Can't narrow down this condition (doctors aren't helping)

[Ouch!]

Hi, thanks for having me here on the forums.

I'm not sure where else to turn at this point. I've fought this skin condition for 3 years and have lost count of how many dermatologists, allergists, and endocrinologists I've seen trying to narrow down the issue. It started not long after I was stationed in Maryland with the Army. There were a few factors that have all seemed to come on at once which doesn't help in narrowing down the issue. I've shown signs of hypothyroidism with rapid weight gain with no change in diet or exercise routine, sleepless nights, and lack of labido (worst part about it), yet my thyroid tests all come back normal strangely enough. At around the same time this started happening, I started getting this skin condition.

With the skin condition, it has only affected the back side of my hands, my wrists, and my face around my eyes and my nose. The skin becomes very swollen, red, and itchy. I don't wear glasses, bracelets, nor watches. My hands will crack open and release a yellowish fluid and be swollen to the point that I can't ball a fist or even grab a door knob without being in pain. It comes on very suddenly as well, like with 24-48 hours of the first redness and itching and will take 10-14 days to clear up and start to return to normal. I'll be fine for 2-3 weeks and then it'll come rushing back again. It makes me think (as well as the majority of dermatologists and allergists that I've seen) that it's a form of eczema brought on by an allergen of some sort, possibly dyshidrosis/pompholyx. There have been numerous skin samples taken with no results for any kind of bacteria, bugs, or fungi which almost rules out a fungal infection. There have also been numerous blood samples taken with no abnormal levels in antibodies which almost rules out an allergic reaction. I've been pricked with just about every metal, herb, and chemical known to man with no results as to me being allergic to anything. Here's another odd part is that it seems to be much worse during the winter months (opposite from pompholyx). The worst spell of this came in January 2010 when I woke up in the middle of the night in a lot of pain and could barely move my fingers. My joints felt severely swollen, my skin was tight and swollen, and my skin was flaking off showing thin skin underneath. My wife took a few pictures of this while she was on the phone with Tri-Care to arrange for us to come into the emergency room.







The doctor put me on heavy doses of Prednisone and Percocet-5s and sent me home for a week to rest and heal. I also will randomly get cysts on my fingers; small solid-like cysts that will bump up without any redness or itching and one day just flake open and go away. It started effecting my Army career in a really bad way. On bad outbreaks, I couldn't so much as grip my rifle, much less fire it. I was placed on medical hold and marked non-deployable. The dermatologists and allergists at Walter Reed eventually seemed to ignore me and each time I'd come in, just prescribe me more steroids and painkillers. They prescribed me topical corticosteroids for a while but later stopped it since it was having no effect. These helped to alleviate the bad effects but little to heal it. The Army eventually put me on a medical board and gave me an honorable discharge deeming me "unable to perform my duties due to medical circumstances."

I've always ate a balanced diet of fruits, veggies, fish, occasional red meat, dairy, and wheats. I ate a protein heavy diet since I was working a lot with the Army. BTW, sweating didn't seam to effect this condition at all. The salty sweat didn't even burn it. I found that very odd. Something else I find very odd about it is that it feels very soothing under hot water. If I run hot water over my hands when they're full broken out, the soothing feeling is strong enough to make me weak in the knees it's so satisfying. I'm not sure if that means anything.

The yellowish fluid and sudden breakout seems to be more along the line of eczema, however the swelling and flaking of skin seems to be more along the lines of psoriasis. No dermatologists nor allergist have been able to give me a straight forward answer so I've basically stopped going. I just take benadryl and ibuprofen when it breaks out now.

If anyone on here knows of any way this could be remedied, I would greatly appreciate it. It cost me my Army career and now seems to just suck the life out of me every day. I can't go out and enjoy any of the things I like to do anymore because of it. Thank you for taking the time to read my story and thanks in advance for any help or advice.

[talkhealth]

Hi,

Thank you for your post. In September we are running an online clinic on skin conditions in partnership with NHS Choices and leading dermatologists. I think it would be very beneficial to post your question in the clinic but as i appreciate that September is a long way off you might like to post it in our current clinic on hay fever and environmental allergies.

You can re-post your question in the clinic here viewforum.php?f=210 and i think it might be useful to include the photos.

Hope this helps and good luck.

[Marcie Mom]

So sorry to see that you are suffering from such serious hand skin problem - I've a baby with eczema and your skin doesn't quite look like hers.. I'm so sorry again that no dermatologist could give you an answer. I can only think of whether you always come into contact with latex and people who are allergic to latex also tends to be for kiwi fruit.

Sorry, can't help much. I blog lots on kids' eczema on eczemablues.com but not much experience for adults.

[aprohask]

Just wondering if you have tried other topical applications? My daughter's friend has outbreaks of eczema and her mother received a prescription for a steroid cream to treat it. I have her a sample of Renew Lotion and she recently told me this is now the only lotion her daughter reaches for --the steroid cream does not bring relief, but the Renew always does and keeps her condition at bay. It is worth a try! Take Care.

[DeborahWyatt]

It might be worth looking at a website called www.myhandeczema.co.uk too.

[rshearer]

I agree with the post about the Renew lotion. That is the ONLY lotion that has cleared up my daughter's eczema. I have given it to friend's as well to use in their family and they too have had remarkable success with this lotion. If you want to get more information about the lotion the visit this website:
www.evhealthykids.com/ford

[quietwaters]

I hope you have had relief and success in narrowing down the causes since your original post. The only thing that gave me relief when my eczema was that bad was to soak in a solution of combined Domeboro's solution and Aveeno Oatmeal bath. I wonder if adding an antimicrobial would be of help. Your poor hands.

[quietwaters]

Is the Renew lotion by Melaleuca's? I checked the Internet for Renew lotion and that is what I found. Thanks for mentioning it. I would like to try it!

[Becky P]

Thats is what my hands look like but mine is mostly on the fingers. I then get these nasty little cracks to go along with that. Then my joints swell. I am having the same thing right now after the derm recommending a lotion. Ugh Hope you find some relief. Im gonna look into the lotion mentioned. It scares me to buy more lotions that send me oer the edge.

[lulu33333]

Hi! I am really sorry about your case

I know it is hard to find something that helps on the internet or at the doctor. I am also suffering from atopic eczema from my early childhoodd, so I was just searching and searching and searching..

Finally, I found the blog that is written by one guy that cured from atopic eczema in adult age. There are no scams, no commercials, just real advices that work and I really find these information useful ..You can find lot of advices here, f.e whih creams should you not use, something about treatments without antibiotics, about sunbeds, probiotics creams, showering and many others....

Just read some articles, or contact him for advice! He´s really good at it! I think, better than doctors are


Good luck!