Mailing-List: list eczemapsoriasis@onelist.com; Date: 13 Nov 1999 13:11:05 -0000 Subject: [eczemapsoriasis] Digest Number 92 Message: 2 Date: Fri, 12 Nov 1999 09:52:52 EST From: Birdnbuf@aol.com Subject: Re: All flared up (and now where to go... ) Dear Tracy: I am a vegetarian with eczema/psoriasis. I admit, I do enjoy cheese & eggs! Diet does not seem to be a factor for me. I tend to get long-lasting patches of dry, scaly, itchy skin lasting in some cases for years, rather than sudden flare-ups. Knees & elbows scaly for decades, a bad patch on the leg for 2-3 years, a couple years of really bad hands.....For me, important measures have been controlling the itching (Man, nothing much is worse than scratching one large patch on your calf raw for a couple of years!) and clearing those patches up. I find cortisone does NOT work for me. Also, I am allergic to lanolin, so have to be very careful what I use. A&D ointment, for example, is lanolin based. When I tried that my fingers swelled like vienna sausages. Also, anything containing methylparaben or polyparaben seems to aggravate it. So I can use my herbal sunscreen everywhere BUT on an active outbreak! For me, herbal creams in an olive-oil base work well. Goldenseal, black walnut, chamomile have all proved soothing. After reading Dusan's many posts on the theory that parasite infection is the root cause of eczema/psoriasis/candida I tried a mild intestinal cleansing. (After being hit again with a pesky, hard-to-clear-up candida infection) Took a tincture of black walnut and wormwood for 10 days. Cleared the candida, and also the longest lasting of my eczema patches! (My left knee has been scaly for decades!) For the itchy scalp, I stopped using any shampoo containing methyl- or polyparaben, sodium laurel sulfate, or cocomide DEA. I also use a herbal/cider vinegar rinse between shampoo and conditioner. No more itchy scalp! Good luck, keep exploring. Kathleen