Troubleshooting New Rash

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tara

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Jennifer said:
I know the Genova stool test I just did is suppose to be able to tell if there's a dairy allergy present. I did the three day test instead of the one day, which means I took stool samples for 3 days to get a better picture of what's going on. I'd imagine an extended stool test like that could help you see what's going on since reactions for you can show up days later.

Hopefully you have success with A2 milk since it would stink to have to permanently cut out dairy. I've done only A2 cow dairy in the past, but it made no difference for me. I still got the rash, tonsil stones, foggy head ect. I pretty much expected that though since goat milk causes the same reactions.

Hi Jennifer,
I've not found any similar stool testing where I am, and I'm pretty sure regulations would prohibit international transfer.

I do remember reacting similarly (fuzzy head) to goats milk when I tried it a few years ago, so I guess it's unlikely I'll be better off with A2. But worth a try.

Have you had life-long trouble with dairy, or did it develop later along wih your other health troubles? Is fuzzy/poisoned-headed-ness one of your symptoms too? I was raised drinking lots of milk, and did not notice any bad effects till early twenties, after a period of drinking much less. I've never had this kind of rash before that I can remember. I did used to have a stuffed up nose often, but that's more consistent with the mild pollen allergy (and reinforcing mouth-breathing habits).

It feels as though I can get away with some milk if I don't overdo it, but it could be that I'm fooling myself and it's still messing with me at a lower level when I drink less. I've gone long periods with little or no milk and still had just as many migraines without, so it doesn't seem key to my worst affliction.
 

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tara said:
Jennifer said:
I know the Genova stool test I just did is suppose to be able to tell if there's a dairy allergy present. I did the three day test instead of the one day, which means I took stool samples for 3 days to get a better picture of what's going on. I'd imagine an extended stool test like that could help you see what's going on since reactions for you can show up days later.

Hopefully you have success with A2 milk since it would stink to have to permanently cut out dairy. I've done only A2 cow dairy in the past, but it made no difference for me. I still got the rash, tonsil stones, foggy head ect. I pretty much expected that though since goat milk causes the same reactions.

Hi Jennifer,
I've not found any similar stool testing where I am, and I'm pretty sure regulations would prohibit international transfer.

I do remember reacting similarly (fuzzy head) to goats milk when I tried it a few years ago, so I guess it's unlikely I'll be better off with A2. But worth a try.

Have you had life-long trouble with dairy, or did it develop later along wih your other health troubles? Is fuzzy/poisoned-headed-ness one of your symptoms too? I was raised drinking lots of milk, and did not notice any bad effects till early twenties, after a period of drinking much less. I've never had this kind of rash before that I can remember. I did used to have a stuffed up nose often, but that's more consistent with the mild pollen allergy (and reinforcing mouth-breathing habits).
That's too bad about the stool test, tara. I'd be curious what Ray recommends for testing a true dairy allergy. But yes, it's definitely worth a shot to try A2 only milk.

Honestly, I'm not really sure if I've had life-long problems with dairy. I was constipated a lot as a baby, but I was formula fed so anything in it could of caused that. I wasn't much of a meat eater and consumed A LOT of dairy up until my mid twenties. Mostly cottage cheese and yogurt. Pre-puberty I suffered from pretty bad colds each winter that would last around a month, along with the occasional ear infection, but never caught the flu. And once the seasonal cold was gone, I was back to being very healthy and active.

I cut dairy out off and on in my mid twenties when I'd get sick of having it, but never had a problem when I reintroduced it. When I started dropping weight at a fast rate and started on 80/10/10 to try and put pounds on, after two years on it, I developed chronic diarrhea and then about a year later was when I fractured my spine. After that, I started consuming a lot of dairy again and immediately developed rashes from it, especially cultured dairy. I tried a probiotic and it only exasperated the rash. It's been 5 years now that I've been dealing with this. The brain fog started back while doing RBTI and has only gotten worse as the rash, gut pain and blurred vision have worsened.

I would think that after all this time, you and I would have readjusted to dairy if it were something beyond an allergy, but given that we haven't always suffered from a rash, I won't rule out a bacterial/parasitic/fungal issue just yet. That's why I'm really anxious for the results of this stool test.
 
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I'll be interested to read about your results and your interpretation, when you have them - following your log. :)

One possibility that occurs to me is that the milk might be be a conditional problem when I do things that undermine my system/digestion in other ways.

