14th July 2020: Bastille day:
Total edit and rewrite: THIS TREATMENT, AND A PERSONALIZED TREATMENT PLAN IS FREE. HOWEVER, IF YOU LIVE IN A COUNTRY WITH OVER THE COUNTER NYSTATIN (Germany) AND/ITRACONAZOLE, (Brazil) I WOULD ASK THAT YOU SEND IT TO PATIENTS UNABLE TO OBTAIN IT IN THEIR COUNTRY. Dyshidrosis is the allergy to a dermatophyte. Dyshidrosis (also known as Dyshidrotic eczema or Pompholyx,) is small, fluid-filled blisters on the palms and fingers of the hands in 80% of sufferers, or the soles of the feet in 10%, with another 10% having the minute vesicles 'blisters' on both hands and feet. Usually the condition starts on the interdigital skin of the ring finger and spreads to the glabrous skin of the palms and the soles. This special skin has more sweat glands, more pressure receptors, more histamine receptors than the skin over the rest of the body. While it is not unknown for ordinary skin on the arms and other parts of the body to have the vesicles, it is rare. This seems to be a spillover of histamine when steroid creams have closed the receptors on the palms and soles. When it is on parts of the body other than the hands and feet it is usually, tho' not always caused by contact with a substance that excites, irritates and annoys the body's immune system and usually appears within minutes of contact. That is Contact Dermatitis. Frequently misdiagnosed by GPs. Dyshidrosis (also known as Pompholyx) proper, affecting the palms and fingers of the hands (usually starting with the left ring finger) and the soles of the feet only, comes on slowly, starting with a few itchy blisters which increase in number and itchiness for no apparent reason.. Once the blisters dry, cracks form in the skin which can be unsightly and very painful. This is Delayed or type IV response to an allergen. Causes of Dyshidrosis. If it is dyshidrosis, and not contact dermatitis, the root cause in most cases is the 'Id reaction' . The 'id' is short for 'dermatiphid' or 'dermatophyte' also called 'dermatophytosis', and the reaction is a histamine reaction (or allergic reaction) to the dermatophyte. The problem is finding the dermatophyte, which is usually a fungus or a yeast or a mold. It may be a bacterium or a virus, which are technically NOT dermatophytes. If a person has Athlete's foot, caused by any one of a number of tineas, which are fungi, then curing the Athlete's foot will cure the dyshidrosis. Ringworm,(Trichophyton, Microsporum, and Epidermophyton.) Malassezia furfur
Basically, it is mostly commonly the fungal form (mycelial) of a commensal yeast. Pregnancy and the natural hormones of pregnancy are a major cause because they induce the yeast form to change into the pathogenic fungal form. HRT continues to cause many cases and the hormones given as fertility inducers are also culprits. The ‘Pill’ or any kind of oral contraceptive is a cause. Curiously, sometimes just a change of the type of pill prescribed enables the mutating effects to be eliminated. The morning after pill, a potent cocktail of hormones, has been found to cause a particularly fast onset and hard to eradicate dyshidrosis. This may be due to the potency causing more than one species of microbe to mutate. If anybody has tried this, please let me know if you had side effects. * Saheli is India’s offering to the world of the world’s first and the only approved non hormonal, non steroidal once a week oral contraceptive pill. Saheli NonHormonal Safe Oral OC Pill Sexologist For Female Mumbai mydoctortells.com/saheli-contraceptive/ It appears that many of the SSRIs Zoloft, Lyrica, Bupropion, Veniafaxine (Effexor) all of which are SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake inhibitors) etc have the ability to mutate the gut bacteria. Note that when steriods of regular strength fail to work, many MDs turn to PREDNISONE, or METHOTREXATE, a powerful immune suppressant. This is to be avoided. My best guess is any drug with a 'steroid ring' can cause mutations in yeasts to allow them to become fungi. Dyshidrosis is often misdiagnosed by MD/GP doctors as contact dermatitis, but almost never by podiatrists, who see much more of it in conjunction with Tinea. aka Athlete's foot. Dyshidrosis may be seasonal due to the increase of mold in the air due to weather changes. People tend to confuse this with respiratory allergies. Antedotal reports of increases after storms and floods and with continuing hurricanes are undoubtably due to damp conditions aiding mold growth, in the air, and in buildings. Most people have the bacterium Staphylococcus Aureus on their skin, and their immune systems recognize it as present and relatively harmless. But in some cases for reasons unknown, the immune system sets up a histamine reaction to this commensal bacterium and the result is dyshidrosis or eczema. In the UK, but not in the USA, the guidelines for the treatment of eczema are 'bleach baths'. In which 2 or 3 times a week, people with eczema, including children, sit in a bath of warm