TDLR version: I guess you could say I think I've nearly cured my chronic eczema (multiple types all over my body) with diet and some key supplements. It's been a long journey. Could be very useful info for some suffering skin conditions. Im hoping to hear about where I might go from here and I'm interested in hearing about how the RP perspective may be of benefit.
Hi everyone! This is my first post. I recently became aware of the RP perspective and am interested in knowing more about how it relates to my situation. Maybe some of you might pick up a thing or two from my own experiments with diet changes also :)
I have struggled with many forms of dermatitis since I was a child. I had asthma and allergies also. I am a C section baby also.
I used topical cortisone creams to keep things in check but last year at age 29 I developed eczema all over my body from feet and legs to back, hips, arms and head. I had dishydrotic eczema on my fingers (the bubbly pustule type). I also had eczema and a red rash on my face similar to Candida and the skin on my face always felt very tight.
Occasionally I would have allergic type reaction on my face also similar to hives or a heat rash. I lived with this for three years and then developed Sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp and also eczema around eyes due to cortisone usage.
At my wits end, I went to see a functional medicine practitioner (gut healing, microbiome balancing perspective) as i realised that using cortisone was not a sustainable remedy.
My diet at the time was low-medium protein (I ate 4 eggs every morning and red meat maybe once a fortnight, mostly ate cured meats in my pastas) very high carb (filled up on pasta, bread) and med-high sugar (chocolate after dinner). Due to low income, I would eat huge bowls of pasta with very little veg, mainly tinned tomatoes or cream base with onions, garlic, and a piece of cured meat for flavour... I would then have a sugary desert afterwards. I always though I was fine with this diet as I NEVER gained weight no matter what I ate. In fact I maintained it as I was scared of losing more weight. As stated, I would also eat a lot of bread and cheese however drank no milk. I also smoked cigs and drank black coffee regularly. I would also sleep in the day and work at night and the work i did was not physically active.
I had noticed in the past that whenever I went travelling overseas (extended backpacker trips) my eczema would disappear. I was not sure if this had to do with sun, salt water, stress levels. Now im fairly convinced it was due to diet diversity and drastic exposure of the microbiome to new bacterial environments.
So, my functional doctor in the early stage basically told me to go on very restrictive paleo diet in order to repair my gut so as to get it processing nutrients again. Made sense to me at the time so I gave it a try.
At first, my elimination diet consisted of only brown rice, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato, small amounts of red meat, coconut oil and salt. I stayed with this and in the first month the difference was quite remarkable... more on this in a second. He also gave me the following supplements to take which I am still taking to this day.
Quercetin 500mg perday
Currcumin 1000mg perday
Vitamin D 3000ug (1000ug three times daily) (I was below average of 50 at 45, doctor thinks people like me with autoimmune issues need to be above 80 at the min)
Vitamin C 2000ug/perday
1ltr of Oolong tea a day
Homemade beef bone broth
Within the first month, all of my eczema disappeared with the exception of face rash and sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp. Even the bubbly dyshydrotic eczema on my fingers disappeared. It was quite a shock to the system and I kind of went a bit crazy with the food cravings. never really experienced anything like that before. Walking down the street past restaurants was torturous. I mostly craved carbs in hindsight.
Soon after this immediate but short clear period, I had my first flair up in the form of big eczema spots 1 cm wide appear all over my body. these spots looked pretty bad and would leave a scab after forming. These spots were also symmetrical forming on my feet, shins, stomach and arms. Id have one spot on the top of one foot and other in exactly the same place on the other. very strange. My doctor said this was a 'healing reaction'... I was getting bacterial infestation in my gut under control (SIBO) and repairing the tight junctions of the gut lining (leaky gut).
I read on the internet many people talking about using antibiotics to eliminate SIBO but my doctor said this could do more harm than good and would rather just see what happens with diet change and supplements alone.
I continued with the diet and the sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp was the next thing to disappear. It has never came back to this day (thankfully, that stuff really put me over the edge and was the catalyst for making the changes that I have).
