Itchy Dermatitis?
 

I started Atkins 1 month ago. 1 and a half week ago I developed an itchy rash on my abdomen and breasts, it's blotchy and red and keeps getting worse everyday. Went to the doctor that after rulling out scabies thought it would be an heat rash.

It doesn't go away. Can it be something related to my high meat and fat content new diet?

Thanks,
H.

Hi Hellraiser--

You might want to check out this thread:

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=125658

If it were me, I'd probably make sure I was taking my vitamins (especially Vitamin E), then I'd pick up a tube of mild steroid cream at the pharmacy before I bugged my doc, but if the cream didn't do the trick I'd be down at my doc's office to see if I was allergic to something.

Note: I am not a doctor nor a health professional...this is just my uninformed personal opinion. YMMV!

Thank you very much, I'll read it. I do take my Atkins#3 and essencial oils every day, so it can't be a lack of vitamins... but I never ate so many eggs in my whole life so it could be too much of eggs, red meat and dairy...

Thanks.
H.

I also have been trying Cortef ( hydrocortisone acetate cream 5%) for 24 hours now without any results...
:(
H.

A good start might be to post what you've been eating for the past few days. There are specific food allergies that might send up red flags for folks here who've had similar problems.

Considering that you've tried the very steroid I would have recommended as worth a try, I'm thinking that there's another trip to your doc gonna happen in the near future, and he/she will take the easy out by telling you that the only new thing in your life is your diet. (can't fault that...but it doesn't really get at the root of the problem, either!)

My diet for the last 2 weeks includes:
red meat
chicken
salmon
tuna in water
eggs (2 day)
butter
olive oil
mayo
leaffy greens
brocolli
lemmon juice
garlic
chedar cheese
brie cheese
soft cheese
water
decaff coffee
Atkins #3
Atkins Essencial Oils
Psyllium Husks

I think thats all...
H.

Okay, I'm guessing that there are several items in that list that you did not use at all "pre-Atkins":

(my guesses?)
Atkins #3
Atkins Essencial Oils
Psyllium Husks
------------------> Did I miss anything?

I only started suplementing 1 week ago, after the itching was already here (though very light), so all these 2 things entered my diet after the dermatitis started.

Eggs and red meat on the other hand I went from once a week (1 egg) to everyday red meat and everyday 2 eggs...

H.

Okay, H. would it be possible for you to eliminate either eggs or red meat (just one) from your diet for 2-3 days, but continue with your same carb count?

That's waht I'm doing starting today. No more eggs for a few days and let's see how it goes...

SO itchy!
:(

H.

Good luck with your investigations. If you go at it in a methodical fashion, you're certain to figure it out. And be sure to let us know what happens.

This morning the rash looks calmer... not so red ( pink) and no new marks... let's see how it goes.

H.

That's great, H. Have you ever had any problems with eggs in the past?

Nope, but I never ate more than a few eggs a week and never more than one at once and now I was having 2 everyday.

Hmmm.... Well, if it *does* turn out to be the eggs, you may need to be careful with some other things, too. If I'm not mistaken, some vaccines are still incubated in eggs. That's something you'd want included in your med records...assuming that your "exclusion experiment" ID's eggs as the culprit.

I do hope they are to blame... it would make things easier and gonne fast. I'm just worried it might be something more complicated. I guess we'll see soon.
:)

By the way... I love Heinelein. Read lots of his book when I was a teenager. :)

Actually H., I'm kinda hoping for your sake that it's not the eggs...my understanding is that once you "trigger" an allergy like this, it gets kinda cumulative in terms of your sensitivity, so you get less tolerance as you go along. And eggs are in loads of things that you encounter every day without thinking about it, from foods to drugs to makeup and paints. It's kinda like living in a minefield.

The good thing is that egg allergies are pretty rare (less than 0.25% of the population, I'm told). I really hope it turns out to be something less widespread than albumin or other egg components.

Yes, Heinlein was great. I think I've read every one of his books. The quote is from "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", which came a book or two before his classic "Stranger in a Strange Land." I've always enjoyed his stuff, ever since I was a kid.

I think it could be not and allergy but just my kidneys saying it's too much egg and protein and fat... I was pushing it a bit with too much protein and fat and about 10 grams of carbs a day only... :(

Now I added more veggies and salad and cut all eggs and red meat. No new pimples and the ones I have look calmer though they haven't started to go away. I think I need a few more days to conclude something.