water with half a cup of 4% chlorine bleach (general household type bleach) in it, no more. This kills a lot of staph and other commensals, and it can appear to cure all body eczema. Vinegar baths are also useful as they are acid and neutralize the base histamine. Hot water works by 'cooking' the proteins in the histamine. Histamine, once in the skin takes 4 or 5 days to degrade and be removed, which explains part of the cyclic nature of outbreaks and healing. The greatest cause of dyshidrosis is Candida Albicans. C. Kusai, and C.Tropicalis. This is unproven and difficult to prove. Everybody has Candida as a YEAST in their body, in their gastrointestinal tract and other parts. It is the cause of Thrush in babies and vaginal infections in women. Dyshidrosis is 2:1 (different studies cite different statistics) women to men, and this may be a reflection of the preponderance of 'yeast' infections suffered by women. Women with a history of yeast infections, who find they have low fertility, should try to have a douche and cervical wash with Nystatin. It may be that the Candida has become established higher in the vagina, the cervix and even the uterus. Remember that Nystatin is a ‘kill on contact’ medication, and if it does not reach the Candida, it cannot kill it. Candida is present in most people as a commensal yeast so it is difficult to say Candida must be the cause of dyshidrosis, since so many people with Candida have no dyshidrosis. The test for Candida does not differentiate between Candida Albicans in its yeast form or in its fungal form. My hypothesis is that only the fungal form of Candida, whose hyphae damage the gut wall which then causes the 'id reaction', that flood of histamine that causes dyshidrosis. Candida Albicans is an opportunistic pathogen. Given the right conditions this usually harmless yeast (If you have AIDS you can die from Candida infections) can morph/change into a fungus of great tenacity. This is definitely recognized as the enemy by the body's immune system. A histamine reaction comes into play. But: The dimorphic mycelial (ie fungal) Candida is usually hiding in the gut walls, at the bottom of the microvilli, the histamine cannot find it, cannot attract repair enzymes to the site, dyshidrosis is the result of the excess histamine going to the histamine receptors in the glabeous skin. Ie the ‘fingerprint’ skin on the soles and palms via capillaries and along nerves. The left ring finger is a common starting point. Lots of belief in a 'biofilm' that protects the Candida from being removed. The whole of the interior of the gut lumen is a covered by a 'biofilm'. This is natural and necessary. It is mucus and all the microbiome of the gut. What causes the Candida to morph? A change in hormonal status: Puberty, Pregnancy, the Pill, (hormonal contraceptives) Pumping Iron (anabolic steroids) are the most common causes. A careful medical history reveals that the Dyshidrosis started sometime after one of the 4 Ps. More and more I see the various SSRI (selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors) anti-depressants having this effect. Medications with the 'steroid ring'. It has come to my notice that a lot of patients have had operations and been given large amounts of antibiotics and steroids as prophylaxis and then developed dyshidrosis. The greatest number of cases have arisen due to pregnancy. A significant number arise from the use of the morning after pill. This seems to occur in just a few weeks after use of the morning after pill, but much longer after years of cumulative use of the standard birth control pill by ingestion. Implants and inserts which contain hormones are less likely to cause morphing, but less women use this type of BC. Before any treatment, it would be wise to stop or remove your hormonal birth control. * Saheli is India’s offering to the world of the world’s first and the only approved non hormonal, non steroidal once a week oral contraceptive pill. Stress is NEVER THE ROOT CAUSE. Stress makes everything worse, you comfort eat sugars which feed the Candida. Naturopaths talk about 'The leaky gut'. They believe that the mycelial Candida roots to the gut wall allowing food that is not properly processed to leak into the bloodstream and cause food allergies. This is unproven. It's a good theory, but at the moment, it is hypothetical. There are physiological problems to the theory as the gut is semi-permeable to allow nutrients to pass into the blood. Food is usually fully broken down into the basic elements of protein, carbohydrate and fats. If the mycelial fungus was in a part of the gastrointestinal tract prior to complete digestion of a particular type of food, this leaky gut would explain why food allergies are so prevalent as a part of Dyshidrosis, and are seen by many sufferers as the cause of their condition. Wheras their condition is the cause of their allergies. The gluten in wheat products is part of the problem here. Could it be that Candida in it’s