Flaky Skin For Years; Prednisone Is The Only Thing That Helps!

[BTD]

I don't know if it is psoriasis, eczema or whatever. It only really began in 2012, and it was mild, but it has become more severe over the years. Only on my face and scalp. Red, flaky, itchy skin. Everyone tells me that it is hereditary, from my dad's side of the family, but I have to keep up a regimen of applying hydrocortisone or else it gets uncontrollable! That's for my face; as for my scalp, nothing has ever helped. Well, one thing has.

I went to the doctor over an unrelated issue back in 2014 and was given prednisone, and upon taking it all the redness and flakiness goes away. I thought it was a fluke, but when I went to the doctor over yet another unrelated thing a year or so later, once again the red, flaky skin issues disappear! Obviously it would be unwise to try and stay on prednisone forever or anything along those lines, but I think this all points to this issue being an internal, autoimmune or clearly an inflammatory issue.

The thing is, over the years I've tried everything and every dietary lifestyle change under the sun. Speaking of the sun, getting ample sunshine doesn't really help. Maybe a little bit but nothing significant. Over the years, prior to discovering Ray Peat, I tried all kinds of dietary changes, and for an extended period of time, too. I discovered Ray Peat and this forum three years ago (although I didn't sign up until later), and things I've tried that I've read on here haven't helped either. Low PUFA, adequate fat, carbs, plentiful fructose... I've tried virtually everything, along with supplements, without going into the intricacies.

It's driving me crazy, though. I can manage the red flakiness on my face with the hydrocortisone and some natural beard oil, but still it is an aggravating process. As for my scalp? Lost cause there.

I have no clue what to do about it. Any suggestions?

 

[brix]

I don't know if it is psoriasis, eczema or whatever. It only really began in 2012, and it was mild, but it has become more severe over the years. Only on my face and scalp. Red, flaky, itchy skin. Everyone tells me that it is hereditary, from my dad's side of the family, but I have to keep up a regimen of applying hydrocortisone or else it gets uncontrollable! That's for my face; as for my scalp, nothing has ever helped. Well, one thing has.

I went to the doctor over an unrelated issue back in 2014 and was given prednisone, and upon taking it all the redness and flakiness goes away. I thought it was a fluke, but when I went to the doctor over yet another unrelated thing a year or so later, once again the red, flaky skin issues disappear! Obviously it would be unwise to try and stay on prednisone forever or anything along those lines, but I think this all points to this issue being an internal, autoimmune or clearly an inflammatory issue.

The thing is, over the years I've tried everything and every dietary lifestyle change under the sun. Speaking of the sun, getting ample sunshine doesn't really help. Maybe a little bit but nothing significant. Over the years, prior to discovering Ray Peat, I tried all kinds of dietary changes, and for an extended period of time, too. I discovered Ray Peat and this forum three years ago (although I didn't sign up until later), and things I've tried that I've read on here haven't helped either. Low PUFA, adequate fat, carbs, plentiful fructose... I've tried virtually everything, along with supplements, without going into the intricacies.

It's driving me crazy, though. I can manage the red flakiness on my face with the hydrocortisone and some natural beard oil, but still it is an aggravating process. As for my scalp? Lost cause there.

I have no clue what to do about it. Any suggestions?

Do you have blood tests?

 

[Peatful]

Have you tried a tetracycline or penicillin?

If so, which one? for how long - at what dose?
How did your issue respond?

 

[Korven]

The red flaky skin could be inflammation from fungal overgrowth, i.e seborrheic dermatitis/malassezia or some other type of fungus. Fungal infections are often described as being very itchy.

Have you ever tried applying antifungals to your face and scalp to see if it helps? There are both chemicals (anti dandruff shampoo nizoral, different -azoles such as clotrimazole) but there are also natural alternatives which I think work way better and are safer.

I would suggest you try:

Apply raw honey to your face and scalp Therapeutic and prophylactic effects of crude honey on chronic seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. - PubMed - NCBI together with diluted apple cider vinegar 1:1 with water as this helps to dissolve any nasty biofilms that may have developed and also has antimicrobial properties.

Also stop using any heavy moisturizers/beard oils/plant oils as malassezia feed on all fatty acids, keep your skin dry.