For instance, about a month ago I went with an impulse to drink some keffir. It tasted great, and I probably had about a cup two days running. Then I came across Peat's description about how he got migraines from similar amounts of keffir or yogurt (can't remember which), and I didn't finished the bottle. Maybe the keffir was too much of a lactic acid overload for my sensitive system. I guess anything ani-metabolic might reduce stomach acid and digestive enzymes, so that milk proteins are not broken down as effectively?

I don't eat much wheat, but now and then I indulge. Maybe the wheat I ate worsened the gut barrier and allowed through more caso-morphines and/or other milk constituents. I've heard that it is common for celiacs to have trouble with milk till they completely exclude gluten for ~3 mths. I've tested negative for celiac a few years ago, but wouldn't be surprised if igluten hard on my gut in a subclinical way.

Or maybe something else bothersome. I'm pretty sure that progesterone made more tolerant of milk. Maybe some other imbalance is making me more susceptible.
 

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tara said:
One possibility that occurs to me is that the milk might be be a conditional problem when I do things that undermine my system/digestion in other ways.

I guess anything ani-metabolic might reduce stomach acid and digestive enzymes, so that milk proteins are not broken down as effectively?

Maybe the wheat I ate worsened the gut barrier and allowed through more caso-morphines and/or other milk constituents.

Or maybe something else bothersome. I'm pretty sure that progesterone made more tolerant of milk. Maybe some other imbalance is making me more susceptible.

That's what I'm thinking. It could very well be a conditional thing. I too was tested for Celiac disease (through a biopsy) and it came back negative, but I imagine anything that damages the gut lining, whether it be from malnutrition, psychological/physical stress, a slowing down of digestion allowing for bad bacteria to proliferate, a harsh and/or allergenic food or aquiring bacterial/fungal/parasitic infections will cause a person to be sensitive to normally well tolerated foods. If the lining is damaged, I would think the digestive capabilities are lowered and foods may not fully digest, creating an endotoxin issue allowing it to cross the gut/blood barrier. That may explain why when I took probiotics or eat bacterially cultured dairy, the rash becomes exasperated BIG TIME!

I too think the progesterone had helped, but with all the stress I went through this past summer, it undermined all the progress I had made up to that point. :|
 

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I get rashes on my ankles when I go out in the cold and my ankles get wet (like with snow). It's happened since I was a child - weirdest thing. But this sounds different.

For eczema, I swear by bag balm (the natural version of vaseline). I don't care if it's terrible - I haven't had an eczema outbreak on my face in over ten years. The stuff works. Maybe give that a whirl.
 
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lindsay said:
I get rashes on my ankles when I go out in the cold and my ankles get wet (like with snow). It's happened since I was a child - weirdest thing. But this sounds different.

For eczema, I swear by bag balm (the natural version of vaseline). I don't care if it's terrible - I haven't had an eczema outbreak on my face in over ten years. The stuff works. Maybe give that a whirl.

It's finally warm here - cocnut oil finally melted. :)

Looks like I can import bulk bag balm, but not a single pot.

Wikipedia: "The active ingredients of Bag Balm are 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate 0.3% (antiseptic) in a petroleum jelly USP and lanolin base.[2]"
I can get vaseline (petroleum jelly) and lanolin (lifesaver for breastfeeding :)), but I don't know about the 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate - wonder what that does. Petroleum jelly and lanolin might be worth a try.
 
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Jennifer said:
It could very well be a conditional thing. I too was tested for Celiac disease (through a biopsy) and it came back negative, but I imagine anything that damages the gut lining, whether it be from malnutrition, psychological/physical stress, a slowing down of digestion allowing for bad bacteria to proliferate, a harsh and/or allergenic food or aquiring bacterial/fungal/parasitic infections will cause a person to be sensitive to normally well tolerated foods. If the lining is damaged, I would think the digestive capabilities are lowered and foods may not fully digest, creating an endotoxin issue allowing it to cross the gut/blood barrier. That may explain why when I took probiotics or eat bacterially cultured dairy, the rash becomes exasperated BIG TIME!

I too think the progesterone had helped, but with all the stress I went through this past summer, it undermined all the progress I had made up to that point. :|
This makes sense to me.
 

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tara said:
lindsay said:
I get rashes on my ankles when I go out in the cold and my ankles get wet (like with snow). It's happened since I was a child - weirdest thing. But this sounds different.

For eczema, I swear by bag balm (the natural version of vaseline). I don't care if it's terrible - I haven't had an eczema outbreak on my face in over ten years. The stuff works. Maybe give that a whirl.

