Marsha Segerberg on sat 23 mar 96
Thanks to everyone for your suggestions and good wishes regarding this
dermatitis problem I described. I am overwhelmed by your responses!
You're all wonderful.
Here's what has happened: I had been using Fluocinonide cream, 0.05%, a
fairly potent steroid (cortisone-type), for one year under the direction of
a dermatologist, who also encouraged me to continue potting and also use
Eucerin often. The skin on my hands gradually became very thin and
delicate - extremely easy to bruise and cut, and blotchy, in addition to
the original condition. I practically could not even move my fingers, at
this point, without extreme itching, burning, swelling, oozing, and cuts.
Even putting my hands in my pockets cause the skin to break and bleed. I
also developed systemic side effects, even though the dermatologist swore
this was impossible. After consulting other doctors and my friend, a
pharmacist, it turns out that it is indeed possible to get systemic side
effects from prolonged use of steroid creams, especially when there are
breaks in the skin. I switched doctors, and the new one said that the
cream had damaged my skin very badly, and that now I had a fungus
infection. I stopped the steroid cream and began a course of oral nizoral
(an antifungal, the stuff that they prescibe for "valley fever", common
here in Arizona). My skin symptoms changed radically, but didn't go away.
I also had stopped potting in December because my hands were so bad. I
tried almost every suggestion you-all came up with: Bag Balm, vegatable
oil, Curel, Nutrogena,herbal creams and lotions,vitamin E, other vitamin
supplements, etc., etc. Everything I tried made my hands itch like poison
ivy and burn like fire, especially if it contained lanolin. Only holding
them under scalding water relieved the itch for about ten minutes, and this
was a big no-no because it could spread the condition, but sometimes I
thought I would lose my mind if the itching didn't go away for even a few
minutes!
Blah, blah, blah. After 5 weeks on nizoral, my hands were no better and I
took myself off it. Get this: my friend's dog had a fungus infection on
his nose which he sticks down holes in the sand looking for little rodents.
Vets prescribed everything - they even did surgery on the poor thing,
thinking it was cancer. Guess what worked: betadine solution (the
iodine-containing scrub that's used to prepare the skin before surgery. A
few days on betadine, and his nose cleared up completely and was nice and
black and shiny again. I began soaking my hands in betadine several times
a day. After three days, my hands were almost back to normal! I don't
know if it was the nizoral (withdrawn) or the betadine, or some strange
astrological configuration, or WHAT! But it went away.
For about a week. Now it's coming back very slowly. But I am keeping it
under control with betadine soaks and mild, lanolin-free lotions. Now, at
least, I have some hope. I think it was a fungus, caught from the clay or
from this moldy, fungusy environment here. I think I got it after using
the steroid cream for such a long time that my skin broke down and ruined
the local immune response in my hands. The original problem was probably
just extremely dry, cracked skin from potting for prolonged periods without
taking care of my hands. Then I mixed up a few batches of glazes without
wearing gloves and stirring the dry chemicals with my hands. Then I got
bigtime swelling and itching. Then more potting led to even drier and more
inflamed skin, etc. Then I started with the steroids. Etc.
Don't let this happen to you! And don't listen to those danged, ignorant
doctors if what they advise you doesn't work! I am so angry! This is not
the first realization that M.D.'s are a pathetic, uncaring, arrogant lot.
This time, I saw a total of four g.p.'s and three dermatologists for this
condition, and they only made it worse. The solution came from my friend's
dog, Winnie, a black-and-white pit bull. (The betadine idea actually came
from an experiment we did to see if it would work, not from a vet's
suggestion.)
Thanks again for all your advice and the great feedback you provided. It
kept me going because I knew that you cared, even though the "doctors"
didn't.
Marsha Segerberg
P.S. I still have not thrown a pot since Dec. I'm taking a drawing class.
Not as much fun.
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