yeast form helps to digest this vegetable protein and the fungal form of Candida cannot do this? Generally, dyshidrosis sufferers claim to be intolerant or allergic to wheat products. If they wait a year or more after the dyshidrosis cure, but sticking to a low carb, no wheat, no sugar, no alcohol diet, they can begin to eat small amounts of wheat without problems. My personal theory, no proof, is that it is the carbohydrate and sugars in bread rather than just the gluten. Test a no sugar, no sweetener low carb diet against a no gluten diet. Many people claim nickel as an inciting factor. Nickel as a contact allergen is common. If you are allergic to nickel, ingesting nickel will set up a allergic reaction. If you have a high level of histamine in your system, from whatever cause, a reaction to nickel occurs, while with a low and normal amount of histamine no reaction to nickel is noted. Nickel is a false positive. Yeasts in any part of the body, in particular the sinuses (the Sinii) may cause dyshidrosis. In cases where a cause of Nystatin orally fails to work, this must be investigated. It may be necessary to 'flush' the sinii via a netipot with Nystatin in solution. The Id reaction ie The dermatophyte/dermatophid reaction. Tinea on the feet, scalp or genitals and generalized on the body are the classic cause of dyshidrosis. Tinea pedis, tinea corpis, ‘jock itch’ ‘athlete’s foot’ etc. This is why it falls into the interest of podiatrists. It is quite possible to have a sub-clinical infection, called a 'colonization' by a fungus or yeast. This may excite and annoy the body's immune system, causing the degranulation of mast cells and the release of histamine without any visible sign of a yeast or fungal infection. Seasonal, airborne molds cause many cases of dyshidrosis. The first recorded case of dyshidrosis was one such seasonally appearing. Rev. Gilbert White, 'A natural history of Selborne' first published in 1789. Dyshidrosis is not infectious. It is not genetic, although the susceptibility may be. But note that you often share your microbiome with your relatives. 20% approximately, of people are ATOPIC. This is really just more actively reacting to allergens. A french study noted that atopic people, those prescribed more anti histamines, had very low levels of cancer. This was a study of the 25,000 people in Haut Rhône. Eastern France. ref: It is definitely not an auto-immune condition as this is commonly understood by doctors. Dyshidrosis is best described as a reaction by the individual's immune system to a normally harmless dermatophyte that is usually a yeast, that takes advantage of the hormonal disturbance to change into something seen as more threatening by the body's normal immune response, a fungal (mycelial) infection. This mycelial infection is often 'occult' which mean 'hidden'. It is in the gut, and from the symtoms it can be guessed which area of the lumen is most infected. It can be in the sinii of the face, swollen eyes and eczema of the face are often noted in severe cases. The vagina and the uterus are common places in women. Couples may pass the infection between them. Sometimes it is important to treat both with the medications at the same time. CURES FOR DYSHIDROSIS There is a simple test to prove that the condition is dyshidrosis. If the condition is an ALLERGY to a dermatophyte, any dermatophyte, it will respond to oral anti-histamines. The best is FEXOFENADINE HC. You need to take 180mg per day for 5 days. To maintain a even level of Fexofenadine it is better to take 60mg every 8 hours. But this is hard to remember to do. Fexofenadine has a 14 hour half-life. Alleviation (To make symptoms more bearable) This is not a cure. Fexofenadine should not be taken long term. Soaking the hands and feet is recommended at the rate of 10 litres of warm water with 2 cups or half a litre of vinegar or 4% bleach, in it. This works by neutralizing the histamine already in the skin, and desiccation of the skin. As soon as the body has built up an amount of histamine to circulate, the itching and swelling will reoccur, usually about 5 days. Soak at night, late evening as histamine levels naturally rise at this time. Cure To get rid of the offending dermatophyte is the first priority. There must be a strong suspicion that Mycelial Candida Albicans is the cause if the sufferer has symptoms of IBS. (Irritable Bowel Syndrome.) NYSTATIN: The very best treatment for this dermatophyte is NYSTATIN orally, preferably as a bitter powder (about one eighth of a teaspoon with a teaspoon of water), at the rate of 2 million units per day, that is 500,000 units taken 4 times a day for 28 days. A second course may be required to kill any spores that have 'hatched' after turning into spores to save themselves from the first course of Nystatin. 