For overall skin health and improved skin barrier function I would also buy urea and mix with water 5% solution to use as a moisturizer daily, you can also put this in your scalp. Personally I use 30% urea on my face as a peel and as a way to dissolve biofilms and excess keratin.

It could also be demodex overgrowth which are mites that live on your skin. These are harder to kill off and you need to get some Ivermectin or some similar anti-mites medicine but I would try treating it as an fungal overgrowth first.

 

[member 2106]

I don't know if it is psoriasis, eczema or whatever. It only really began in 2012, and it was mild, but it has become more severe over the years. Only on my face and scalp. Red, flaky, itchy skin. Everyone tells me that it is hereditary, from my dad's side of the family, but I have to keep up a regimen of applying hydrocortisone or else it gets uncontrollable! That's for my face; as for my scalp, nothing has ever helped. Well, one thing has.

I went to the doctor over an unrelated issue back in 2014 and was given prednisone, and upon taking it all the redness and flakiness goes away. I thought it was a fluke, but when I went to the doctor over yet another unrelated thing a year or so later, once again the red, flaky skin issues disappear! Obviously it would be unwise to try and stay on prednisone forever or anything along those lines, but I think this all points to this issue being an internal, autoimmune or clearly an inflammatory issue.

The thing is, over the years I've tried everything and every dietary lifestyle change under the sun. Speaking of the sun, getting ample sunshine doesn't really help. Maybe a little bit but nothing significant. Over the years, prior to discovering Ray Peat, I tried all kinds of dietary changes, and for an extended period of time, too. I discovered Ray Peat and this forum three years ago (although I didn't sign up until later), and things I've tried that I've read on here haven't helped either. Low PUFA, adequate fat, carbs, plentiful fructose... I've tried virtually everything, along with supplements, without going into the intricacies.

It's driving me crazy, though. I can manage the red flakiness on my face with the hydrocortisone and some natural beard oil, but still it is an aggravating process. As for my scalp? Lost cause there.

I have no clue what to do about it. Any suggestions?

Have you tried going strictly gluten free? That's what works for me.

 

[EIRE24]

The red flaky skin could be inflammation from fungal overgrowth, i.e seborrheic dermatitis/malassezia or some other type of fungus. Fungal infections are often described as being very itchy.

Have you ever tried applying antifungals to your face and scalp to see if it helps? There are both chemicals (anti dandruff shampoo nizoral, different -azoles such as clotrimazole) but there are also natural alternatives which I think work way better and are safer.

I would suggest you try:

Apply raw honey to your face and scalp Therapeutic and prophylactic effects of crude honey on chronic seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. - PubMed - NCBI together with diluted apple cider vinegar 1:1 with water as this helps to dissolve any nasty biofilms that may have developed and also has antimicrobial properties.

Also stop using any heavy moisturizers/beard oils/plant oils as malassezia feed on all fatty acids, keep your skin dry.

For overall skin health and improved skin barrier function I would also buy urea and mix with water 5% solution to use as a moisturizer daily, you can also put this in your scalp. Personally I use 30% urea on my face as a peel and as a way to dissolve biofilms and excess keratin.

It could also be demodex overgrowth which are mites that live on your skin. These are harder to kill off and you need to get some Ivermectin or some similar anti-mites medicine but I would try treating it as an fungal overgrowth first.

Do you use a product that contains the urea or make the solution yourself? I can never get the measurements right.

 

[yerrag]

What's worked for me was 40mg daily of doxycycline for about 50 days. I was using doxy to see if it would lower my high blood pressure (didn't work), but I noticed it got my seborrheic dermatitis and dandruffy scalp to behave much much better.

I don't know how that helped, but I think it has to do with a low level bacterial infection that doxycycline took care of. But my scalp condition is now back after I stopped using doxy. I think I'll have to find something to take daily for a long term that would deal with a low level infection.

 

[Goobz]

What's worked for me was 40mg daily of doxycycline for about 50 days. I was using doxy to see if it would lower my high blood pressure (didn't work), but I noticed it got my seborrheic dermatitis and dandruffy scalp to behave much much better.

I don't know how that helped, but I think it has to do with a low level bacterial infection that doxycycline took care of. But my scalp condition is now back after I stopped using doxy. I think I'll have to find something to take daily for a long term that would deal with a low level infection.