Also as everybody on earth found out after the "stranger" arrived, water is precious... and I wasn't getting enough.

H.

Fluids are MAX important on this WOE...I'm not convinced that they all have to be in the form of water (for me), but they do have to be available for the body to flush the noxious wastes from burning fat. You can get a bunch of very nasty body reactions to prolonged dehydration, including kidney stones, messed up blood chemistry and skin eruptions (I've been told).

I haven't tested this for myself...with good reason: when I get even a little dehydrated I tend to "swoon" like a Southern Belle! (Actually, I've been compared to a "pole-axed steer", but I've never seen one of those!):daze:

So, if I were you, I'd make an extra-special effort to always have a glass/can/bottle of non-sugared fluid in my hand for the next few days. Then, if my skin cleared up, I'd cautiously try adding back one of the dietary elements (just beef, maybe), while keeping my body's fluid reserves well-stocked. If I didn't see any problems developing, I'd probably try adding eggs back in a week later. Any sign of skin problems though, and I'd immediately discontinue what I last added in, and put down a ton of fluids to flush the offending "yerch" out of my system.

Same exact thing happened to me on Atkins. It was arachidonic acid, found in fatty meat and highest in egg yolks - I read about it in Protein Power. I had to cut out all fatty meats and eggs for a while (bacon and eggs together REALLY caused a big problem). I also take 1000 mg fish oil 2x per day (pill form) and 1300 mg of evening primrose oil 2x per day. These things cut down the inflammatory response. This rash will come back and get much worse if you don't modify your diet - it got crazy bad on me - went to my back, legs, arms, chest, abdomen, neck, and a couple of areas started coming up on my face!!

I also recommend some sun BUT NOT TOO MUCH - that will make things much worse! Even a few minutes in a tanning bed helped my condition. I went in for the free week. The first day that I went for 3 minutes actually helped. They moved me up to 5 minutes (I'm very fair) and burned the heck out of me - I had no idea what I was doing. So, I'm just saying be cautious. THat was the last time I went. After that I stuck with the local pool and SPF 45!

Stick to very lean meats for a while and you should get better. Fish and white meat chicken/turkey is good, so is ground buffalo - it is VERY lean, if you MUSt have a hamburger.

I attached an image I found on the internet. Mine never got THAT bad, thank goodness, but these pics made me want it to stop quick!

Best of luck!
Jinx

PS I never found that any creams worked - and I had a prescription form of cortisone. Also, hot showers make it worse.

PPS - this isn't REALLy an allergy. I can eat things with eggs in them, I just can't eat lots of eggs every day. Or fatty meat.

Wow, H. if Jinx's pic looks anything like your rash, that's NASTY!

Jinx, that's one of the great things about this board...that can't be the sort of dx that your average family doc is likely to come up with on 1st try.

What do you think, H.? Does this sound right to you?

It looks totally right! My rash is not that bad, only a bit on my abdomen and a a bit around each breast but MsJinx description and the ting about no cream working, getting worse after hot shower and a bit of sun helping ( I took a bit of sun yesterday and it did help) sure makes me believe it's the same problem.
MsJinx and geo53562 thank you so much for your help. I'll keep my fatty foods down and my water UP UP!
Thanks :)

H.

MsJinx should know better than me Red... mine is getting more pink and calming down since I started drinking more water and cut red meat and eggs. But it sure takes time to go away and the areas that are going away take a look like brownish almost like a scar from a bad pimple, instead of just disapearing.

Bad bad thing this... :(

H.

Any chance it is not food related?? Have you recently changed your laundry soap, regular soap, shampoo, started to use fabric softener sheets?

figjam: nope, I already outruled all those options. Thanks for your suggestion.

H.

heya... i have the same thing (i think) but it's only the size of my palm under my left chest (not too red anymore since i cut out red meat and eggs)...

hellraiser, has yours cleared up yet? if so, how long did it take? it's so darn itchy!

Mine is gonne but it came back a bit when I didn't drink my water and then with water it went away.

I talked to a doctor friend and she told me it was a clear sight of my kidneys not handling so much stuff with little water. WATER is the key and they will go away.

Cheers,
H.

besides the lack of water, do you know what kinds of food trigger the reaction? i've been drinking a heck of a lot of water since i started atkins... they were pretty bad 2days ago, but after cutting out eggs and limiting my red-meat intake, they seem to be going away slowly...

thanks!