1:2:15. I am now recommending double doses: i.e. 4million units or 1 million units 4 times a day. In many countries Itraconazole is an over the counter medication and 200mg daily can be used concurrently with Nystatin or in lieu of Nystatin. NYSTATIN was developed in 1948, on POM (prescription only medication) sale since 1951 in the US. It has a long history of safe usage, it is given to babies, it is an over the counter medicine in many countries. (The Middle East and Mexico) But in Australia, Britain and the USA, doctors are reluctant to prescribe it. They believe that Ketoconazole, Fluconazole, Variconazole and Itraconazole are more effective as they are broad-spectrum anti-fungals. Ketoconazole is particularly hard on the liver and is not used systemically for that reason in many countries. If the dermatophyte causing the id reaction/dyshidrosis is NOT Candida, then yes, OK, but wouldn't you rather take a drug with great specificity, only kills Candida, not any good fungi or bacteria, and is well-tried over many years and has as fewer side effects than most drugs on the market, and is less stressful on the liver than the -conazole anti-fungals? Yet I continue to bang my head on GPs who persist in the dogma that Dyshidrosis will not benefit from a course of Nystatin. 1:2:15 edit: The reluctance of GPs to prescribe Nystatin for systemic non differentiated Candidiasis is getting to be a very serious problem. However, the generic Nystatin available over the internet seems to do the job. You can buy it online from Fludan Fine Chemicals in Canada (Fludan supplies from China). Note: it weighs nothing and is a dirty white/yellow powder, check the units per weight. AVOID THE DROPS, THEY HAVE SUGAR IN THEM AND ARE MEANT FOR ORAL CANDIDIASIS. The best brand is Mycostatin by Bristol Myers Squibb, with NO sugar (sucrose) in it. DIET: Doing the Atkins diet or Paleo or any ketogenic diet, and taking probiotics is recommended by many sufferers. This is unproven, but I started to notice a great improvement in my own Dyshidrosis in 2000 when I was on the Atkins diet. Candida loves candy and all sugars and carbs……. 1:2:15 edit: A wheat, sugar and alcohol free diet is essential for best results. This should be continued for as long as possible post cure. I have had a couple of sad patients who, having begged for Nystatin, were cured, and then binged on lollies/candies/sweets or cakes, and had the dyshidrosis/candidasis return with vengeance. TOCTINO: is a retinoid drug. It has been available since 2008 in Britain and most European countries, and is available in Canada, but not yet in Australia. It is available on a limited basis in the US. Retinoid drugs are complex in their actions. Basically they make the skin turn over faster, close down some of the varied receptors in the skin. This is how Accutane works, it shuts down the sebum production in the skin. In Dyshidrosis, Toctino appears to cause the skin of the intestines and bowel to turn over faster and thus the dermatophytes cannot mature to divide and increase in number. Retinoid drugs are created from vitamin A. DO NOT GET PREGNANT WHILE TAKING ANY VITAMIN A DRUGS OR PROTOCOL. Thanks to this website I have been able to acquire a great many more patients than before, and I have noticed that I had 3 fails this year.(same in 2014/15) Common cause was the patients were Vegan/Vegetarians. This is almost certainly due to the fact that drugs need to be carried thru the system with fat and protein, not carbohydrates. VITAMIN A PROTOCOL: (see links) Vitamin A in particular needs to be taken with a fatty meal. Lots of people have worried that Vitamin A was toxic. You would need to take/eat 25,000 iu for every kilo you weigh to reach immediate toxicity. Google Mawson, an Australian Antarctic explorer of 1912/13, who ate his huskies and their liver, ingesting it is now believed in excess of 200,000 iu of vitamin A daily, and nothing else. He lived, and fathered 2 daughters within 3 years. A great many people had problems getting their doctor to prescribe Nystatin. This varies with country. But the USA seems to refuse to prescribe this well tested drug. If you find a willing doctor, please let me know so I can direct others to him. Nevertheless, get a liver enzyme check before doing the vitamin A protocol. And Do not get pregnant. Duplixent 1:2:2015 edit: The good news is Microbiome research, continues to open new vistas on so-called auto-immune diseases. The doyen of which is Dr Thomas Borody at the Centre for Digestive Diseases in Five Dock, a suburb near me in Sydney, Australia. His treatment of faecal transfer is repopulating the gut with healthy flora is curing many ‘auto-immune’ conditions, including Ulcerative Colitis, C. difficule, and astonishingly, acne. Google the power of poop for more information. There is a facebook page labelled 'Bacterotherapy'. This may be a future treatment for dyshidrosis and eczema too. The Italian treatment is 10 drops of Oil of Oregano 3 or 4 times a day. The proviso is the same as Toctino. Don’t get pregnant!. 