Doxy is an immunomodulatory antibiotic which has suppressive effects on inflammation, which would be my guess. It’s my understanding that seb derm is thought to be fungal (malasezzia yeast) in origin.

 

[yerrag]

Doxy is an immunomodulatory antibiotic which has suppressive effects on inflammation, which would be my guess. It’s my understanding that seb derm is thought to be fungal (malasezzia yeast) in origin.

I experienced relief using doxy at low dose but as to why I wouldn't know, but it doesn't make the argument of its fungal origin strong in my case.

 

[SOMO]

The thing is, over the years I've tried everything and every dietary lifestyle change under the sun.

I have no clue what to do about it. Any suggestions?

Have you tried applying different OILS to your skin?

And if so which ones?

Coconut oil applied to the skin has very different effects than something like Safflower Oil, Olive Oil or Castor oil.

 

[Korven]

Do you use a product that contains the urea or make the solution yourself? I can never get the measurements right.

I buy a bag with 1 kg urea and then make a DIY moisturizer together with some other ingredients. My experience has been that any store-bought product will result in severe skin rashes/pustules/acne/dermatitis, even seemingly harmless moisturizers without fragrances and parabens such as Cerave.

My skin doesn't like preservatives so I make a fresh one every few days so that it doesn't spoil. I believe urea degrades pretty quickly in water so you don't want to make too much at a time anyways.

It's a pretty basic formula:

2.5 grams urea in 50 grams water for a 5% solution.

I also put some creatine and l carnitine powder in there. I think niacinamide, caffeine, taurine etc would make good additions but I haven't found any 100% pure products without excipients for these compounds.

Adding 2% glycerin is another option for improved moisturizing power!

 

[Korven]

Have you tried applying different OILS to your skin?

And if so which ones?

Coconut oil applied to the skin has very different effects than something like Safflower Oil, Olive Oil or Castor oil.

If OP is dealing with fungal overgrowth (seborrheic dermatitis) I would be careful with applying any type of oil, including coconut oil, to his skin.

Malassezia feeds on fatty acids with carbon chain lengths 11-24, so basically all oils except for pure MCT oil and petroleum https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15447062. Best is to avoid all oils and moisturizers.

 

[EIRE24]

I buy a bag with 1 kg urea and then make a DIY moisturizer together with some other ingredients. My experience has been that any store-bought product will result in severe skin rashes/pustules/acne/dermatitis, even seemingly harmless moisturizers without fragrances and parabens such as Cerave.

My skin doesn't like preservatives so I make a fresh one every few days so that it doesn't spoil. I believe urea degrades pretty quickly in water so you don't want to make too much at a time anyways.

It's a pretty basic formula:

2.5 grams urea in 50 grams water for a 5% solution.

I also put some creatine and l carnitine powder in there. I think niacinamide, caffeine, taurine etc would make good additions but I haven't found any 100% pure products without excipients for these compounds.

Adding 2% glycerin is another option for improved moisturizing power!

So how do you make your own moisturizer? What ingredients and amounts to make the product?

 

[SOMO]

If OP is dealing with fungal overgrowth (seborrheic dermatitis) I would be careful with applying any type of oil, including coconut oil, to his skin.

Malassezia feeds on fatty acids with carbon chain lengths 11-24, so basically all oils except for pure MCT oil and petroleum https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022202X15447062. Best is to avoid all oils and moisturizers.

All microbes can consume all 3 macronutrients.

The dogma/mantra that bacteria and yeast eat carbohydrates/polysaccharides needs to die.

But CO is antifungal, and even Linoleic Acid has antimicrobial properties.

If skin is flaking you won’t benefit it by drying it out more.

In addition, dry skin is not waterproof (oily skin is) and allows the environment to seep in and infectious agents to easily enter the skin.

 

[yerrag]

All microbes can consume all 3 macronutrients.

The dogma/mantra that bacteria and yeast eat carbohydrates/polysaccharides needs to die.

Your statement means nothing as you lack qualifiers. I don't think you meant all microbes can consume all 3 macronutrients at the same rate. But degree is everything, and leaving open the interpretation that there is equivalence among the 3 macronutrients is just as good as asking a viewer of a painting what the artist is expressing. We are discussing science here, and not art.