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I have pretty bad leaky gut and it manifests itself in my eczema if I eat things I cannot have: gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, peanuts, nightshades, alcohol, caffeine, pretty much any substance that isnt a vegetable, meat, or animal fat.

In the past few months I've tried to phase out all my commercial moisturizers and replace them with natural oils. For example, I oil cleanse my face with a mix of castor and olive oil and my body with jojoba oil. My eczema's pretty bad right now even though I am eating clean. I am getting pretty lousy sleep though-I always have, and I think sleep will be my last factor to figure out if I want to be blemish free on my body.

Anyways, I did try coconut oil for a bit but it made my eczema WEEP and get SO much worse.(Does that mean I'm allergic to coconut oil and all coconut products? When I cooked with it nothing noticeable happened...) I'm not sure if its because I put the oil on when my skin was raw, but I've done that with olive and jojoba and my skin seems to be ok.

Anyways, I backed off and just put it on my lips and it made them super dry and peel. I just stay away from coconut oil now, but recently I bought some shea butter because I wanted a creamier moisturizer. I think its been ok, because its not making my eczema worse, but my eczema isnt getting any better either. It may be because it is on my hands...so exposure and whatnot really slows down the healing process perhaps. But shea butter makes my lips peel too! What does that mean?

Petroleum jelly is THE BEST moisturizer for my lips when this happens. I want to use petroleum jelly on my hands too, but I know its bad...So what should I do?

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 Hav eyou had your D3 level tested? My eczema & asthma went away after I got my blood level around 80 ng/ml. – Dragonfly Oct 27 at 10:52
I take a d3 supplement everyday :/ – eht Oct 27 at 20:41
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 That's not the same as knowing your levels... – ImRotu Oct 28 at 17:40

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Petroleum jelly is actually good for some people with skin problems because it really locks the moisture inside. I would just use it for now, and not stress about it.

There is a lot of negative hype around stuff like petroleum for skin, and parabens etc. The unfortunate part is that some people cannot use natural oils (like you for example), and most people become allergic to beeswax when switching to natural products, that's why their lisp start to peel constantly, and they get perioral dermatitis etc.

Also, parabens are being replaced with formadelhyde, and formadelhyde releasers like dmdm hydantoin for example, or "natural" stuff like japanese honeysuckle extract which is as/or more estrogenic than parabens.

One thing you might want to try is emu oil, it is the actually oil from emus, so it's not a veggie oil, and it has helped skin healing, and been anti-inflammatory in rodent testing.

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I think your body's inflammatory response is pretty severe. Try to cut down on your carbs - limit to see whether it is going to help or not. I would stick with green leafy vegetables, raw sauerkraut, plenty of animal fat and some limited protein (liver). See if this is going to help. Do not cheat, because it messes up with the way your body functions.

Very very very low carb (less than 20) really works for me for some weird reason. I even have to limit my vegetables. Also, I have noticed, that my protein choices effect my body's inflammatory response and my energy levels. Liver and grass-fed meat are fine, but fish and seafood make me more sensitive to things.

Use what works for you. Once your inflammation goes down, you will be less sensitive to many moisturizes. I can use makeup again (YES!!!) and re-introduced my favorite perfumes.

I found 100% shea butter works for even the driest parts of my body (it even removes callus) but I had to go through a couple of brands to make sure it is 100% pure. Some brands added vitamin E that I reacted to. You wrote that it does not work for you - so use what works. I have tried coconut oil, EVOO, all kinds of oils. Shea butter seems the best choice for me, but I do not have eczema so I cannot really tell.

If you have tried everything else, and this is the only thing that works - just go with it for now but make sure to lower your body inflammatory response somehow.

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what do you suggest I eat? my only concern is that since my diet is so limited, I wont be able to get enough calories. Right now I eat fodmaps/gaps, so a lot of leafy greens (kale, swiss chard, bok choy, spinach) and some safe roots (carrots, zucchini, rutagaba, 1 cup sweet potatoes/day). Occasionally some broccoli or green beans. I eat about 5 cups of vegetables a day and cook them with about 40g of protein (grassfed ground beef, liver, salmon mostly, then tendons/chicken feet when I make bone broth) About 2 tbs of tallow/duck fat to cook with or olive oil. – eht Oct 28 at 2:07
I really can't answer this - I do not know. Even though I don't have the eczema, I can only eat meat/fish/bone broth/very limited vegetables - nothing else. Occasionally I can have nuts (macadamia), but I cannot even have eggs. You can search Paleohacks - here is one link for you paleohacks.com/questions/90612/… – VB Oct 28 at 7:38
I cannot even have olive oil... Try sticking with GAPS, but if it does not work, try decreasing your carbs. For my veggies I basically eat only sauerkraut (a very limited amount). Do what works for you. Also, try using animal fat as a moisturizer - I know it works for some people. – VB Oct 28 at 7:42
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you might give animal oils a shot, like emu oil as another poster said. also try lard or lanolin. they may agree with your skin more than plant oils, which could have other irritants contained within.

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