Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

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Okay, so I already looked at the other thread re: itchy bumps on skin. I have had mine for approximately four years now. Started on legs, had now spread to buttocks, elbows, hips and even some near my wrists (rare). Caffeine has a negative effect. In general, exfoliating seems to help as long as I am gentle. VERY itchy, but small discrete bumps, usually just get two-three at a time but sometimes more. They take a long time to heal because of scratching.

I used to get contact dermatitis in grad school when I wore pantyhose. Have not worn pantyhose more than 5 times in past 5 years. Recently got rid of laundry detergent altogether. Have been using scent free everything for years. My son also has started to develop this in the past year and caffeine also affects it (chocolate milk). Two other things that have helped are UVA light therapy and antibacterial cleaning cloths/no soap.

Any other ideas??? Why do my son and I get this and not my husband? At first I thought it was related to a move, but that doesn't seem to be the case any more. I also use coconut oil body lotion post shower. Help please...

Have not yet tried paleo but considering either paleo or vegan or some combination. For overall health not just skin : )

Heather

flag	asked Jul 24 at 5:38 Heather 1●1

	You are your son are related by blood, but you and your husband are (hopefully) not. This can explain why your husband is not affected. Antibacterial cleaning clothes can strip the skin of its natural oils just like soap can. Also, "got rid of laundry detergent all together." Do you walk around in dirty clothes or are you naked all of the time? What do you do to clean your clothes? Your skin issues could be diet related, it could be what comes in contact with your skin, or a combination of both. – MathGirl72 Jul 24 at 15:42
	Whoops! Got rid of fabric softener, including those dryer balls that leach chemicals into your clothes when they are heated. I do still use laundry detergent : ) The perfume free kind, as I have for several years now. The cloths I use have silver infused in them, which is why they are antibacterial. You just wet them in the shower and use them, and throw them in the laundry as you would a normal washcloth. There are no chemicals in them unless you count the silver. – Heather Jul 25 at 0:00
	My oldest son was always very sensitive to laundry soaps. I could always tell when a company tinkered with their formula by my son's skin reactions. We could use regular All, but not the All Free that was supposed to be for people with sensitive skin. WEIRD! Tide is still a no-go, in any form, but we have luck with All (when I can get it on coupon) or Costco's Kirkland perfume-free/dye-free version. There are things called soap nuts (buysoapnuts.com) that you may find useful and there are a plethora of homemade liquid soap recipes online. As soon as my current stockpile of – MathGirl72 Jul 25 at 12:18
	laundry soap runs out, I'm going to try a batch of the Duggar's homemade laundry soap to see how well it works. duggarfamily.com/content/duggar_recipes/30455/… – MathGirl72 Jul 25 at 12:19

Karen · Answer 1 · 2012-07-24 12:42:07Z UTC

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Get these checked by a dermatologist to make sure they aren't caused by parasites or infections.

answered Jul 24 at 12:42

Karen
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Yes - this website is primarily a bunch of people that read about nutrition, not a qualified source for medical advice. – Silverspeed Jul 24 at 13:30

JeJ · Answer 2 · 2012-07-24 15:48:41Z UTC

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Is it possibly eczema? Go to your doc and get a referral to a dermatologist and for allergy testing. Could be either an environmental or internal trigger- dairy, eggs, wheat, nuts, tomatoes, certain fruits, and soy are common.

answered Jul 24 at 15:48

JeJ
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Not eczema but have been wondering about allergens both ingesting as well as airborne. Haven't taken the plunge to get allergy testing yet as I'm concerned about the cost, but may go that route soon. Thanks : ) Was just wondering if anyone had experienced something similar related to too many refined sugars, or just carbs in general since the excess gets converted to sugar anyway. – Heather Jul 24 at 23:56

arugula · Answer 3 · 2012-07-24 20:35:21Z UTC

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Look into dermatitis herpetiformis also. It is a fairly rare skin manifestation of celiac disease/gluten-intolerance. It is pretty off the radar for lot of Drs so go to a dermatologist. Here are some photos but these are mostly pretty bad cases: http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/dermnet/dermatitisherpetiformis.html I've had it for years but not usually in massive outbreaks like some of those. Very itchy to the point where you can't help but scratch them open is almost required though I know someone else who gets the classic elbow bumps and little to no itching. A dermo will take a biopsy next to a lesion, not right in it to look for DH.

edited Jul 24 at 20:35

answered Jul 24 at 20:29

arugula
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	Thanks a lot. I did see a few different dermatologists in the past for this and one even did a biopsy but it was clear. Mind you I think that was on the spot not next to it, and was about three years ago. My most recent dermatologist referred to it as "Itchy red bump disease" which is basically a name they give something that they don't have another name for. Definitely not eczema or psoriasis, but wondering about the DH. Will do more research and talk to my current derm. She had me on UVA light therapy and it seems to be helping, but looking for other info/help to prevent not just treat. – Heather Jul 24 at 23:52
	oh yeah, I've been told I have lots of "itchy red bump disease"... I do a lot of things you've already done: dye and fragrance free laundry detergent, not using soap on my arms and legs. I did some elimination dieting about 4 years ago, ultimately helped lead me to the celiac diagnosis for me and my son, but other things that came out of my diet/life were dairy (it's the casein for me and it affects my skin), tomatoes (hives) but other nightshades are not as bad, sodium laureyl sulfates (toothpaste, shampoo..), and this all helps keep my skin fairly clear besides eliminating the gluten. – arugula Jul 25 at 11:09
	I have to watch my iodine intake too, it contributes to the DH reaction quite a bit. I would think that UVA light would make DH worse too so that sounds a little less likely tho of course the derm should know best. anyway, best of luck! there's a lot of stuff that can trigger skin reactions! – arugula Jul 25 at 11:11

Itchy skin bumps self and child but NOT husband?

3 Answers