Hello,

You're treating the right disease; however you're treating it with the wrong medications. Like the usual prescribed steroid medications for the treatment of eczema, Protopic and Elidel are symptom suppressors as well that promote the same damaging effects to the skin, irregardless of their claim of no steroids:

PROTOPIC SIDE EFFECTS - stinging, soreness, burning, itching of treated skin, acne, swollen or infected hair follicles, headache, increased sensitivity of the skin to hot or cold temperatures, flu-like symptoms (cold/stuffy nose), skin tingling, upset stomach, herpes (chicken pox or shingles) and muscle pain.

ELIDEL SIDE EFFECTS - headache, nosopharyngitis (common cold/stuffy nose), influenza, pharyngitis (sore throat), fever, viral infection, cough, herpes skin infection (cold sore, chicken pox, or shingles), warts, or swollen lymph nodes.

The body displays the symptom of an eczema flareup to warn an individual of the toxic invasion which is overwhelming the immune system. It is a message from the body requesting your attention to your immune health, and the need to restore that health through proper nutrition. Foreign invaders (allergens) are the culprits for the eczema flareups and need to be identified so that true healing can begin. The medications that are prescribed in the treatment of eczema are a problem due to the fact that they don't address the core root of the problem. They ignore the message for help from the body through suppression of the warning signal. Suppression ignores the message the body is sending; and therefore promotes longterm suffering. Simply suppressing the symptom doesn't address the reason the symptom had manifest in the first place. Because the core root of the problem is not addressed, the message for help from the body, through eczema flareup, will persist despite the suppression. The immune system will fight back from the suppression and reappear (over and over again) until the message is properly addressed.

The human body functions and heals itself through proper nourishment. The kind of nourishment that is found in water, fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts etc. Minerals, vitamins, and protein are what the body recognizes as the proper nourishment for its good health. These are the real medicines that bring healing to the human body. The human body is a very smart machine and it recognizes that synthetic formulations (medications) are not the real thing. This (recognition of synthetic medications as another foreign invader) is reflected and evidenced in the fact that the medications only bring temporary relief; due to the fact that the immune system responds from the initial suppression with another flareup. You've personally witnessed this in your two year battle. Your immune system is going to keep shouting until it gets the response for which it desires.

The sad thing is that you could have found healing from your eczema flareup (localized to your hands) in two days; yet your struggle has endured for two years. What qualifies me to make this statement is that my 3 nieces who were diagnosed with atopic dermatitis (hereditary eczema); and two of which suffered severe (total body) eczema flareups in their infancy, have been eczema free for a majority of their young lives. Five years for the oldest, three years for the middle niece, and 9 months for the youngest niece. We didn't suppress the flareups with eczema medications; we saw the warning signals and responded with what I call common sense wisdom. We addressed the eczema in these three areas: internal, external, and foreign. Internal refers to the immune health. This is addressed through proper nutrition. External refers to skin care (rehydration and restoration of the moisture barrier). This is achieved through a daily cleansing regimen that takes into account your sensitive skin care needs. Natural products that contain the vitamins and minerals necessary for healthy functioning skin cells promote skin healing and don't compromise the process with the inclusion of synthetic formulations that disrupt the immune system. Foreign refers to the allergen/irritants that invade the body and instigate the eczema flareups. The purpose is to identify the foreign invader or instigator; so that your environment can be properly addressed (get rid of the foreign culprit where possible).

Because your eczema flareup was localized to your hands; it indicated contact eczema (or contact dermatitis). The localization to your hands also narrows the field of possible foreign culprits, making it easier to identify your allergen/irritant. The possible culprits could have been your soap, dishwashing liquid, lotion, or even the metals from a ring. Simply identifying what your allergen/irritant was and ridding that thing from your environment would have alleviated your body of the thing that was promoting the breakout and ended your continued suffering. When the culprit is not addressed, medications will only serve to be temporary solutions with short term success.

In order to repair the damage done to the skin from a toxic invasion by an allergen/irritant, natural skin care (cleansers and moisturizers) that promote healing (not suppression) through proper nourishment with vitamins and minerals is what is needed. For our family, the Burt's Bees Baby Bee skin care line is what brought about my nieces' successes. In particular, the Burt's Bees Buttermilk lotion, Buttermilk bath, Vitamin E bath oil, diaper ointment, talc free powder, and almond oil for the scalp. An option that you may want to consider is Borage skin therapy lotion by Shikai or Colloidal Skin Therapy Lotion by Nature's Gate. Both of these items are fragrance free options.

Addressing the internal and in order to boost your immune health, an attention to implementation of good nutrition is key. In order to boost your immune health, fruits and vegetables rich in beta carotene/vitamin A are important for daily consumption. Green vegetables (spinach, kale, collard, brocolli), carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, green and romaine lettuce, and pink grapefruit are some of the foods that contain these nutrients naturally. Drinking more water; and if applicable, eliminating soft drinks, sugary juice drinks, and junk foods from a diet will radically restore health to the immune system. This attention to a healthy Diet very early on in my nieces' development is what has brought about their longterm success. As a result, health has been restored to their immune systems and their immune took over the fight against harmful irritants with success. Don't be fooled or frightened by the term "overactive immune system". An overactive immune response is why eczema sufferers are labeled as having overactive immune systems. An overactive immune system doesn't equate to a strong immune system. An overactive immune system is more accurately synonymous to an overwhelmed immune system. Due to the toxic invasion that is overwhelming it, an abundance of histamine release takes place causing the flareup and resulting in the identification by the medical community as an overactive immune system. The reason that I say all that to you is because I am aware that we, layman, tend to assume that overactive immune system equates to a strong immune system. Therefore, when I recommend strengthening and restoring the health of the immune system, people who have assumed the definition of an "overactive immune system" to equate to a strong immune system ignore the information to restore the health to their immune system as an impossibility in their cases. In essence an overactive immune system is more accurately equated to an overwhelmed or out of balance immune system. Therefore, and as my 3 nieces have proven, health can be restored to your immune system through an attention to good nutrition.

Identify your allergen, find good natural skin care, address your immune health through good nutriton, and watch your healing come speedily and last for the longterm.

aunty