Skin and Spring

Let’s talk about skin. Here’s some history to put things in perspective.

I’ve had eczema my whole life. It kept getting worse, and I was seeing more and more specialists who didn’t know how to help me, so in 2019 I took matters into my own hands. I stopped using my prescription ointments and creams, and I began researching ferociously and took a holistic approach to healing my skin. (I wouldn’t recommend stopping prescriptions cold turkey. I went through steroid withdrawal pretty bad. My face swelled so badly the skin on my cheeks cracked and I refused to leave the house for a week.)

Here are pictures of me. The “before” picture is definitely not me at my worst. I was looking ok enough to allow a photo to be taken of me. During the worst, I definitely didn’t allow pictures to be taken.

Even though “the worst” was during the end of March 2019, you can still tell how much I healed from these photos. You can’t see it, but I had eczema down both of my arms and spots going down my chest. I didn’t even wear a shirt for half of 2019 because the eczema patches on my chest would hurt and stick to it. It took me from March 2019 to October 2019 of water fasting, supplements, clean eating, and going to bed early.

Nevertheless, I eventually did it. How? I watched a lot of videos and got a lot of advice from YouTubers like Michelle Mills and Susan Valkai. I cut out most oils, gluten, and eggs at first. That helped immensely, but after a while I discovered that I also have a problem with histamines (aka, anything not fresh). I was eating a lot of sauer kraut and apple cider vinegar, and I didn’t fully clear up until I cut them out of my diet. (as well as peanut butter later on)

Jump forward to now. It’s allergy season in East Texas. The pine pollen is settling onto things and turning them a hazy green. No one’s said it, but it seems to me that there’s more pollen than usual this year. The problem with eczema is that there is so many toxins for your body’s system to deal with that it can’t do it all correctly, and the excess waste gets pushed out through your skin. That’s why water fasting is so effective, because you’re taking a break and giving your body time to focus on healing itself. My skin’s been clear for five months now (which is amazing because I had eczema problems almost daily for twenty years), but with all the pollen in the air, my body is being overtaxed and I’ve sprouted some eczema patches on my hand.

For most people, eczema just seems like dry skin that could be fixed not scratching and putting on some lotion, but let me tell you, eczema is painful and gross. These little spots looks like nothing, but the skin is cracked open and it stings like alcohol every time I wash my hands. No amount of olive oil will fix this (my clean alternative to lotion, because most lotions contain harmful ingredients that actually make eczema worse – even those for “sensitive skin”)

I’ve begun taking milk thistle supplements for the time being (because they help flush the system), and I think I’m going to do a water fast for the rest of the day.