Got a question on itchy, itchy and I mean really itchy skin

[Bealadybug]

Hope there is someone within this group that can help with this itchy skin. Someone told me that it might be a food allergy. I called an allergy "expert" and to do a thourough test of all things and consulting with him, it's going to be about 1000. I am pretty proficient in growing things, but unfortuately they were out of money seeds, so I haven't gotten the ever elusive money tree yet. All I know is that it is only affecting my upper body. In a rash of sorts, and it is ITCHY. I have had it for a long time and have just been using extremely hot water to burn the skin to keep me from itching. I know that this is bad, but it is the only way that I can go to sleep and night and even still I wake up every three or so hours to do it again. You know it's bad when your kids tell everyone that their mom is so clean cause she's always in the shower. When I pick tomatoes, or an in the barn I feel like it has gotten much much worse. Help, I am so desperate for relief, that I am getting ready to peel all my skin off. BTW, I have used tea tree oil, and calamin lotion, cortizone, steroids and any other thing I could get my hands on. I tried different soaps and lotions and concoctions that my family has made up, which has sometimes made it so much worse. If it is a food allergy how would one go about testing it to narrow it down?

 

Waiting very uncomfortably for a response,

Buggs

[Percysgirl]

Google York Allergy test. That's the test that helped me figure my allergies out and stop the full-body eczema my daughter was having.

 

Don't bother with the allergist at this point. He's only testing for one type of allergy, and there are 4 different types. Most people don't have the type of reaction that he's testing for.

 

PM me if you'd like to discuss it. I've got extensive experience in this area.

[nmchick]

Oh, Bealadybug. I'm so sorry.

 

Ok, the way to do this without spending a pile of cash is a multiple food elimination diet. There are many different versions of this. One is just to eliminate the most common allergens from your diet. They are milk, egg, peanut, tree nut (walnut, cashew, etc.), fish, shellfish, soy, and wheat. Eliminate all these from your diet for at least three days. Your symptoms may get worse for a few days, but then get better. (Sometimes your body experiences "withdrawl".) Then, once you are feeling better, introduce these test foods back in to your diet one at a time, each time waiting at least three days to see if you have a reaction.

 

The more strict version of multiple food elimination diet is just to eat a very short list of foods for a while. I think they were rice, bananas, and lamb, but I don't remember exactly. (Some one else here will know!) Then gradually introduce other food.

 

Now here's one thing to think about. Is there some food you are really found of or even crave? Often we crave the very food that we're allergic to. That's the food to try eliminating first.

 

I have a big dairy allergy and guess what? I used to to almost live on dairy. Cheese was my favorite food.

 

Oh, and a good book on elimination diets is by Doris Rapp, Is This Your Child: Discovering and Eliminating Allergies in Children and Adults.

 

 

 

[Percysgirl]

Not just wheat, but gluten, too. One out of every 133 people carries the genes for celiac disease.

[Cat]

To figure out your own food allergy, you'd have to start writing down everything you eat. And that includes being aware of which products include milk, or flour, or other food allergens.

 

Then you'd start eliminating the most common allergens, one at a time, and see if anything improves.

 

Keep track of when the itching seems worse or better and see if it corresponds to a food.

 

Dogpile search - food allergies

 

Since it's on half your body... could it be something in your clothing? My dad had terrible reactions to "Tide" detergent, and a few others. But that was all-over itching.

 

See if this helps... (But it's only ONE place... never only look at ONE!) http://www.medicinenet.com/symptoms_and_signs/article.htm

 

 

 

 

[nmchick]

Right on, Percysgirl! And be careful. Lots of "flavors" actually contain dairy and wheat, like something they put in the McDonald's french fries.

[nmchick]

Also, it might be environmental. My Dad had a couch he was allergic to. He was fine once he stopped sitting there. It was the variety of foam in the cushions.

 

Polyester would give me the kind of itch you're describing. Do you have a new bunch of shirts that contain a different fiber than you're used to?

[Bealadybug]

Oh ladies.... So much info. You know it is going to end up being something that I use everyday and absolutely love. I am sitting here trying to think of what do I eat on a consistent basis. I am going to try the diet change and see if that is it. If not Im just going to start peeling the skin off and putting bleach on it. I figure I would rather sting than itch. If that makes any sense. I will try what you have suggested, but If I don't have bread for a while or sugar or anything that I like for a couple days, be ware the attitude that cometh. LOL. I will try for a couple of days to flush my system so to speak.

Thanks

[Percysgirl]

In our case, the foods we LOVED were the ones that made us the sickest. Especially breads and dairy.

[Crazy4Canning]

BaLB,

 

My DH ended up reacting to the oil in the leaves of green beans one year. YES, the leaves! He was covered head to foot in hives. No doctor believed him. He had to use sterile technique and RUB his skin with 90% alcohol, dry with a sterile towel. Put on clothes that I sanitized. When he would sweat, it would be worse - and this was in the middle of summer.

 

I highly encouraged him to do a body and GI cleanse, but he refused. After heavy duty cortisone shots and the alcohol rubs, it was gone in 3 days.

 

Now, he can't even help snap beans.

[Bealadybug]

C4C....

What is a body and GI cleanse. And how can I do this? Let me know I would be really interested in how it works.

[Snowmom]

 

You said it gets worse when you go in the barn or are working with tomatoes. Could it be something in the air, or when you are touching the plants, etc.

 

I know I always break out when I am in grass or weeds and use to when working in the garden. No garden now, or I would break out yet from that.

 

Stop and think of what you might have eaten that was different than normal too, if you feel it could be food allergies.

 

Everyone reacts differently to different things, so it could be so many things.

 

Hope you find help and get the itch taken care of without having to spend $$$$.