3 Italians have tried this, and a long chat with a Sydney naturopath leads me to believe this is more fungistatic than fungicidal, in some cases this may be enough to allow the immune system to overcome the pathogen. However, due to the toxicity of Oil of Oregano, I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT. Estroblock, DIM, C-13: A body-builder’s supplement has been the cure of one case only of complete cure of both dyshidrosis and acne. I am taking this myself, having neither acne and having cured my dyshdirosis in 2008. It certainly has beneficial skin effects and moves the bowels, which makes me think it is causing a depopulation and subsequent re-population of the gut flora. There is no good research on this commercial product and the manufacturers are not willing to share their research. It is listed as a ‘diet supplement’ and is only obtainable over the internet or from specialist body building sources. But if you try it, please let me know what it did for you. 1/1/17: I have now had another case of a cure from Estroblock, but also 2 fails. It's a bit hit and miss, but easy to obtain from any body-building shop and relatively inexpensive. 1/1/17: PLEASE FILL OUT THE QUESTIONNAIRE AND SEND IT TO ME. THIS ENABLES ME TO REFINE MY TREATMENTS, TO RECOGNIZE IF THE DERMATOPHYTE IS IN THE GUT OR IN ANOTHER BODY SYSTEM, ALSO TO GIVE A PRECISE DOSAGE for your weight. A FEW WORDS ABOUT THE HERXHEIMER REACTION. UNPROFESSIONALLY KNOWN AS 'DIE-OFF'. IT HAPPENS IT IS NASTY. IF YOUR DYSHIDROSIS GETS WORSE, THEN THE DERMATOPHYTE IS DYING. IT IS BREAKING DOWN AND UNFORTUNATELY, THE 'DEAD BODY' TOXINS ARE SEEPING INTO YOUR SYSTEM, RESULT IS EVEN MORE HISTAMINE RELEASED. SO EVEN WORSE SKIN RASHES, SWOLLEN EYELIDS, AND GENERAL MALAISE. GOOD NEWS IS THAT IT USUALLY ONLY LASTS A WEEK AT MOST. HISTAMINE TAKES 3 TO 5 DAYS TO REMOVE ITSELF FROM YOUR SYSTEM. 28 JULY 2017 If you are under treatment from a doctor, please give me his name and direction so I can communicate with him. If under treatment from a naturopath or other type of health professional, please complete their treatment first before starting my protocol. I do not wish to tread on anybody's toes professionally. (Pun as am a podiatrist). Also some protocols and treatments are at odds with each other and not recommended concurrently. Thank you to all the people who got in touch with me and shared their treatments and their cures. More patients equals more knowledge. Bull Soc Fr Dermatol Syphiligr. 1959 Aug-Oct;No 4:454-5.[Eczema caused by allergy to "Candida albicans". Treatment with extract of "Candida albicans". Recovery]. [Article in French]HEWITT J, SCLAFER J, DROUHET E. Candida and Candidiasis Book published: Dec 7, 2011 by Richard A. Calderone and Cornelius J. Clancy Not very readable to non-scientists, but a wealth of viable information. ***(Patient Questions) Could you please fill in the form below in BOLD or CAPITALS or colour? PLEASE INCLUDE WELL-LIT PHOTOGRAPHS. NAME AGE HEIGHT WEIGHT GENDER RELATIONSHIP STATUS WHERE IN THE WORLD ARE YOU? ARE you currently under treatment by a doctor? A naturopath? A BIE practitioner? Or other health professional? What work do you do? Vegetarian or Vegan? How long? Do you smoke? Tobacco or Other substances? Any proven allergies? ie by patch test, by an MD, by immunology tests of IgE. Any suspected allergies? HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD THIS? YEARS? MONTHS? PLEASE BE EXACT. Do you have any symptoms of IBS? Bloating, gas? Was it burping or farting? Do you have constipation or diarrhea? Do you have athlete's foot? Ringworm? Any persistent fungal or bacterial infection? Did you have eczema/atopic dermatitis as a child? *What other drugs are you NOW taking? *What other drugs for all and any conditions have You taken for as long back as you can remember? (in particular, those you took in the year before this condition started.) Were you a caesarean section or premature baby? *Are you on the Pill? (or HRT) Have you taken the morning after pill? When in relation to the onset of dyshidrosis? *Did you take a course of steroids or antibiotics at about the time the condition started? (prescribed or not…) Did you start taking any anti-depressants or smoking cessation medication at about the time the dyshidrosis started? Bupropion? Sertaline? Zoloft? Any kind of anti-depressant ? SSRI or MAO? *Thinking back to when this started: Did you move to a new house? Area? Or a new job? Was it moldy? *Were you trying to get pregnant? pregnant? On fertility enhancement medication? Just been pregnant? Breastfeeding? Perimenopausal, Menopausal? If male, have you taken any steroids for body-building? *Thinking back to when this started: did you have a stomach upset that persisted, did you suddenly become 'intolerant' to food that had previously not caused you any problems. Can you add any information about the starting point of the condition? (Hospitalized, new relationship, rash, holiday, stress — - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - — - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - --- Return to [email protected] |