I continued on this very simple high fibre NO sugar diet for three months and slowly the healing reactions began to lessen. I also quit smoking, got a job delivering vegetables which means ive been getting up at sunrise and asleep before 11pm. Also gave me access to a large variety of BULK free veg... not organic but better than nothing as I am not a rich man by any means.
After the 4 month mark I noticed I had NO dermatitis at all. However, every full moon or a day or two either side (yeah weird... im not hippy or anything AT ALL but this was definitely an observed pattern), I would get the healing reaction thing happening again. However, no big dermatitis spots anymore. Just a small flare up or redness on the cheeks, some small ichy spots on my legs and hips, the hives/heat rash spots on my face and the dishydrotic eczema bubbles appear on the middle finger of my right hand.
All of these reactions would disappear over the coming week or so and I would be back to perfectly smooth skin all over. Particularly my face felt smooth and elastic like never before. The only thing that would stick around was flakey skin on my finger after the dishdyrotic 'bubbles' had disappeared and the skin seemed to be in repair mode. This flakeyness would slowly vanish and then even my finger would have no eczema and i would have perfectly clear all over for about a week until the full moon at which point id have another break out/healing reaction.... hives/heat rash on face. mild eczema on legs. disydrotic bubbles on the same one finger.
It seemed to me at this point I had uncovered the primary mechanism or cycle underlying the other issues I was having.
I began to introduce other foods in an attempt to see if I was allergic to something (yeah i ate only brown jasmine rice, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato small amounts of red meat, coconut oil and salt for 4 months!).
First month I introduced other vegetables that are supposedly nutrient dense but not Auto-Immune Protocol Approved (AIP) such as avocado, beans, garlic, ginger etc. No flareups, just the same old monthly 'healing reaction'.
The the next month I introduced nuts and seeds mainly, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pecan. No immediate flareups or funny feelings in my gut, just an even less drastic monthly healing reaction.
By the third month I had reintroduced everything including eggs but NO dairy and grains... no bread, no pasta etc. Only rice and rice noodles and even then was light on those. I also started mowing the lawn and doing other activities that would normally require an anti-histamine and have had no allergic reactions at all with these activites to this day.
I then started taking another supplement called 'Restore' (zach bush). I was hesitant to pay so much for dirt water (lignite water apparently) but my doctor said he and his colleagues had experienced good results for people with gut issues and thought I should at least try it. Amazon reviews seemed positive also so I forked out $120 for my bottle of dirt water.
Well I tried it and I my monthly flair up did not eventuate with the coming of the full moon for the first time! Obviously my doctors approach is not reductionistic in the slightest but more of a throw things at the wall and see what sticks method so I cant be sure that the 'restore' is what broke the cycle that month but anyway, very interesting.
However, kept going with the diet and after another month as the full moon approached I had another flair up. This time quite mild but still redness on cheeks (no heat rash/hives on my forehead/face for the first time!) and dyshydrotic bubbles appearing on the same middle finger of my right hand.
Now... (nearly finished I promise!)
I decided to go for a holiday to Taiwan. This would be the big test to see if anything immediately triggered eczema.
I ate anything and everything. Tofu, pork, beef, chicken, bubble tea with sugar and milk (this was the one thing that made my stomach feel weird, i assume I have developed an intolerance to lactose due to abstinence?), all sorts of sugary sweets, bread, deep fried bread with eggs and mayonnaise stuffed inside. None of this organic of course.
My skin was fine. I actually think my face become more oily somewhat from all the meat fats and gelatin thickened soups and took on a shine and radiance I have never seen before.
I returned after ten days and am back to my paleo diet (was really craving veg by the time I left), all seems well but we shall see come next full moon in 20 or so days.