It's finally warm here - cocnut oil finally melted. :)

Looks like I can import bulk bag balm, but not a single pot.

Wikipedia: "The active ingredients of Bag Balm are 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate 0.3% (antiseptic) in a petroleum jelly USP and lanolin base.[2]"
I can get vaseline (petroleum jelly) and lanolin (lifesaver for breastfeeding :)), but I don't know about the 8-hydroxyquinoline sulfate - wonder what that does. Petroleum jelly and lanolin might be worth a try.

You must be in the Southern hemisphere then :)

Regular Vaseline should do the trick. When I travel, I hate carrying the huge tub of Bag Balm so I usually just buy whatever Vaseline is available in the local pharmacy. Works well too. I just prefer the more natural looking stuff, but when it comes to dealing with my eczema, I have taken a "whatever works" approach. I tried to stop using it briefly and use Coconut oil instead, but I just broke out in my terrible eczema rash again. Vaseline works and it's a well known beauty secret for helping prevent eye wrinkles. I use bag balm liberally every night before bed around my eyes, lips and under my nose (where the worst eczema breakouts would occur).
 
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Hi Lindsay,
Yes, in the south.
Found some old vaseline in the cupboard, trying it today. Thanks for that suggestion. Other than the lanolin, I wouldn't count on bag balm being any more natural than straight petroleum jelly.
I think that's what Reams used to recommend for sparing vit-C during recovery, too.
 

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Lanolin is my favourite lip balm and rash cream. (I am one of those lip balm addicts - since childhood). So expensive and hard to find, very out of fashion! Can be found as you say in the breastfeeding section at the pharmacy, if you're lucky.
A bit of luck was asking what the ingredients were in a tub of stuff to care for your leather shoes and being told lanolin and beeswax, nothing else. Wow. So it's worth looking in strange places maybe? This was in a handmade leather shoe shop, I think they mixed it up themselves. It's working well for my rash that started at the driest end of our exceptionally dry winter, August, and lasted well into the rainy season. It was around my mouth and into my nostrils and even a patch or two near my eye. Only fully gone and redness too, now. 5 months later.
 
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sueq said:
A bit of luck was asking what the ingredients were in a tub of stuff to care for your leather shoes and being told lanolin and beeswax, nothing else.
Beeswax and lanolin, nice find! I'm going to hunt and see if I have a tiny bit left from breastfeeding days. I think I have some beeswax too.
 
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Updating. The rash got more and more widespread, unsightly (beach season, too), and itchy through January.
It's been improving a lot over the last month, but not yet gone.

The last few weeks I've been pretty rigorous about slathering the whole lower half of my body (and sometimes the top half too) with some kind of grease once a day. I've used petroleum jelly, some perfumed water-dispersible oil I had left over from when my shins cracked up during pregnancy, and currently using a homemade concoction of coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, a tiny bit of lanolin, and a capsule of vit-E. I'm getting through it fast, and I like this brew, so I'll probably make another similar batch to follow.

I backed off the milk for otehr reasons - still drinking a little in my coffee, but nowhere near as much as the last months of last year.

Also started taking estroban (mostly orally) in the last month.

I'm figuring the moisturing effect of the oils is the key factor, but the other two might be playing a role too.
 

BrundleFly91

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I have a childhood history of eczema (it was diagnosed as that anyway) and steroids pretty much always cleared it up if it was a flare up situation but if this is a chronic thing which it looks sounds like it is then what has worked me when in my early twenties I was getting terrible weird rashes that were worse than I'd ever seen in my childhood... it was so bad it didn't even seem like the eczema I knew... no doctor had a clue... anyway what worked was I'd put a lot of coconut oil (anti bacteria/fungal etc.) on the area and wrap it up in cling film and seal the wrap at either end with tape. I'd leave it on over night or hours throughout the day. It's like it speeded up my skins replenishing rate.

In recent times I've been taming other rash type patches on my body by only washing when I really feel like I need to. The hypothesis behind my thinking here was that I wanted to look after my 'acid mantle'.Water (especially hot) is really drying for my skin (erodes acid mantle) and just a couple of days of leaving alone makes a difference.

So, yeah, two things you may want to try but I did noticed coconut oil without the wrap was really drying... so I defo recommend the wrap and keeping away from eroding the acid mantle with hot water, too much washing etc.

