I am posting this here because my dermatologist says my eczema is "obesity induced" as I only developed it after my daughter was born and I was at my highest weight ever. I can't find much helping her theory except a short article on Medscape.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/750765_11

But maybe she is correct and others have herd this and am suffering the same thing. Nothing seams to really help me. I have tried over the counter as well as prescription creams, lotions and steroids. EVERYTHING. So finally she suggested I try A&D ointment. I had been avoiding it because I am allergic to shellfish and seafood. It had an inactive ingredient of cod liver oil. She says that it is in such a small dose and the oil undergoes filtration, purification and deodorisation steps to take out impurities, heavy metals and almost all the protein which is what causes the reaction. Anyone allergic to the sea that uses this stuff? I would really like to hear from someone who is actually using it and not a theory because nothing else is working. And does anyone think this will magically go away when I start loosing weight after my surgery? I don't feel it will.

I have a severe seafood allergy and I wouldn't touch that stuff with a ten foot pole. My allergic response to seafood is anaphylaxis. I would never risk using that stuff. I also have really bad sinuses and a chronic uterica condition, which results in painful, itchy splotches all over my body. WLS has lessened the chronic uterica, but I still have to take a daily ZyrtecD. This has the 2 fold effect of preventing my sinuses from backing up and causing my face to swell. This also keeps the uterica at bay. However I still have to moisturize from head to toe each day. I have extremely dry skin so most lotions do nothing. I use Johnson's baby oil gel. I apply it to damp skin each day following my shower. My skin is dry enough that by the time I am ready to get dressed most of it has been absorbed in my skin. Any residual oil I wipe off with a towel.

I also found out that the less processed foods I eat, the fewer outbreaks I would have. I'm not sure if that helps. It appears you have already had surgery, which was one of the things that helped me tremendously. Changing my diet to unprocessed was the other thing that helped. If you go try the daily Zyrtec, have them write you a prescription for it and get it from the pharmacy. Buying it over the counter gets you flagged since the ingredients are also used to make meth.

Thanks! I haven't had it yet but am scheduled for next month. That is a lot of good advice! My reaction is fast heart beat, labored breathing, but I don't go full out, dizziness and hives. You have both of my issues so much worse then me. I'm sorry. I know how much of a pain this is. But I will definitely try what you suggested.

No don't use the ointment. I've dealt with eczema since my early 30s. I got a bunch of ridiculous suggestions from Drs too. My hands used to develop huge cracks and I'd have to bandage them up just to touch anything. I finally broke out the ex-husband's medical encyclopedias and guess what I found ( had to dig deep)?? In women the onset of eczema is common in the late 20s and early to mid 30s. Some forms of eczema are resistant to anything that comes in the form of ointment - as opposed to cream. It will in fact, get worse with ointment and most types of over the counter remedies.

I changed everything I was doing and it got better! What a relief. Find the Curel Intense Healing lotion. It's excellent and controls the eczema better than anything I've ever tried. Also, ask your Dr for:

Topical calcineurin inhibitors (pimecrolimus 1% and tacrolimus 0.03%, 0.1%)

It's a steroid cream and you use sparingly but it will heal the worst eczema. Stress the cream - not ointment. There's my 2 cents

Thanks!!!

I used to see at least 5 Dr.'s on regular basis, and a dermatologist was one of them for the reason you described...

I also had severely cracked skin on the soles of my feet.

Also, I was prone to infections such as cellulitis which led to staff, which put me in isolation in the hospital on at least 2 occasions....

All that on top of my diabetes and it was not very pretty....

And yes...all that is behind me since I lost weight.

Have not seen a dermatologist in years, nor my endocrinologist because my diabetes has been reversed.

I'm sure to take Vitamins, plenty of Water, and skin moisturizer twice a day.....

Winters were the worst for my skin, and this year went without a problem.

I still have those steroidal ointments in my medicine cabinet that I have not used in years....

Oh wow! Hope! I'm happy your are better

I had pretty bad eczema for about 30 years. My dermatologist and I tried many products. Clobetasol ointment seemed to work the best, however, there were times even that wasn't much help. I never had complete relief from symptoms. What finally cleared it up and I mean completely- was retiring from teaching. I think it was the stress. Anyway I haven't had any symptoms for two years now.

Maybe losing weight will result in less stress for your body( my surgery was only two months ago) and that might help keep the eczema from flaring up?