I came across Ray Peat as someone in taiwan suggested that supplements aren't really as popular in taiwan due to impurities in the binders etc. very RP i suppose. Also they seem to manage most ailments with traditional chinese medicine/teas/herbs. I developed a cold on the way there and TCM tea and eating 'hot' foods and beverages to get the 'cold' out seemed to be very effective. The cold was gone in two days. Maybe I just much healthier now?
Anyway, Ive been back in my western country for 3 days now and am waiting to see what happens from here. I have looked into getting pure power for my supplements after reading some RP. I think I might also drop vitamin C as that seem to be no good i supplement form? Ill check with my doctor first but I also know he is very into the brain Methylation stuff which I have no idea about because we've just been focusing on my gut heath. Maybe that stuff will be next after we sort the gut stuff.
Just wanted to know what you all think because many of you seem very knowledgable about many things. I am very hesitant to start introducing massive amounts of sugar via fruit as apparently SIBO is worsened by this. Perhaps I have got my gut functioning again however as moderate amounts on sugar in Taiwan seemed to cause no issues. Doctor seemed to think 'restore' water would protect me during my trip? not sure what to think about that though there seems to be some solid science suggesting it protects again gluten and GMO grains destroying tight junctions etc.
As stated earlier I also struggle to maintain weight so giving up avocado and nuts to lower PUFA makes me weary also. Nice to know I can continue making my coconut oil/coca butter fat bombs however!
Well, thanks for reading, as the topic title states, would really like to know what everyone thinks i've done here. I see many on here complaining that paleo didn't work for them however many seem to think they can repair their gut overnight. From my experience I didn't see really positive results until 3 months in and I guess i'm still yet to see when my next 'healing reaction' will occur (and my diet was extremely restrictive for 3 months which i understand most people aren't up to) so not completely sold on any perspective yet. Seems eating veg, reducing carbs, getting exercise, getting circadian regularity happening and simple common sense has gone a long way for me here. My doctor has said he only want to see me every two months now and is confident these 'healing reactions' will come less frequently from here on out. However, I would really like to know why this underlying cycle seems to persist and what it maybe related to from the RP perspective.
Thanks again for reading, very interested to hear people thoughts about all of this as I dont have any friends irl who are into this stuff! :)
Hi everyone! This is my first post. I recently became aware of the RP perspective and am interested in knowing more about how it relates to my situation. Maybe some of you might pick up a thing or two from my own experiments with diet changes also :)
I have struggled with many forms of dermatitis since I was a child. I had asthma and allergies also. I am a C section baby also.
I used topical cortisone creams to keep things in check but last year at age 29 I developed eczema all over my body from feet and legs to back, hips, arms and head. I had dishydrotic eczema on my fingers (the bubbly pustule type). I also had eczema and a red rash on my face similar to Candida and the skin on my face always felt very tight.
Occasionally I would have allergic type reaction on my face also similar to hives or a heat rash. I lived with this for three years and then developed Sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp and also eczema around eyes due to cortisone usage.
At my wits end, I went to see a functional medicine practitioner (gut healing, microbiome balancing perspective) as i realised that using cortisone was not a sustainable remedy.
My diet at the time was low-medium protein (I ate 4 eggs every morning and red meat maybe once a fortnight, mostly ate cured meats in my pastas) very high carb (filled up on pasta, bread) and med-high sugar (chocolate after dinner). Due to low income, I would eat huge bowls of pasta with very little veg, mainly tinned tomatoes or cream base with onions, garlic, and a piece of cured meat for flavour... I would then have a sugary desert afterwards. I always though I was fine with this diet as I NEVER gained weight no matter what I ate. In fact I maintained it as I was scared of losing more weight. As stated, I would also eat a lot of bread and cheese however drank no milk. I also smoked cigs and drank black coffee regularly. I would also sleep in the day and work at night and the work i did was not physically active.
I had noticed in the past that whenever I went travelling overseas (extended backpacker trips) my eczema would disappear. I was not sure if this had to do with sun, salt water, stress levels. Now im fairly convinced it was due to diet diversity and drastic exposure of the microbiome to new bacterial environments.
