Eczema flare for the first time on Whole30

[julianamae]

My husband Jonathan and I are on day 27 of our first Whole30. He has had what was today diagnosed as eczema for 2.5 weeks. We thought it was hives and an allergy, so he stopped eating eggs and nuts 5 days ago (we've been eating a lot of these). He saw an allergist yesterday who said it was not hives since the patches stay for a long time. He was thinking fungal infection or eczema and prescribed a steroid to try on one part of the body and an anti-fungal on another to see which one worked. He did a skin test for food and nothing showed.

 

Jonathan went to see a dermatologist for a second opinion and she was leaning more towards eczema. He's never had it before, though his mom has it.

 

It seems unlikely that the outbreak would be unrelated to the diet (though it is possible). What should we do? Should we stay on the Whole30 and eliminate foods one by one that might be problematic? Do we add foods back in?

 

[Brewer5]

Well, I just came back looking for this question to see what sort of answers you'd gotten.

 

None.  

 

Well, sorry about that!

 

Since eczema is considered an autoimmune condition, I would recommend for him to try the autoimmune protocol next.  You are almost finished with your Whole 30... Does he have the desire to continue, and make some additional changes, to see if this helps?

 

My other thought goes beyond the scope of the Whole 30, and that is that he could be having a reaction if he is eating a lot of high-salicylate foods.  I am just beginning to learn about this over the past few months with my middle son, who is doing a different program.  He does not have skin reactions, but I have definitely made the connection for myself between a glass (or two) of red wine and itchy little bumps I get on my chest.  It's really strange.  But it is definitely the wine.  Not alcohol in general.  

 

So that is just another thought:  Maybe look into lists of high-salicylate foods and see if he has been eating a lot of them.

 

Good luck!