New with Dyshidrosis

[iampeety]

I wanted to introduce myself as a new member with dyshidrosis.  This has been ongoing since this past May and has been relentless since.  I have it very mildly on my hands (3 fingers on the left hand and pinky finger on right hand) and also on my foot (on the outerside and soles of both feet). My feet are what kills me the most as the blisters tend to group together and form a huge tender blister.  The blisters seems to reoccur every 3 weeks or so, they get bad for 1-2 weeks, then start the healing/leathery/cracked process and before that's all done, the blistering re-starts again. 

I originally went to see my family doctor and took one look at my foot and said dermatitis.  He gave me Clobetasol cream and said that it should go away in 2-3 weeks.  This was back in early June and they have not gone away or slowed down at all.  I was leaving for a week vacation in Kauai and was hopeful that it would go away but instead left me with the most painful week ever in paradise.  Imagine hiking with bandages on feet to add some cushion to my keens.  Not happy when I returned from Kauai, I made another appointment to see the family doctor and he basically said I was out of luck and there is nothing he can do for me.  He said that I should just use the cream until it goes away, and that doctor's don't know what causes it.  He said that I could look into getting a derm consult but didn't think it would be helpful.  He even had the nerve to say that I didn't have to see him again for this condition and can just call his nurse if I needed refills on the Clobetasol cream. 

Not happy, I went ahead and scheduled a derm appointment myself.  I went to see the derm in mid July and he spent quite a bit more time looking at my skin.  I told him that my hands do not bother me that much but my feet is super painful due to the cracks and huge blisters.  He did a skin scraping and found a fungus and said that one of my toe nails seems to also be infected with a fungal infection.  I was prescribed oral lamisil for 12 weeks.  He said that what I have can either be an ID reaction due to the fungus or it can be that I have eczema and also a fungal infection.  He told me to continue using the Clobetasol while on the oral lamisil.  Then about a month ago, I went back for a blood test due to the oral lamisil and saw the derm again.  I told him that it does not seem to be doing much, not noticing much for a difference.  He then said that I should continue the oral lamisil for the full 3 month course and said that if it is due to the fungus, it should clear up shortly after that.  If it's not, then my options are to be sent for patch testing (he didn't express much faith in this) and then doing phototherapy.  The last thing would be to be put on immunosuppresants.  He didn't think that I would need to be put on immunosuppresants but I told him if the immunosuppresants will allow me to walk without pain and go to the gym/running again, then it's worth it to me.  Lastly, he said that he may also do a biopsy but would hate to do it because it would be super painful on my foot. 

So here I am currently at 10.5 weeks of oral lamisil and have a derm appointment next week on the last day of my pills.  During the past 3 weeks, I've noticed the skin of my foot start to slough off and my patch of blisters on the foot is much smaller now.  I've also stopped using the Clobetasol as of 3 weeks ago as well, given that I wasn't noticing much of a difference being on it.  With or without the cream, my blisters would go away and reoccur anyways.  I'm not sure if my blisters are quieting down (knock on wood) due to the lamisil or just that the weather is now cooler as we're approaching fall/winter. 

I've been thinking alot about my condition the past couple of months as I've had to give up the gym and my 3 mile daily runs due to this thing that has infected me.  I'm also a flip-flop summer guy and this is the first year that I've had to wear closed toed shoes and envy others in flip-flops on the 90+ degree days.  Other than this skin condition, I'm a pretty healthy and fit 29 year old guy.  Everyday I hope that this condition would run it's course and go away for good.......   

[Bamawing]

Greetings from someone who knows the itch!! Dyshidrosis = Pompholyx. No matter what you call it, it sucks.

I'm lucky - I usually have it on my hands. I had it on my feet once and it was **awful.** I remember constantly taking my shoes off at work so I could scratch... Dude, I feel for ya.

We've got another member on here who sounds like he had your exact same problem... once the fungus was gone, the blisters cleared up as well. In his case it was athlete's foot. (Can you imagine? How long did it take the doctor to figure that out, Matty?)

I'm the one that swears by apple cider vinegar soaks, the colder the better. They have helped me immensely. The vinegar softens the cracks, and the cold quells the itch. Between that and avoiding my triggers, this crap is actually pretty manageable.

Keep us updated. I've got my fingers crossed for ya.

[Uncle Matt]

Hi there!!
Welcome to Skincell

Pompholyx is a bugger for itching. I've suffered with it myself (and I think it might be coming back too  )

Took the doctors a while to work out exactly what the problem was. Two itchy years!! at Bama...

If your problem is Athlete's Foot related, the clobetasol would have made it worse. The oral anti-fungals will help, but depending upon a number of things, if you were using the clobetasol at the same time, the Lamisil might not have been working as well.

As for footwear, the best thing I've ever found was sandals. Even when there's snow on the ground. Yes, sounds weird, but it keeps everything cool. If you've got a desk job, take your sandals off when you're at your desk, and allow your feet to breath. It really helped mine.

[iampeety]

Thanks Matt and Bama!  Ok, so I've finished my 12-week course of lamisil and it hasn't knocked the blisters out so I've started doing NB UVB treatment now 3x weekly for both the feet and hands.  Tomorrow will make 2 weeks of NB UVB treatment and I haven't noticed much of an improvement, then again, I also haven't noticed it getting worse either (knock on wood).  It was really bad during the summer months and now it seems to have slowed down a little bit since the weather has gotten cooler.  Going on a 2 week trip starting next week so I'll probably have to continue the NB UVB treatment for some more time when I return before I can tell if it's working or not. 

Something that I've found to really work is to soak the hands/feet in a 3/4 water and 1/4 apple cider vinegar solution for 20 minutes, then put clobetasol ointment and put on socks to go to bed.  I've found that if I soak with too much apple cider vinegar, it really dries out the skin and starts cracking which is painful in itself.  Then the next morning, take off the socks and shower before work.  By the time you wake up, the blisters should start turning the deep red color and begin the process of drying out.  I've been doing this about once a week, given that's about how often the blisters recycle themselves right now.  I'll post another update in a few weeks to see if the NB UVB treatment is helping any or not.  Thanks all!