So, my functional doctor in the early stage basically told me to go on very restrictive paleo diet in order to repair my gut so as to get it processing nutrients again. Made sense to me at the time so I gave it a try.
At first, my elimination diet consisted of only brown rice, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato, small amounts of red meat, coconut oil and salt. I stayed with this and in the first month the difference was quite remarkable... more on this in a second. He also gave me the following supplements to take which I am still taking to this day.
Quercetin 500mg perday
Currcumin 1000mg perday
Vitamin D 3000ug (1000ug three times daily) (I was below average of 50 at 45, doctor thinks people like me with autoimmune issues need to be above 80 at the min)
Vitamin C 2000ug/perday
1ltr of Oolong tea a day
Homemade beef bone broth
Within the first month, all of my eczema disappeared with the exception of face rash and sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp. Even the bubbly dyshydrotic eczema on my fingers disappeared. It was quite a shock to the system and I kind of went a bit crazy with the food cravings. never really experienced anything like that before. Walking down the street past restaurants was torturous. I mostly craved carbs in hindsight.
Soon after this immediate but short clear period, I had my first flair up in the form of big eczema spots 1 cm wide appear all over my body. these spots looked pretty bad and would leave a scab after forming. These spots were also symmetrical forming on my feet, shins, stomach and arms. Id have one spot on the top of one foot and other in exactly the same place on the other. very strange. My doctor said this was a 'healing reaction'... I was getting bacterial infestation in my gut under control (SIBO) and repairing the tight junctions of the gut lining (leaky gut).
I read on the internet many people talking about using antibiotics to eliminate SIBO but my doctor said this could do more harm than good and would rather just see what happens with diet change and supplements alone.
I continued with the diet and the sebhorric dermatitis on my scalp was the next thing to disappear. It has never came back to this day (thankfully, that stuff really put me over the edge and was the catalyst for making the changes that I have).
I continued on this very simple high fibre NO sugar diet for three months and slowly the healing reactions began to lessen. I also quit smoking, got a job delivering vegetables which means ive been getting up at sunrise and asleep before 11pm. Also gave me access to a large variety of BULK free veg... not organic but better than nothing as I am not a rich man by any means.
After the 4 month mark I noticed I had NO dermatitis at all. However, every full moon or a day or two either side (yeah weird... im not hippy or anything AT ALL but this was definitely an observed pattern), I would get the healing reaction thing happening again. However, no big dermatitis spots anymore. Just a small flare up or redness on the cheeks, some small ichy spots on my legs and hips, the hives/heat rash spots on my face and the dishydrotic eczema bubbles appear on the middle finger of my right hand.
All of these reactions would disappear over the coming week or so and I would be back to perfectly smooth skin all over. Particularly my face felt smooth and elastic like never before. The only thing that would stick around was flakey skin on my finger after the dishdyrotic 'bubbles' had disappeared and the skin seemed to be in repair mode. This flakeyness would slowly vanish and then even my finger would have no eczema and i would have perfectly clear all over for about a week until the full moon at which point id have another break out/healing reaction.... hives/heat rash on face. mild eczema on legs. disydrotic bubbles on the same one finger.
It seemed to me at this point I had uncovered the primary mechanism or cycle underlying the other issues I was having.
I began to introduce other foods in an attempt to see if I was allergic to something (yeah i ate only brown jasmine rice, zucchini, carrot, sweet potato small amounts of red meat, coconut oil and salt for 4 months!).
First month I introduced other vegetables that are supposedly nutrient dense but not Auto-Immune Protocol Approved (AIP) such as avocado, beans, garlic, ginger etc. No flareups, just the same old monthly 'healing reaction'.
The the next month I introduced nuts and seeds mainly, sunflower seeds, walnuts, and pecan. No immediate flareups or funny feelings in my gut, just an even less drastic monthly healing reaction.
