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Multiple allergies, hayfever and eczema
I suffer from severe eczema and hay fever and a number of food allergies. I have tried lots of exclusion diets but cannot give up sugar. My nose is constantly running and red and my eyes look really swollen. I use an antihistamine nasal spray all year long. I’m allergic to ordinary vitamin pills and have not been able to find hypoallergenic zinc or cod liver oil. Help!
To unravel your symptoms and work out what is really going on, you would need to see an allergy specialist, but your first error is in assuming that food sensitivities are responsible for your eczema. In adults, this is rarely the case according to one of the UK’s top allergy consultants, Dr Leonard McEwen.
The two more likely causes are either housedust mites in the bed - this is the cause in up to 85% of adult eczema cases and can be prevented by using special protective bedding to cover your mattress and pillows - or you may be having an adverse reaction to the presence of a yeast called Pityrosporum orbiculare, which we all have on our skin. A potent allergen that produces the same toxic chemicals as the candida yeast in the gut, and which can cause scurf, it has been identified as causing eczema in 20% of adult sufferers. The good news is that you should be able to clear it with an antifungal treatment from your GP.
You need to check your antihistamine spray is 100% pure and ask your doctor if you would do better with an internasal steroid treatment that would not cause the same rebound damage to the nose. According to Dr Leonard, among the 'cleanest' vitamins you will find are those produced by Allergy Research (available from the Nutricentre, 0800- 587 2290). The Cod Liver Oil you are taking can dry out your skin. A better source of the Omega fatty acids for you is Borage seed oil available from good healthstores.
*To find an allergy specialist contact the British Society for Allergy, Environmental and Nutritional Medicine on 01547-550378.