When I first joined about 4 months ago, my eczema was horrendous. Socially crippling - I was afraid and ashamed to go outside.

Paleo did not seem to be helping for quite some time - then I started learning about the alkaline diet and started transitioning from a 60% meat 40% fruit/veggie diet to the opposite, more veggies than fruit, and less (but still plenty!) of meat.

I still have relative eczema problems but now I am convinced that when I am relatively stress free that all of my eczema symptoms stem from diet.

I still drink beer (I'm a college student, come on!) and occasionally have a cup of coffee. I still have a bit of a sweet tooth for chocolate as well. These are my vices and I need them to stay sane - but I maintain that the paleo diet has 90% *solved* my eczema problems.

Over the summer when I first joined I had a horrible rash all over my chest. I promise you, the included pictures do not do it justice - it was NASTY. I would scratch myself to the point of bleeding every night, and wouldn't be able to sleep till 4 or 5 in the morning, then wake up itching at 10 or 11, toss and turn in bed for another hour, then sulk in misery the rest of the day. The only solace I found was exercising, playing basketball till I was ready to collapse so I didn't have the energy to be angry anymore. For those of you who have suffered with eczema, you know that sweating only makes it worse! The only thing that made me happy simultaneously made my eczema much worse! Talk about a catch-22. I was ignoring my friends and my girlfriend - who was incredibly understanding - but I didn't care. I didn't want to see them, or for them to see me.

Not only was it on my neck (pictured), but also my shoulders, my arms (front & back), my wrists, my fingers, backs of my knees, my calves, my scalp, my ankles, tops of my feet, almost everywhere except my stomach. My eczema was absolutely ruining my life. I was depressed and I was miserable.

......four months later.....

Now, my skin is great! My allergies are much improved (though I still take 5 mg of Zyrtec (half a regular pill)) every morning. I can wear contacts without my eyes feeling so itchy that it feels like they are about to bleed. I can exercise without wanting to rip my skin apart. I tend not to shower unless I must, but I can shower now without worrying about drying my skin out to leather-like conditions.

Here is one set of before/after pics. I promise the pictures don't do it justice, but they'll give you a general idea about my journey.


BEFORE




AFTER



Final words:
For those suffering from eczema, don't give up! It took me A LONG DAMN TIME to see results - but finally I am "real person" again. Finally I am happy. You can be too! Do what your momma always told you, and "eat your dang veggies!!!"


...I'll see if I can find more pictures.

this is encouraging.  Mine seems better on paleo but isn't there yet

Quote from: celticcavegirl on October 12, 2010, 01:13:37 PM

this is encouraging.  Mine seems better on paleo but isn't there yet

Mine got slowly better, but a big change happened when I started reading about Alkaline balancing.

I'm not sure how many people subscribe to it on this site, but it basically says if you are eating a very heavy meat diet that your body's pH level may be too acidic. To balance, eat a lot more greens. I started eating a lot more salads. I would and still do make huge salads with a ton of stuff (meat included) in them. Throw in onions, carrots, brocolli, bacon, egg plant, rutabaga, anything "planty". Eat a lot more fruit - I like to buy big bags of apples, big bushels of bananas, and cartons of cantaloupe. Not really on the cartons of cantaloupe, I just wanted the alliteration. But seriously, cantaloupe is really great for you, and delicious.

The alkaline diet is still 100% paleo, it just tells you to eat more plants. Plants are good. Here's more info:

http://www.energiseforlife.com/list_of_alkaline_foods.php

Keep it up man, better days ahead.

Sounds like you gravitating to a more RAW paleo diet by % is doing the trick!