A Bunch of Randomness

I don’t know WHAT made me think that I actually had time to maintain a blog for myself. Must have been a bit of temporary over-ambition. So, since so much has happened since I was able to post, and since I really don’t have much time right now, this is going to be very random. (Do you like the squirrel? I like the squirrel. He’s so cute!)

I Have Resorted to Drugs

I got really tired of the itching and the swelling and the frantic wringing of the hands with the towel, so I started taking Benadryl and Advil a few days ago. It has helped tremendously. I got to itching early this morning, but I also had forgotten to take my Benadryl so that was very much my fault. I also had some chocolate milk…again, my fault. Plus, I have some blisters that are very “ripe” and the itching is always worst right before they bust.

Hurrah for Carley's Products!!!

I’ve mentioned Carley’s products several times now, and figured it was just about time I dedicate an entire post to them. The fact that I just received my new order in the mail today might have something to do with it, too. ;) Let me tell you, if you haven’t experienced these products, you’re missing out!

Caffeine: My Number 1 Suspect

Ok, so I didn’t make it through the week without coffee. I had to have caffeine to pull off the hours I needed to a few days ago. However, I did use real cream and maple syrup rather than my non-dairy creamer. My dyshidrotic eczema worsened. (By the way, I just realized I had a touch of dyslexia and have been spelling dyshidrosis and dyshidrotic incorrectly all this time. I can’t figure out how to change my labels, so I’m just going to let it be and do it right from here on out.)

Since I didn’t have any other drinks other than water, La Croix, and peppermint tea, I know it is something in the coffee that’s triggering my flares. Whether it’s caffeine or some other element, I’m not sure. So I’m moving forward with the second phase of experiments. I got some Coke. Caffeine-free Coke, to be exact.

Today, I'm Going to Show You...My Hands!

Ok, so most of the pics I use come from morguefile.com. I just don’t have access to all the props for every single photo idea that strikes me as something that would be cute to use. (Don’t you just love that little baby?) Besides that, my camera is not the best in the world. Not the worst, but certainly not the Canon that I would one day love to have.

Today, though, I’m going to put up some pics I took…just for you. It occurred to me that I can describe this dishydrotic eczema all day long, but it’s really difficult to imagine without some visual aids. But, before you get to see my hands, I have two things you should know:

1.  You are not allowed to laugh at my decaying nail polish. I have been terrified to use nail polish remover, afraid that it might make matters worse. You can, however, laugh at my decaying skin all you like. ;)

2.  These pics do not do justice to the worst parts of dishydrosis. My hands look really, really good in these pics compared to what they were like before. So, as gross as they are now, imagine that times about 10 and you’ll have some idea as to why I spend so much of my time trying to figure out how to treat it.

So are you ready? I now give you…my hands!

A Twist on My Saltwater and Baking Soda Techniques

While we’re talking about my necrotizing skin, I may as well share what I did last night. I was thinking about making the baking soda paste and then wrapping it instead of letting it dry then rinsing. I wanted to look up to see if anyone had done that before, but couldn’t really find any good information. I did, however, come across someone who suggested making a paste with baking soda and olive oil.

Well, that intrigued me so I dug around a little more on the net. I never did find another mention of doing a paste, but I did find a couple of people who had sworn their dishydrosis cleared up after doing this soak for a few days: ½ cup baking soda, ½ cup Epsom salt, 1 Tbl olive oil, all mixed into a basin of water. I didn’t have Epsom salt, so I subbed in sea salt.

I have to tell you that it was one of the grossest feeling soaks I’ve ever done. Quite slimy. I wasn’t sure it was doing much good at the time, but this morning my hands were way better. They have retained much more moisture than usual, which I am attributing to the olive oil. I have still had to use my Carley’s moisturizer, but it’s really been quite amazing how much longer my skin is holding on to it.

So, as gross as it feels and as bad as it stinks—yes, it smells rather repugnant—I will be doing another soak like this tonight. I’m going to cut the amount of stuff I’m using though and just use a smaller bowl. That’s really an awful lot of stuff to use just to dump out, after all. We’ll see if it was a fluke or if it’s really as good as it seems like it could be.