Just thought I'd run this past all of you in case anyone else has experienced this?
After showering,no matter what the water temp., lukewarm,hot,or even a quick cold shower in summer, my hands are like sponges. Any moisturizer,lotion,cream is immediately absorbed. Currently on a few meds for high blood pressure, including one that is a diuretic.
My hands always seem puckered,and my palms "like sandpaper",and even though this winter is extremely mild here in Northern NJ, I've also had my share of the "split skin", or "skin crack" thing going on at nail's end on both thumbs.
(My hands are the only part of the body affected,by the way...)
Been to a dermatologist,who prescribed Aquaphor.(To me,the Aquaphor is just glorified petroleum jelly--at $6+ a tube.).Also had a skin "scraping",which was sent to a lab, to see if the cause was bacterial,or fungal..(neither)..
Outside of the few "emergency" remedies like Bag Balm, applying lotions+potions,sleeping with cotton gloves at night, or topical stuff like "New Skin", or a hand cream I found recently,which is pretty good (Working Hands),my gut feeling is that this may be due to a deficiency of some kind?
Never had this prior to being Dx'ed with Lyme, and even though Lyme symptoms are almost non-existent any more, this is one annoying crimp in my lifestyle I'd rather do without....
Any feedback? Thanks, Joe
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Vitamin D comes to mind.
Are you taking omega 3's?
I use almond oil after showering. Very natural!
Posted by jklynd (Member # 7550) on :
As a matter of fact, I am taking Vit.D-2, 50000 IU,(ergocalciferol),that has to be taken twice-a-week(Rx),as well as Source Naturals Vit.D-3 (Vitamin Shoppe) 2000IU 2 capsules/day.
I also have Nature Made Flaxseed Oil 1000mg (Costco),and Metagenics EPA-DHA Omega 3 softgels that have been languishing in the cupboard for a while... maybe I should try the recommended 2 softgels a day of the Omega 3's for about 2 weeks,or so,and see if they make any difference?
LLMD once suggested that if the fishy aftertaste that comes with some fish oil products was a problem,to keep them in the freezer. I never went that far, but I do not take them on an empty stomach. For me,at least,they do "repeat" at times...As far as the capsules go, I just haven't taken either in a while...
Thanks, Joe
Posted by poppy (Member # 5355) on :
This is probably not the cause, but it wouldn't hurt to use a shower filter and get rid of the chlorine. When I did this my dry itchy skin problems went away and I hardly use any lotions anymore.
Posted by jklynd (Member # 7550) on :
Poppy ....Will have to look into that...Expensive? Home Depot?... Lowe's?
Posted by lpkayak (Member # 5230) on :
are you dehydrated-i have a friend with the finger splitting that is chronically dehydrated
Posted by jklynd (Member # 7550) on :
lp, Not that I'm aware of.. In fact, a few weeks ago,I went out and bought a new ultrasonic humidifier, because I got tired of walking across the rug to get a remote control on our wall unit,and drawing a spark. At least that took care of the room humidity..
I do drink a lot of tea,and coffee,which I'm familiar with their "diuretic" effect, but that is offset by just plain water ,or unsweetened iced tea,and so on... Is there any simple,"do-at-home" way to determine if I am dehydrated? I've heard something about pinching the skin "on top" of either hand, but not sure about it's accuracy.
Posted by Razzle (Member # 30398) on :
If you aren't drinking half your weight in ounces of water daily, you're likely dehydrated.
If urine color is deep yellow, you're likely dehydrated (not to be confused with bright fluorescent yellow, which is from B vitamins and is fine).
Also, if urine quantity is low/scanty or infrequent, you are likely dehydrated.
If you pinch the skin on top of your hand and it does stay pinched slightly, then you are dehydrated.
However, I was severely dehydrated (and in the ER) and my skin did not tent...depends on how elastic your skin is...
Other symptoms of dehydration:
Headache Backache Fatigue (more than usual) Dry mouth/tongue Thirst (not always present when dehydrated) Poor concentration Muscle pain (that you know was not caused by over-exertion) POTS/NMH type symptoms - Weakness/light-headedness or faiting, increased heart rate, etc.
Dehydration symptoms may mimic low blood sugar symptoms also...
Posted by poppy (Member # 5355) on :
I mail ordered a filter that turned out to have leaking problems, so then I bought one at Lowe's. Probably Home Depot has them too. Seems like it was in the $20 range, and needs to have the filter inside changed at set intervals, depending on how much use it gets. It is a unit that screws onto the shower arm coming out of the wall. Unfortunately, nothing made for tub, except whole house filter which is expensive. However, I have one of those handheld shower thingees attached to my filter and use that to fill the tub, when I want a bath instead of a shower.