Skin Rash

[Lissa Kristine]

First off, I'm posting on behalf of my mom who is doing the Whole30 with me. We're on R1D9.

A couple days ago, she told me that an itchy rash was developing on her skin. I did a quick search and gave her a list of possible culprits, but she dismissed them all. She hasn't eaten anything she's never eaten before (and she claims that she's not eating more of something than she was before).

However, prior to starting, she recognized symptoms when eating eggs that she didn't experience before. Mainly, that they didn't seem to digest. I suggested that she leave them off her Whole30 and then add them into the reintroduction phase to see if they may be part of her diet again. Perhaps, after letting her gut heal, eggs could be tolerated again- or she would know for sure that eggs are no good. She decided to listen to a friend who couldn't eat eggs, but found they were ok on Whole30.

So, I'm pretty convinced it's the eggs. She disagrees. Eggs didn't give her a rash before. (I'm thinking the stomach distress may have been an early warning sign... sort of like how an allergic person may break out in hives upon first exposure, but may go into anyphalatic shock if exposed to the allergen again). 

I don't know all of what she eats. The lunch she packed for work the other day included black olives, avocado, three hardboiled eggs, baby carrots, grape tomatoes, pineapple, and mango. She also snacks on nuts. (Unfortunately, because I don't know her exact menus, I can't give a few examples of her meals).

[w30virgo]

I developed a rash (looked like localized eczema) on one of my fingers at around the same point in my Whole30 this month that you're at now. I've never had eczema before, but after googling it, that's what it seemed like. I wasn't eating any ingredients that I hadn't had before, but I had eaten a new protein bar (Epic Performance Lemon) that I hadn't had. I'm still not sure if it was dates, or the egg white, or nuts, or what, but I stayed away from nuts for about a week, took Benadryl a few days, and used Cortisone cream, and the rash cleared up. I've eaten nuts with no real problems all of my life, but I think that the fact that I was eating more of them than usual may have caused some irritation. 

Ultimately, it will be up to your mom to decide if she wants to change what she's eating to try to eliminate eggs, or nuts, or whatever she thinks may be causing the rash (it could also be a new detergent, cleaning product, or toiletry), or go to the doctor.