I don’t have any numbers on it, but judging from the sheer number of Eczema ointments, creams, salves, and oral “cures” a whopping percentage of the population must suffer from it. If you have diabetes, like I do, odds are astronomically high you will suffer from it and dry skin in general.
More than a decade ago, around the time I was first diagnosed, I began doing battle with Eczema. Just one leg. For a while the over-the-counter “cures” seemed to keep it at bay. Finally I had to get a prescription ointment from my doctor. Then I had to get a second dose. He was correct, the second dose wiped it out . . . for a while.
Yes, I’ve written about diabetes a bit before. I try not to cross over into health advice for the simple reason there are a ton of whack jobs on social media promoting the kinds of things you used to only see in the back of sketchy magazines and tabloids. We are authors here. As such, this was my journey.
The Liquid Type Stuff
The creams, lotions, etc. you find in the supermarket basically all failed when Eczema started coming back in the same spot on the same leg. After trying everything Kroger carried, I found VitaCost.com. I buy some of my supplements there. As you get older, you need more. I went through quite a bit of stuff there, ordering something different each month along with my Ultimate Omega. For the longest time this was the winner winner chicken dinner.
I still buy it. You only use a little dab so a jar lasts several months. Totally wiped it out on my left leg. I’ll be damned if it didn’t pop up on my right leg a few months later. Was really stubborn too. My winner winner wasn’t getting a chicken dinner.
This “salve” is about as thick as an old can of show polish. For a time, it was the big gun. Then my red itchy spot started getting bigger and a little darker. Almost the size of my hand, up from baseball size. I was almost going to ask my doctor for the prescription stuff.
A Casual Conversation
Working in IT I’ve worked with a lot of people over the years. Some I’ve remained good friends with. When I go for my four mile walks in the mornings I will even wear an earpiece and chat with some of them. My friend Ken I chat with enough that I can hear his wife in the background “Oh, he’s on a walk again.” I’ve never met his wife.
Mostly we trade war stories of our IT days or our youth. I mentioned my Eczema casually and Ken responded
You know, I used to suffer from that too. Would be really bad fall through spring but go away in the summer. Brought it up with my doctor and he looked at my bloodwork then said ‘you know, you are really low on vitamin D.’
Ken
This, despite the fact we both take Centrum vitamins, well Centrum Silver now, it only provides the minimum. Vitamin D gets generated by sunlight on your skin. Being IT guys we worked inside year round. When I’m on the farm I don’t wear shorts but he said he wore shorts out in the yard all summer.
So, he started taking gummies every morning. Eczema went away and hasn’t come back. The gummies are cheap and taste good so he just keeps taking them.
Chance Happening at Kroger
A week or so later I was getting groceries at Kroger. They happened to have a bogo on these.
I got two bottles for $20. They really did taste good. At the end of the first bottle I saw no improvement. I was ready to call bullshit on the thing. But I had the second bottle and they really did taste good. Half way through the second bottle my Eczema went away.
My hairy leg looks like a harry leg again. I still dab a bit of the Derma-e stuff on but ugly red itchy stuff is all gone. Hey, I’m diabetic and winter is almost here. I’m going to be putting some kind of lotion on my dry skin.
So, if you are one of those people where nothing seems to work for your Eczema, wait for a bogo and get a couple jars of D3 gummies. You could ask your doctor to check your vitamin D level next time you have bloodwork done if you want to be a bit more scientific about it. When it is something sweet that tastes good and you are a diabetic, you really don’t need more of a reason to try.
Unlike my friend Ken, I did stop taking my gummies after the second jar was gone. That was months ago. I kind of want to see how long it takes for Eczema to come back. I mean something depleted my vitamin D level. Was it some kind of illness or are the minimums in my Centrum Silver just not enough?