BrundleFly
 

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tara said:
The ankle rash is still there, though not quite so bad.
My skin also reacted badly to magnesium oil (maybe it was too highly concentrated). I had rashes the very next morning after I used magnesium oil topically. It's slowly healing.

tara said:
But it's now also on the back of my knee and a couple of other places. I have not been using mag oil for months, and have not had wool on those other areas. I still think the mag oil might have been a trigger, but I guess the main problem must be either systemic (unless it's my washing powder - I'm using one intended for sensitive skin, but still). I sometimes smear a little vit e on them - I think it helps a little.
Rashes "on the back of my knee and a couple of other places" is something I am having on/off for about 15 years, and it's always the same places. I do scratch myself there during sleep, and I think that the scratching causes the rashes. I started to wonder, whether I could prevent scratching when I massage these areas, and what these areas have in common. I looked a bit into lymph drainage and learned that these areas are "opened" before starting the massage.
 
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Copying these posts from Jennigfer's thread from a few days ago:

tara said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/95328/ Yes, the rash is still there, goes up and down - actually, all the way up to my armpits recently. But only occasionally severe enough to really bother me. The legs, esp. backs of knees have been fine for months, and belly and backs of buttocks much improved. So probably overall a bit better, but not gone. I'm trying to remember to supplement a little zinc from time to time, and a little vit-C occasionally (eg once or twice a week), since I gather these are both significantly needed for skin repair - but I don't have consistent enough practice or results to know if that is making any difference. I intend to keep that up when I remember for a while longer. I added a few drops of progest-e to my most recent batch of skin grease (coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, a little vit-E).

tara said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/95439/ Hi Jennifer,
Yes, it spread. I put what I was aware of in a dedicated thread last year, including adding in highish dose riboflavin, on the basis of studies showing it helped some people significantly with mgraine. I'm reluctant to stop this one, because it feels as though all the Bs I'm taking do me good when I take them, but I'm aware Peat has said riboflavin can be allergenic for some people.
 
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Hi Brindlefly,
I might try that cling film idea on my ankles.
Other places it would be harder.
I think the small amount of beeswax may serve a somewhat similar function, sealing the skin somewhat, keeping moisture in and air out.

It could be a symptom of current milk intolerance for me. I've reduced milk consumption a lot for other reasons, but not stopped it altogether. Not keen to restrict it further, but it may be worth a try at some stage.
There was a pattern last year of the rash spreading, me extending the area to which I applied grease, and the the rash showing up beyond that. Because it's so thick and greasy, I haven't been keen to have it through all my tops as well as my trousers (one pair now scomes out of the wash stiff - took me a while to work out it must be all that wax. :) ). But I have been using it more widely.
 

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tara said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/97321/ It could be a symptom of current milk intolerance for me.
Hi Tara,
I'm exploring the possibility that I'm sensitive to added vitamin A in low-fat milk. I think I'm on to something... feeling optimistic! Are you drinking low-fat milk? (here's a horrifying list of symptoms of vit A allergy. It includes joint pain, which I have, but it also includes death! wooooo)

Also, when I have gluten, I feel bad for a few days, including bad digestion of anything. That means if I have gluten once a week, there is no time for the rash to heal.

While looking for eczema info I stumbled upon "statis dermatitis", which is eczema on the ankles caused by bad blood circulation. If you google it, just don't look at the pictures... extreme cases. Could be 100% unrelated to you... it just caught my eye.

Rashes have got to go! merde!
 
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Hi Pina,
Thanks for your thoughts.
There are no additives in the milk I'm drinking. There's at least one thread here pointing to more detail about the additional substances they use to add vitamins to milk. It may be those additives causing trouble for you, rather than the vit-A itself?

I may have poor ankle circulation, but it seems to me I have been suffering cold feet a lot less the last year or two, so I would have guess circulation got better, not worse.

Gluten could be a factor. I don't eat wheat regularly, but I do occasionally. and it may well do me more harm than good. I've largely avoided it for years, but every now and then I can't resist.

Mine is not severe at the moment, but it could get worse when I hit the sea again in summer, if I don't get a handle on it.

Hope you can sort yours.
 

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tara said:
https://raypeatforum.com/forums/posts/97415/ There are no additives in the milk I'm drinking. There's at least one thread here pointing to more detail about the additional substances they use to add vitamins to milk. It may be those additives causing trouble for you, rather than the vit-A itself?
Thanks for the clarification, Tara. Here in Canada, it's very difficult if not impossible to find milk without vitamins. So I switched to whole organic milk from a small farm, it still has vitamin D3, but I think I tolerate it much better.
 
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