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The Journey

Eczema is a common issue for people coming to GAPS. Eczema is also very stubborn, and often one of the last things to heal. Some people hit on their personal solution quite early on; others require much more patience because the solution is slower in coming. However, on our support list we have seen decades of persistent eczema resolve in mere days, weeks or months.

It appears that eczema is often linked to healing crisis or “die off”. Thus, the management of die-off is important, as noted throughout the GAPS Guide book.

Healing

• Diet – For some people, the diet aspect of GAPS has alone resolved eczema. For some people, this was almost immediate; for others, it took up to seven months, with terrible flares in the meantime.
• Probiotics – For some people, the addition of probiotics alone does the trick. (For others, the same thing triggers a flare-up. This may not be a bad thing, though, as often a symptom has to flare before it can resolve.)
• Be sure to do the intro, work methodically through the program, and include lots of good, GAPS fats.
• New! As a trial, remove from your diet even GAPS-approved nightshade vegetables (tomatoes, bell peppers, paprika, eggplant), known to trigger eczema in many
• Chiropractic Adjustment – A comment below reminded me that my sister had a patch of chronic eczema clear up literally overnight after a single adjustment (by someone who was not even a chiropractor, though of course I can only recommend you see someone certified in this approach).

Prevention

• All sorts of things can trigger eczema. Make sure you are using no chemicals, even the degree of chemicals found in sunscreens or in relatively “natural” laundry detergents (for example) such as ammonium lauryl sulfate.
• Wear cotton clothing, avoid feather pillows, clean bedding regularly so that dust and mites do not cause or exacerbate problems.
• Wash clothes and bedding regularly in hot soapy water.
• Avoid excessive contact with water. Avoid soaps and shampoos (neither are necessary).
• Seasonal allergies can exacerbate eczema that is otherwise lying low. Don’t be discouraged by this; in many cases, GAPS resolves seasonal reactions, too, so this may well subside after one or two seasons.
• Go Slowly – Many people leap into multiple healing practices early on. This can cause fast and horrendous die-off, including pus, blisters and eczema. Stopping supplements, anti-fungal or probiotic foods, etc, can ease the die-off. While probably the most difficult thing to do on GAPS, moving very slowly and methodically can make all the difference, allowing healing to happen at a manageable pace.
• Daily topical applications of coconut oil.
• Ensure at least one -and preferably up to three- bowel movements daily. (Use an enema if necessary.)

Remedies

While healing is taking place on its own schedule, the remedies below, which have worked for different people on our list, can be used to soothe and calm the skin. Please note that for each person, what works is different. Also, a remedy that works for one person may even exacerbate symptoms in another. It is a matter of trial and error.

• Ensure at least one -and preferably up to three- bowel movements daily. (Use an enema if necessary.)
• Chiropractic adjustment
• Baths with a cup of raw apple cider vinegar
• Baths with baking soda and epsom salts, limiting any lotions
• Removal of dairy (every speck, and including ghee)
• Updated! Removal or reduction of all culprit foods (different for everyone). The simplest way to do this is to start with Stage 1 then, when your range of food has built up, eventually rotate out the earliest foods. Some foods specifically found to trigger flare ups in different people are: fermented vegetables, carrots, dairy (for some, even ghee), fruit, legumes, as well as many non-GAPS foods such as grains (see Dianne’s note in the comments section below)
• Very regular aalgo seaweed baths: www.aalgo.com
• Plantain salves – Apply before or as soon as itch begins. Then, Eucerin orginal cream slathered on affected areas before bed and up to three times a day. The Eucerin helps to hydrate the dry, papery area for long term itch relief.
• Honey wrap – Slather affected body part in honey, cover with plastic (wrap or bag), and leave overnight.
• Avocado (topical application)
• Bio-Kult mixed into avocado, slathered on the affected body part
• Homeopathic ointment called Florazone
• If a person is scratching to the point of damaging skin, keep nails *really* short!
• Mix some shea butter with a few drops of essential oil of chamomile, geranium, rosemary and lavender. Apply the cream to affected areas.
• Borage Dry Skin Therapy by Shikai (in the US, available at Whole Foods) or breaking open a capsule of borage oil and smearing it on one’s hands, while taking multi-vitamins.
• New! Turmeric paste (see Sarah Schatz’s note in the comments section below)
• New! Aloe vera gel
• New! Milk thistle and/or other liver support (see Tracy’s story in the comments section below)

Plaintain Ointment – Recipe by Susun Weed

“Pick plaintain (plantago–a ‘weed’ in every lawn! Google the image and you’ll know it right away) when leaves are vibrant and green. DO NOT WASH. Just brush the leaves off gently if needed. Chop them coarsely and pack loosely into a clean, dry jar. Add olive oil, dislodging air bubbles with a knife or chopstick, until the jar is filled to the very top. Label and cap securely. Let sit out of direct sunlight, on a surface that won’t be marred by oozing oil (I put the jar on a dish). Decant after six weeks*, pouring off the oil and squeezing out what remains in the plant material. Compost the leftover herb. Grate one tablespoon of beeswax for every ounce of oil. Stirring constantly, heat the oil and beeswax until the wax melts, usually within a minute. Pour the liquid into small, wide-mouthed jars and cool. Use this ointment lavishly for diaper rash, insect bites and minor wounds. It heals, stops itching, checks bleeding, and eases pain.”

