I JUST woke up! My girls came into our bed around 7 and I meant to get up then after they fell back to sleep and I ended up sleeping til 9! Now I gotta hurry and get to the gym and get that out of the way and then on with my day. I probably will not be on here much.



to all the sickies, Dee and Fran. Glad you are on the mend Anna.

Jamie - HRM is so icky when I take it off too. But after rinsing it off each time I notice that it never stinks.

Rhonda - I'm glad you are going in. Why put yourself through the misery when there is some help available. No shame in it!

Anna- I remembered you said something in an earlier thread about eczema being related to allergies. My son has eczema that just seems to be getting worse no matter how much we lotion him up. Can you give me whatever info you had about allergies and eczema? Thanks! I feel so bad for him and would love to be able to take care of it without going to a doc to get a cream that won't work in a couple of weeks.

Just wanted to pop in and say a big HELLO! to my old blue teammates!

I'm back on the weight loss train after a very helpful hiatus. I gained a bunch of weight back (SIGH) but I feel like I have a new, healthier perspective on my body and my goals. I also have a whole new motivation - I'm getting married! Sooo I hope there will be another BL challenge when this one is over and that I can join up with you gals again!

I'm not Anna but I can tell you about our experience with eczema. DD had severe eczema where everything but her hands and face was covered and she had open oozing sores that would stick to her shirt. It was nasty. With the help of our naturopath we did an elimination diet and pinned it down to a citrus and wheat allergy. As soon as we removed these two foods from her diet we saw a drastic improvement and in a few weeks the eczema was gone completely. If she even had the tiniest bit of either of these foods we'd see a flare up again. It's been about 18 months (she's going on 3 years now) and she's fortunately outgrown both sensitivities and can eat all foods again.

In the midst of the worst of it, our pediatrician gave us a perscription for cortisone and although we did use it twice when things were really bad I fought tooth and nail not to put that on her. Cortisone represses the symptoms and does nothing to deal with the underlying issue. Eczema is a signal from the body that something isn't right and I've been told by numerous naturopaths about suppressed eczema causing the body to react with other symptoms (including asthma).

I'd strongly encourage anyone who is suffering from eczema to work with a good naturopath before looking to western medicine. But I'm admittedly biased.

Hi team! Sorry I haven't posted in a while-- just been really busy and kinda sick. I scanned the other posts and it would seem like I am not the only one!
I've been really OP with eating, not so much so with exercise, though I've been walking around town a lot since the weather is so nice.
Stay strong everyone!!

my dd had excema her first winter of life. Turns out it was from a dairy allergy. Luckily it was one of the first things our ped suggested eliminating, also, where she went to dc did a ton of bleaching, and I think it might have been exposure to that as well. It has not recurred. We did not treat it.

Is there any info on how to do an elimination diet? Do I have to go to a naturopath or can I do it myself? I would much rather it be something I can eliminate from his diet. I had a feeling all the cream was doing was topical and not getting at the root of the problem. He doesn't have it real bad I guess, but he does have patches of it in spots on his legs and arms. I know it itches him and scratching of course just makes it worse. Thanks for helping!

Nothing much going on today. Got lots of energy again. but i don't feel like cleaning although I should because the kids are outside playing. and no one is IMing me so.....

Welcome back, Marianne! We've missed you.

Tawyna - come Plurk with us.http://plurk.com/redeemByURL?from_ui...-423285034&s=1

You can definitely do the elimination diet yourself. Some of the most common triggers are dairy, soy, wheat, eggs, and citrus. I know there are a few more but I would start with those. Eliminate ALL traces of each food for at least two weeks and then add it back in. Move to the next and try again. I am sure others with more experience will have better ideas.

Great idea. Get another one of us addicted, lol.

Yup, what she said. When I did my elimination diet, my naturopath had me reintroduce each food one at a time. I was to eat it for three days or until I felt a reaction (whichever came first). Then you take it back out again for a couple of days and move on to the next food.

If it seems like the more typical foods don't make a difference you can look to other clues on what foods to try out next. Some people find that they're very repulsed by or drawn to their trigger food.

You can also look into homeopathic medications to support the body. I know that Sulfur is a really common remedy that is used in relation to eczema breakouts but I'm not all that well-versed in homeopathy so I'd suggest looking further into it.

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4 LETTER WORD: Myth
BOY NAME : Mitch
GIRL NAME: Mackenzye
OCCUPATION: Machinist
A COLOR: Magenta
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Man Bag!
SOMETHING YOU DRINK: Mint Mojito
FOOD: Mac n Cheese
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Mats
A PLACE: Madrid
REASON FOR BEING LATE: Making out with DH
SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Mother******!
A CAR: Mercedes Benz
A FLOWER: Magnolia
VACATION SPOT: Morocco

kim-that's good to know about eczema. DS3 has it pretty bad and noticed that everytime he gets sick or has pneumonia it starts flaring up. He had it since he was about 3 months old. they gave us a topical steroid for it but the ones that are flared up around his ears have never ever gone away.

Rhonda, what is plurk. I see u guys talking about it all the time and looked at someones but didnt quite understand it so I just closed the window.

I would guess (and only a guess) that your son has a mild allergy. When his body gets stressed it is not as easily able to fight off the offending food and then reacts. I would start eliminating those common allergens and see what happens.

Plurk is another dumb way to pass the time. Someone starts a 'plurk' sort of like a thread here. Everyone replies and you get 'karma'. Pretty much the more karma you get the more options you have for smilies, you can change your screen name, etc. We started taking some of the mindless chatter there so others would not be offended. Warning: things are a bit graphic there, lol.