My Struggle with Eczema and How I Cured It

Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional, and none of this post is meant to be used in place of professional medical care. This is simply my experience and struggle with eczema.

My skin is far from perfect, but, at age 34, it’s in better condition now than it ever has been. I had an esthetician tell me I had great skin yesterday, so that made my day! I’ve struggled with allergies, acne, eczema, oily and dry skin for many, many years, so to me, that’s a HUGE compliment!

I wasn’t born with eczema, but my skin has always been ultra sensitive. As a teenager, using products to help my acne only made my skin angrier. I eventually grew out of acne during college and had great skin for a few years. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way. My skin started to act up again in my mid 20s.

The Struggle Begins…

During the summer of 2008, I started pilot training. I also ended an 8 year on again/off again relationship. I tried in vain to keep that relationship going, but it didn’t work out. He was my first love, and we had been together for a third of my life. When we split up, I felt so lost, like a piece of me died. The relationship was toxic, but 24 year old me didn’t know any better. It was the first real failure I ever experienced, and it devastated me.

It was the most stressful time of my life. I was thousands of miles from home, in an intense training program without family or close friends nearby and felt incredibly alone. It was hard to sleep, and I didn’t have much of an appetite. I felt numb. I tried to stay focused but just couldn’t give my all to training. Emotional compartmentalization is a crucial aviation skill that I hadn’t yet learned, and lesson number one was coming at me fast!

A few weeks into training, I started to break out in what I thought was acne. I blamed it on the stress of training and the break up and hoped it would go away. It didn’t go away. It got worse, and it got itchy. At this point, I knew it wasn’t acne because I had it all over my body, and it was intensely itchy, weepy and really gross. I had no idea what it was and neither did the doctors.

My skin issues made me quickly forget about my failed relationship; I had bigger things to worry about. The doctors were testing me for lupus and other life threatening diseases, and I was afraid that I was going to die. I was also afraid that my face would be scarred for life. The patches of dermatitis were deep purple and crusty. My skin looked like it was breaking apart! I fell even farther into depression. Thankfully, my mom flew out to support me during this very stressful time in my life. I don’t know what I would do without her!

Getting a Dignosis

I finally got an appointment to see a dermatologist. The first two I saw were some of the most understanding doctors I ever had. I was an emotional wreck at this point, and they knew just what to say to calm my nerves.

I had a biopsy done and was diagnosed with acute allergic contact dermatitis. Thank God it wasn’t lupus. I immediately had allergy patch testing done and was put on a dose of prednisone after the patch testing was complete. The result: a severe allergy to formaldehyde and a mild allergy to parabens. The docs instructed me to eliminate those ingredients from all of my personal hygiene and beauty products.

Here’s what I looked like AFTER starting a course of Prednisone. It was worse than this…

The prednisone knocked out the allergy, but as soon as I got off it, the dermatitis returned. The recurring breakouts were never as severe as the initial, but they were still scary! I wanted more prednisone so was put on another course of the drug and my skin cleared up again. However, the dermatitis quickly came back after the prednisone wore off. Prednisone is a dangerous drug to be on for extended periods of time. It works miracles but wasn’t a long term solution to the problem.

I had no idea how to get rid of the rash that was plaguing my body. I had eliminated formaldehyde and parabens, was moisturizing daily, stayed away from hot water and harsh chemicals, and did everything I was told to do. The docs prescribed nearly every type of topical steroid on the face of the earth to me. But, no matter what I did, the dermatitis always returned.

Over the years, I saw numerous doctors about my skin issues to include an allergist and six different dermatologists. The allergist couldn’t find anything wrong and one dermatologist diagnosed me with an allergy to the sun. Another doc diagnosed me with prurigo nodularis, another with nummular eczema, and another incorrectly thought it was scabies! I was starting to believe that none of them really knew what was wrong with me. The only thing they agreed on was that steroids were the only treatment. Meds like Protopic and Elidel were off limits since I couldn’t fly while using them.

I didn’t want to be on meds my entire life. I wanted a cure!

An Unexpected Improvement

I ended up making it through pilot training, and after two years of dealing with the itchiness, I finally accepted that I was going to have to live with this disease.

However, in 2010, it magically disappeared while I was at survival training! This meant that I wasn’t allergic to the sun! I was outside for days at a time and the dermatitis cleared up. Unfortunately, it returned after returning to normal life. I was so frustrated. What did I do during training that made it go away? I wasn’t showering, using moisturizer, medication, or anything really, so I assumed that avoiding skin products was what cured my eczema. I couldn’t go my whole life without taking a shower, so I gave up and learned to live with it again.

Fast forward to Thanksgiving of 2011. I was on a 10 day work trip to Japan. Again, my eczema cleared up. Amazing! What was making it go away? Was it being outside the US? The itchy skin came back when I got back home, but I knew something was making my eczema disappear! And I needed to find out what it was.

Searching For a Cure

I thought about survival school and Japan for a long time. What was I doing differently while I was there? It couldn’t have went away because I was avoiding topical products during survival training. I was using makeup and soap daily in Japan! The only thing I could think of was my diet. I did not consume any dairy while I was at either location.

I quickly eliminated all dairy from my diet and TAH-DAH…the dermatitis disappeared! O.M.G. DAIRY! It was dairy the whole time! Why didn’t the allergy test catch this? The allergist tested me for dairy allergies.

Staying away from dairy was hard, but I was willing to do almost anything to clear up the dermatitis. I love ice cream, and pizza, and lattes, so I slowly tried to add dairy back to my diet. I learned that I can have a little bit of dairy and be fine. A little bit of cheese or ice cream here and there is no issue. BUT, if I consume milk daily, the eczema returns.

I’ve learned to live without milk and don’t really care for the flavor of it anymore. I replaced it with soy, almond, and coconut milk and learned to enjoy the alternatives. I’ll eat ice cream and cheese every now and then but really try to avoid them.

I have no idea why I developed this sensitivity to dairy, but I’m thankful I figured it out. Living with eczema/dermatitis was awful. I was always so self-conscious and was in a continuous state of discomfort from all the itchiness.

If you’re living with some sort of illness and have not found a cure for it, don’t give up! Miracles happen, and hopefully you’ll keep trying to fight it!

The Elimination Diet

Fortunately for me, I have a job that forced me into an elimination diet. For those who don’t have jobs like that, an elimination diet couldn’t hurt! All you have to do is eliminate a specific food group (common allergens are dairy, nuts, and eggs) for two weeks. If your symptoms go away, start adding certain foods back in little by little. For me, I started adding in a bit of cheese and yogurt (which I can tolerate just fine), but as soon as I tried to drink straight up milk, my dermatitis returned.

Check out the UW’s Family Medicine handout on the elimination diet and work with your doctor on finding cure.

I’m a true believer that what you put into your body is reflected on the outside. Our skin is one of the first indicators of poor nutrition. Ensuring my body gets the right amounts of macro and micro nutrients is my secret to great skin! I don’t use expensive beauty products, just the gentle stuff. I’ve tried expensive skin care and don’t really notice that it makes a difference, so I refuse to spend money on it.

Best of luck to you, and if you have any questions on my experience with dermatitis, let me know!