Can’t wait six weeks? The recipe above can be used even after just a week, and even without the beeswax step. ie. Just set the coarsely chopped leaves in olive oil for a week, then apply the oil.

In a real hurry? Pick a plaintain leaf, chew it -making it really juicy- then put the mashed up, juicy leaf on the itchy spot.

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While I’ve seen GAPS improve eyesight, as well as resolve vision issues related to blood sugar instability, I responded that I did not know the answer to the remaining questions and promised to ask Dr Natasha. Dr Natasha has kindly responded with the following:

I have had no experience with treating neurofibromatosis or ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease with GAPS programme, but it is worth a trial, as this programme feeds the nervous system well.

I had a number of patients whose eye sight improved dramatically on GAPS protocol, children and adults with all sorts of eye problems.

For a list of conditions we have seen positively impacted by GAPS, please click here.

I advised his mother to return to intro, with a few modifications.

Recently, I very reluctantly took my own advice. Those of you who’ve read GAPS Guide know of the incredible recovery my son has sustained. His teeth, stools, speech, tolerances for baths and sounds, etc, all resolved early in our implementation of the Specific Carbohydrate Diet then GAPS.

Two issues persisted, though: night-time peeing and, aside from a few nights early on, night-wakings.

Because full relief from nightwakings was the absolute first sign of healing, I knew this symptom was diet related. I’d also heard of several other kids for whom nightwakings and/or bedwetting had been resolved by a change in diet. I was, however, resistant to returning to a stricter stage of GAPS -so I didn’t. Beyond happy with our progress in all other areas, I continued waking with my son 2-12 times every single night.

Finally, I posted to our support list. A number of different suggestions, based on what had worked for different families, came in. I collated the responses into one document, then pondered my starting point. I first tried the easiest potential solution: magnesium baths before bed. No luck.

I then tried a low oxalate version of GAPS (which intro basically is). I am very excited to report that my son has now slept through the night for four consecutive nights. Since he’d only ever achieved one night at a time ever before, I have trouble believing this is a coincidence. I will enjoy exploring the matter of oxalates and their effects, as well as finding the magic amount my son is able to tolerate. My plan is to stick with “no oxalate” and “very low oxalate” foods for two weeks, then start adding in “low oxalate” foods until his tolerance is determined.

It’s interesting to note that many GAPS children struggle with spinach and nuts, both of which are high oxalate foods, as are many commonly-used GAPS fruits. Apparently, one of the issues with oxalates is that in sensitive people, they can cause crystals to form, their sharp points actually inflicting pain internally.

Below is a detailed list of the foods we’ve been focusing on the past four days. On each day I have accidentally or in one case intentionally (to allow him to enjoy a surprise birthday party) included very small servings of some oxalate-containing foods such as onions or peanuts. These small amounts demonstrate that the goal is sufficiently “lower oxalate” and not “no oxalate”.

Note: To determine what I should narrow my son’s foods to, I cross-referenced several Low Oxalate Diet lists (some of which conflict with each other, so I looked for the lowest common denominators) against GAPS’. His list currently includes:

Fruit-Ish
Apricots
Cherries
Coconut
Green (not red) Grapes
Lemons
Mangoes
Peaches

Vegetable-Ish
Avocados
Bok Choy
Cauliflower ONLY IF WELL-BOILED
Chestnuts
Cucumber
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Peas ONLY IF WELL-BOILED
Pickles
Red Pepper
Turnips (not for early SCD/GAPS)
Zucchini

Animal Products
Butter
Cheddar Cheese
Eggs
Kefir
Meats, including fish
Yogurt

Other
Honey
Mustard
Nutmeg
Salt

School snacks are: hard-boiled eggs, leftover stew, canned salmon.

I would like to extend a huge thanks to the mamas -Kathleen, Anne, Maria, Millie, Cara, Irene and Teri- who submitted their experiences to help out my dear son and I. I am, of course, deeply grateful!!!

Update May 11th, 2010: In response to Noel’s comment below, I wish to provide an update on this post. Yes, Noel, reduced oxalates has been very effective! My son continues to do full GAPS, but with a focus on meats and other low-to-no oxalate foods. He does have small helpings of nuts (up to about 1/8th cup per day) and eats any fruits and GAPS veggies he wants at a birthday party. So long as his oxalate count over any given week is low, he sleeps right through the night. If he has increased oxalates for several days in a row, the nightwakings start up again. His night-time peeing has continued, but I’m not worried about that at all.

Update June 4, 2010: See also this post.

Something I love about the GAPS community is how everyone pitches in to the brainstorming and research. We are all open to learning ever more. This serves not only all of us currently on the program, but those yet to come on board.

I strongly recommend following long term the comments on any post whose topic interests you. Sometimes a key piece comes up in a comment a full year after the original post!

Many thanks to all my peers for sharing with everyone the keys to your own journeys!