me.

All we can do is try and learn what works best for us individually. I did go through a phase of trying to exclude stuff to no avail which lead up to blood tests and being told just eat what I can tolerate basically.

There are other things on the internet such as liver cleanse's that claim to help with allergies but tbh am not convinced at all by them.

Black Swan

Could be due to a lot of things. Besides seeing your GP, you might experiment with your diet, exercise, sleeping habits, and stress reduction?

sonners

I've suffered severly from allergies the last two years, have been to blackrock and spent over two grand getting tests done but still no solution. I take Piriton tablets which can be got over the counter at any chemists and Telfast (prescribed) every day. The tablets have saved me alot of hassle. I used to have the same skin iritations 6 days of the week, now I might only break out once a week if even that.

Work away at trying to find the offending product but get some piriton and start taking them, your doctor should also give you a prescription for Telfast easily enough if you show him your skin.

One thing thats really important, no matter whats causing these iritations, stress will make it worse. Around stressful times is when allergies are at their most sensitive and can be set off more easily.

Sounds like your doin everything else pretty much to the book so you wont have to change your ways too much if you know what I mean.

Hope this helps,
Good Luck

b0bbie

to me it looks like a yeast rash - do you drink a lot of wine or eat a lot of fruit like grapes, plums and necterines? you can get a cream called dakort that sorts it out in no time from the doc...

bounty_hunter

b0bbie - it's definitely not a yeast rash. I have looked into that previously and crossed it off my list of possibilites. Thank you very much for the suggestion though, most appreciated.

Thanks a million for the advice everyone, some very helpful comments here!

Trinity1 has very kindly gone out of her way to provide me with some information about allergy testing, which is the next thing I'm going to pursue.