My Story: How my psoriasis/eczema journey started

My first 19 years

Not a pimple. Not one, all the way through puberty and beyond. That could summarize my skin story from a young age through my late teens.

However, it would not be completely true. Hindsight is 20/20, and when I think about it, there were signs of skin issues at a younger age. For example, when my hands were dry, the skin on the palm of my hands would peel off… The same would happen with the skin on the sole of my feet. It happened between my fingers and my toes as well.

As a young girl, I had a full head of hair but so much “dandruff”. I was lucky to be able to get my hair done very regularly to manage that, but it was still very inconvenient. On the other hand, my legs, my arms, my knees, my neck showed no sign of skin irritation. For nineteen years, I considered my skin to be a non-issue. At the time, I did not consider my feet, hand, and scalp irritants as anything significant. It was just something I had to live with.

Dairy and gluten deliciousness

By the time I turned twenty years old, I had spent a couple years in France, away from my home country of Cote d’Ivoire… and France was great! The food was amazing. I welcomed all the French delicious creamy dishes, tasteful deserts, and all the pasta, bread, and pastries that it could offer. It was exotic, delicious, and fun.

One of the best memories I have from my time there was stopping at the Haagen-Dazs Shop after school on a cold winter afternoon with my friend and getting a cup of Dulce De Lecce ice cream. We would devour these ice cream cups on our walks back home. So many of these after-school afternoon snacks were filled with the creamy flavor of Haagen-Dazs and other yummy food like beignets and crepes… and I loved it.

And then, on what seemed to be a completely different note, something about my skin was changing. It started with what looked like a rash on my right inner thigh. I observed it with curiosity and surprise. Eventually, I did not think much of it. Then, I noticed small pimples on my chest. They almost looked like freckles at first… Almost cute. I thought I should probably check with a dermatologist. But first, I continue having the moistest, creamiest, and most chocolaty pieces of cake and the most delicious carbonara recipe on weekends. I was enjoying all these little guilty pleasures more freely now that I was away from home. And my skin kept sending me these signs of distress in the form of rash and pimples.

The Cortisone cream journey

Eventually, I consulted a dermatologist. At that time, they did not provide a diagnosis but prescribed a very efficient cream. It was a long time ago, over 20 years, so I have no recollection of the name of the cream.

On the positive side, the consultation went well, and they quickly prescribed a cream to tackle my skin irritation. It worked beautifully, and in only a few days, the rash on my thigh was healed and the skin discoloration was resolved quickly too.

On the other hand, shortly after I started using the cream, another rash appeared. At that point, I had the cream to take care of it. So I simply proceeding applying my cream on the spot and that was taken care of again.

Only, over the years, as I moved from France to Canada, I was starting to see a slow but consistent surge of rashes. These happen mainly on my thighs - spreading from my inner thighs to my legs. I once again consulted a dermatologist who provided me one of the strongest creams (so I was told) to tackle my issues. It saw some positive results: my rash would heal quickly but just like before new ones would continue to pop up.

With time, the irritation and inflammation came faster than I could handle with the prescribed cream. I consulted another dermatologist who gave me the strongest cream available (so they told me). Ultimately, my psoriasis/eczema erupted in more places like my neck, elbow pits, underarms, and chest.

It was overwhelming. I felt like it had taken over my life. I wish I could simply apply a full-body lotion on all these areas instead of trying to carefully spot each rash. I started dressing up very purposefully to hide all the places where the rash appeared.

As much as I appreciated having a cream that I can use to spot problematic areas, I realized after several years that this was not a viable long-term solution for me.

Food and psoriasis/eczema triggers

In my previous blog "My 4 steps to healing my skin from psoriasis/eczema", I briefly touch on how a food test I took four years ago really helped me make sense of what had happened to me for years.

When I look at how my food changed from my home country in West Africa to France and Canada, it is clear that my nutrition had a critical part in my journey with psoriasis/eczema.

I grew up eating mainly rice, plantain, cassava, leafy vegetables, lots of fruits and different meats and fish. I also had wheat in the form of bread, pasta, cookies, and others. I had ice cream too, and milk, so I was not unfamiliar with dairy products. However, in France and later in Canada, the amount of gluten and dairy-filled food increased significantly; and this completely disrupted my dietary habits. I would have creamy pasta, lots of bread, and so much more milk, yogurt, and cheese.

In the end, I know that I have been lucky to be able to eat to my heart content and to taste all these delicious foods. But this nutritional change completely upset my quiet and less-problematic skin journey.

Final Thoughts

In retrospect, I think my psoriasis/eczema was always dormant. Dandruff and skin peeling off on my hands and feet were just early signs. I was not so impacted because my nutrition had a limited amount of food my body did not digest well. But really, Psoriasis and Eczema were just waiting to be awakened from a light sleep and do some damage. And they sure did 😊.

I learned from my psoriasis/eczema journey that I should be paying close attention to the food I eat. It plays a crucial part in my skin healing and overall wellbeing. It was also interesting for me to identify when everything went down the drain. This became really clear after I consulted a naturopath as we discussed my food reactions and how to manage them. I plan to discuss this aspect more in my future blogs.

Did you ever pinpoint when your psoriasis or eczema started to become difficult to manage? Do you feel like you have always struggled with it? Let me know by sending me a note using the Contact link below.

I hope you find my little story helpful in some way. Please share it with someone who could benefit from it. Sometimes you just need to know you are not alone in your journey!

Stay healthy!