Making skin Vegan

This weekend we came to a decision to try a plant based diet. Basically a vegan diet because we are excluding dairy also. For a month I am going to stick with this. My prednisone will be out in another week and I am hoping by changing my diet I can ween off of it without a flare. It's a big dream but hopefully my work will pay off. I have my boyfriend doing it with me so I have great support. He doesn't really love meat like I do so it should be easier for him.


I am also staying away from alcohol and coffee. I'm going to substitute coffee with warm lemon water. That should be the hardest part..I love my morning coffee. But coffee is supposed to be bad for eczema and I'm going to do all I can to help improve myself from the inside out.


We are basing our diet off of the book forks over knives. There's some great recipes in there and I need something to follow so I don't get bored!

Good bye meat..I will miss you..

Wish me luck!


http://www.forksoverknives.com/

Allergist

So, I went to a new allergist this week. I thought that I needed a second opinion. I was tested with the TRUE test previously by my dermatologist and this is the second allergist I have had look at the test results.

His conclusion:

He believes there is no way I am actually allergic to 18 different chemicals. He thinks that since my skin is so inflamed it wouldn't have mattered what we had put on it anything would have caused a reaction. His question was why I hadn't reacted to all of the test patches that were put on.
My skin was so inflamed and out of control that he put me on another round of prednisone and some stronger antibiotics that are supposed to fight infections related to eczema.

Along with this, he did a prick skin test on my arms. (Which I have had done several times before) although this one included wheat and dairy. Which both came up negative.

The positives were dust mites, grass, pollen, cats, and dogs. All of these I have previously tested positive for allergies. Dust mites proves to be the most severe.

The questions I did not get answers for:

If my skin doesn't test positive to gluten or dairy should I still be staying away from it?

If I continue to go on prednisone throughout the year when I have a flare will my eczema get worse every time? (I have heard this but I'm not sure if its true)

Is there a possibility that where I live, my condo, could be worsening this problem? Mold possibly? It's very damp all the time. I have been there a year and have never had eczema so bad in my life. To add to that we are considering moving soon.

He would also like me to be on fluconase for the next year. It's a steroid inhalant as far as I know. I don't want to be on steroids for the rest of my life! Is this supposed to be the end solution for this?

Another question..he said that the allergy shots may not even help me with the dust mites, pollen etc. I was told before it would make a huge impact. Has anyone seen great results from allergy shots with these allergies?

Needless to say I still don't have all the answers, and I have not yet found an allergist who can explain to me what is going on or what my future outcome looks like.

This is a pic of where I was at last week..now that has completely healed and I am eczema free. Thank you steroids...I think.

Having a good attitude on a bad day...

I try and stay positive and not let it get me down but today is not good. I have eczema on my cheeks. It burns and hurts. It's covering almost my entire back, arm pits, stomach, arms, and my hips. I have been doing all I can to research what could be causing the latest uncontrollable wrath that has taken over me. Having eczema on my face is where I draw the line. It's painful and viewable by all to see. Sucks.

I'm going to have to put some pics on just to document how bad it is right now.

I am seeing an allergist on Monday who will hopefully give me more information on how to control all of my allergies. I'm hoping to start allergy shots.

I am also on the look out of how to buy a nickel testing kit for my nickel allergy.