Doctor's notes #1,000,000,000

 Last November I started noticing itchy spots on my trunk.  I assumed it would go away but eventually it spread to I asked a doctor about it in December.  She said it looked like little bites to her.  I knew they weren't bites so when I saw my primary care physician in January I asked him about the spots.  He said he thought it was contact dermatitis.  He gave me a steroid and some antihistamine.  A few months later I saw him again and the spots were not gone and were continuing to spread.  The steroid was effective but you can only be on a steroid for two weeks at a time or your body will begin to have withdrawal symptoms and it will be worse than when the steroid started.  It would take a full week to get rid of the spots and then I'd have one more week of spot and itch free and then have to stop.  Two days after stopping the spots would be back.  All through spring and summer the doctor tried to help me determine the cause and find a solution to the itchy spots.  We tried steroid after steroid and various antihistamines.  He ordered blood tests to check for a food allergy and when that came back negative he sent me to a dermatologist.  

The dermatologist prescribed more steroids, medicated moisturizers, and a different antihistamine.  He did another blood test, this time including all my medications and supplements.  That came back negative so he did a skin biopsy.  He looked for two things, one a different autoimmune disease and the other a rare skin disorder.  The skin biopsy came back showing no new autoimmune disease but did come back positive for prurgio nodularis.  You can look it up but basically Prurgio Nodularis it's a bunch of spots that cause intense itching.  Think 10 out of 10 on the itchiness scale.  The dermatologist believes the skin condition was triggered by the contact dermatitis.  After finding no solution and no cause of the contact dermatitis, the dermatologist decided to do a patch test to test for metals and other common allergens.  

For the patch test I had to go to the hospital and have the patches taped to my back for 48 hours.  I had to have my back checked three or four times over 98 hours.  I was reminded once again how thankful I am for google translate and was reminded how frustrating it is to do every day things when you don't know the language.  My skin reacted poorly to the tape, which was not surprising to me.  It also had an initial negative response to all of the metals in general.  Once the patches came off, my skin calmed down a bit except for one spot.  The test showed an allergy to gold but since I don't have gold caps on my teeth and don't eat gold...Other than that, there was no other lasting reaction to anything (except that today, half a week later, another spot has shown up as a reaction so I had to email the doctor and ask what that one is).  

Since there doesn't appear to be any cause the doctor has decided to give me an injection called Dupixent.  It's really expensive and requires an injection every two weeks for a year.  It also helps with a few other issues caused by chronic inflammation, which would really help me.  I am in the process of working with insurance to see if they will approve the medicine and clinic change since my current clinic does not give these injections.  

In the meantime, over the course of the last year, I've done so much research and I've tried so many things to help find a solution.  I've changed my soaps and shampoos.  I only wash my body with soap once a week (besides pits and privates)  to help create a healthy skin biome.  Along with this I started drinking Kiefer and eating more kimchi, to help improve my gut, which my research shows should contribute to healthier skin. I switched my laundry detergent and bought five different creams/moisturizers that I use daily to help soothe and moisturize.  I also started doing daily somatic exercises to help reduce stress and inflammation.  I tried taking cold showers to reduce inflammation and I started taking ginger and turmeric capsules as well as drinking interesting things like golden milk and turmeric/ginger smoothies.  I've also tried to improve my sleep and target at least 7 hours of sleep.  That's been hard since I average about 6 hrs 45 mins.  I've purchased anti-inflammatory cookbooks and cut out sugar for at least two weeks.  I haven't seen any improvement in any of the above behaviors.  It's been discouraging.  I finally decided to try an elimination diet.  I'm ending week two and preparing to add foods slowly back.  Since the blood tests and patch tests showed no allergy to a food, I am hopeful that the elimination diet won't need to lead to eliminating anything permanently.  I'm mainly doing it to give my body time to heal from inflammation and then hopefully when the food is added back in it will be able to handle all the foods.  I am currently not eating any oils but olive oil, no red meat, no nightshades which means no tomatoes and no peppers, no citrus, no eggs, no gluten, no dairy, no sugar, no nuts except for almond butter. I eat vegetables, fruits, quinoa, rice, avocados, beans, chicken, pork.  I enjoy a variety of fruits and vegetables but I admit, I'm bored of the limited foods I can eat and I'm hungry often.  It's been hard.  I'm going into Thanksgiving week adding some foods in but I won't be able to eat any of the foods I'm making the family for dinner.  

I've lost six pounds in two weeks and I do feel a little better.  My skin is still intensely itchy but my eyes are less protruding and puffy and my joints feel less achy, which is helping my back feel a little better as well.  I also seem to have less headaches.  I'm anxious about adding foods back in but I know this isn't sustainable.  I hope I can move forward mindfully and that I can continue to find ways to heal my body.  It's been a really discouraging couple of years health-wise.  Mike gave me a blessing and he said that my immune system would heal itself so I am trying to have faith in that promise and hope this time next year to be in a much better place.