By the third month I had reintroduced everything including eggs but NO dairy and grains... no bread, no pasta etc. Only rice and rice noodles and even then was light on those. I also started mowing the lawn and doing other activities that would normally require an anti-histamine and have had no allergic reactions at all with these activites to this day.
I then started taking another supplement called 'Restore' (zach bush). I was hesitant to pay so much for dirt water (lignite water apparently) but my doctor said he and his colleagues had experienced good results for people with gut issues and thought I should at least try it. Amazon reviews seemed positive also so I forked out $120 for my bottle of dirt water.
Well I tried it and I my monthly flair up did not eventuate with the coming of the full moon for the first time! Obviously my doctors approach is not reductionistic in the slightest but more of a throw things at the wall and see what sticks method so I cant be sure that the 'restore' is what broke the cycle that month but anyway, very interesting.
However, kept going with the diet and after another month as the full moon approached I had another flair up. This time quite mild but still redness on cheeks (no heat rash/hives on my forehead/face for the first time!) and dyshydrotic bubbles appearing on the same middle finger of my right hand.
Now... (nearly finished I promise!)
I decided to go for a holiday to Taiwan. This would be the big test to see if anything immediately triggered eczema.
I ate anything and everything. Tofu, pork, beef, chicken, bubble tea with sugar and milk (this was the one thing that made my stomach feel weird, i assume I have developed an intolerance to lactose due to abstinence?), all sorts of sugary sweets, bread, deep fried bread with eggs and mayonnaise stuffed inside. None of this organic of course.
My skin was fine. I actually think my face become more oily somewhat from all the meat fats and gelatin thickened soups and took on a shine and radiance I have never seen before.
I returned after ten days and am back to my paleo diet (was really craving veg by the time I left), all seems well but we shall see come next full moon in 20 or so days.
I came across Ray Peat as someone in taiwan suggested that supplements aren't really as popular in taiwan due to impurities in the binders etc. very RP i suppose. Also they seem to manage most ailments with traditional chinese medicine/teas/herbs. I developed a cold on the way there and TCM tea and eating 'hot' foods and beverages to get the 'cold' out seemed to be very effective. The cold was gone in two days. Maybe I just much healthier now?
Anyway, Ive been back in my western country for 3 days now and am waiting to see what happens from here. I have looked into getting pure power for my supplements after reading some RP. I think I might also drop vitamin C as that seem to be no good i supplement form? Ill check with my doctor first but I also know he is very into the brain Methylation stuff which I have no idea about because we've just been focusing on my gut heath. Maybe that stuff will be next after we sort the gut stuff.
Just wanted to know what you all think because many of you seem very knowledgable about many things. I am very hesitant to start introducing massive amounts of sugar via fruit as apparently SIBO is worsened by this. Perhaps I have got my gut functioning again however as moderate amounts on sugar in Taiwan seemed to cause no issues. Doctor seemed to think 'restore' water would protect me during my trip? not sure what to think about that though there seems to be some solid science suggesting it protects again gluten and GMO grains destroying tight junctions etc.
As stated earlier I also struggle to maintain weight so giving up avocado and nuts to lower PUFA makes me weary also. Nice to know I can continue making my coconut oil/coca butter fat bombs however!
Well, thanks for reading, as the topic title states, would really like to know what everyone thinks i've done here. I see many on here complaining that paleo didn't work for them however many seem to think they can repair their gut overnight. From my experience I didn't see really positive results until 3 months in and I guess i'm still yet to see when my next 'healing reaction' will occur (and my diet was extremely restrictive for 3 months which i understand most people aren't up to) so not completely sold on any perspective yet. Seems eating veg, reducing carbs, getting exercise, getting circadian regularity happening and simple common sense has gone a long way for me here. My doctor has said he only want to see me every two months now and is confident these 'healing reactions' will come less frequently from here on out. However, I would really like to know why this underlying cycle seems to persist and what it maybe related to from the RP perspective.
Thanks again for reading, very interested to hear people thoughts about all of this as I dont have any friends irl who are into this stuff! :)
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