Disclaimer: Please note that I am not licensed to provide medical recommendations. Any information I share is strictly based on my own research and practices.
In January of 2022, I contracted COVID-19 for the first time. My symptoms were mild - slight chills, backache, no appetite, low-grade fever, head pressure, and a bit of shallow breathing. My case of the flu in previous years was much worse than how I felt with COVID. I recovered within a week and felt back to normal.
At the beginning of February, I started to notice a red itchy rash I had never experienced before. The rash started under my earlobes and would itch and peel. After a couple of weeks, it moved down my neck and the itchiness was incredibly uncomfortable. Again, I had never experienced any skin problems in my life aside from acne - this was entirely different. Although there was not much online data about eczema being linked to the disease, I presumed this was a long COVID symptom.
Two weeks passed and with this rash still present, I went to a dermatologist. She took one look at the area and prescribed me a steroid cream and sent me on my way. However, I did not fill the prescription because I had already gone down a rabbit hole of research and was scared of possibly experiencing Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) if I relied on this medicine alone without addressing the root cause.
Three weeks passed and by this time my eczema was slightly improving but would worsen at random points in the month and I could not figure out the trigger. I tried eating low FODMAP since I wasn’t sure if a new food allergy was instigating the flare-ups but I wasn’t very consistent with this practice. I’m pretty confident an elimination diet would have improved my symptoms by reducing inflammation in my body but this takes a good amount of planning, time, and dedication to ensure your results are accurate.
I went to my normal physician in March, did all my blood work, and told her about my eczema, and she too, said this was common, that I needed to use a steroid cream, and oh - all my blood work was normal except for my iron deficiency without anemia (and yes I researched every correlation between anemia and eczema but found nothing incredibly compelling).
In April, I met with an allergist to do a skin prick test to see if a specific substance was causing my flares. Wearing wool and any type of fragrance would make my eyes itch and burn. The allergist listened to me as I listed my symptoms and analyzed my skin in more detail (more than the last two doctors!) and also confirmed that this reaction was seen quite often as a long COVID symptom in children. Finally, validation from someone with a medical degree! The allergist concluded that a skin prick test was not going to expose the trigger behind my eczema. Something along the lines of 1) because I don’t sneeze and have other allergy symptoms, I likely didn’t need this test, and 2) because of reason #1, this test would then show false positives because the body can carry more antibodies of certain substances but this doesn’t necessarily mean you have an allergy to the substance. So again, the solution? Apply the steroid cream.
By May my eczema was improving more but instead of the itchy skin, one morning I woke up with insanely swollen eyes and a puffy face - like I had just gotten stung by two bees on both eyelids. I recounted what I had eaten the day before and finally made a new discovery: foods high in histamine (e.g. dried fruits, smoked or processed meats, dairy) and wine (specifically wine for me although any fermented beverage is high in histamine), amongst a list of other foods, were causing my balloon head. Thank you charcuterie board. Most of the swelling went down after a couple hours but my under eyes stayed extremely itchy and the dermis around my eyes and on my eyelids felt raw. My under eyes had folds and wrinkles due to the swelling and irritation that lasted weeks after. The new symptom was not fun at all, in fact, it was worse than the eczema around my neck due to it being more painful and visible. It made me look older and not myself.
After meeting with the allergist, I did get the steroid prescription filled. There were maybe three times when I used the cream on my neck and ear area when absolutely needing relief and it did help. I was not able to use the cream anywhere close to my eyes due to this skin being so thin already. Aside from that, I was using cold damp compresses, refrigerated eye packs, a natural soothing cream from Whole Foods, and eating low FODMAP when possible.
My symptoms could have been so much worse - I firmly believe that, but I live a healthy lifestyle (yes, there are of course other factors influencing the outcome’s severity) and I think this helped my recovery. I have read stories online of people sharing their eczema nightmares and getting addicted to steroid cream - it is truly a living hell for them and I hope they can find their root cause and heal their bodies.
At this point, it was summer and my flares were only occurring when I would do an activity that would directly increase my histamine. I could tell I was getting better but not at the rate I wanted and I still didn’t fully have the answers I needed. I continued to research. I read medical journal articles, peoples’ own accounts, correlations between different nutrition deficiencies, and everything about COVID, histamine, and mast cell activation. I came across Ben Lynch’s Instagram account and direct messaged him asking for resources or guidance. He responded and recommended ProBiota HitaminX Powder from his medical store, Seeking Health. Here is where the puzzle pieces started fitting together!
Have you heard the saying “The gut is your second brain”? This is because the gut microbiome regulates immunity and inflammation and directly influences our health and disease propensity. COVID can be found in the gut MONTHS after contracting the disease. The different paths I took to fix my eczema and histamine issues were ultimately to heal my gut which must have either still had traces of COVID, or lost much of my good bacteria from the disease. Pre and probiotics are great ways to enhance your gut bacteria while eating a whole foods diet. I am thankful for Dr. Lynch because he guided me towards his probiotic formula which doesn’t include strains of bacteria that could have worsened my histamine production! The ProBiota HistminX Powder includes both lactobacillus and bifidobacterium which support the gut microbiome’s natural response to ingested histamine, healthy bacterial balance, healthy skin, and normal inflammatory processes.
After starting this probiotic and continuing to eat whole anti-inflammatory foods, my itchiness diminished and my flares were shorter than before. By September, my eczema was only slightly seen around my earlobes but this ended up going away completely. The last time I had an uncomfortable two-day eye and face swelling was in February (literally one year post COVID) after eating sushi and drinking wine, but I noticed my healing was much faster than before. Since then, I have not experienced any cases of eczema or eye swelling even after consuming high histamine foods and I feel FREE!
The human body is truly amazing - from contracting diseases and fighting them, to the healing process...it can be a long and arduous journey. So many of us are unaware of how our lifestyle can support or sabotage our health and we are dancing on the fine line of this realization. When ailments arise, we look to our trusted doctors for guidance and root cause analysis to prevent further disease, yet most of the time we are given short-term bandage solutions.
This should be your one takeaway from my story: take ownership of your life and make it your responsibility to educate yourself about your health. No one is perfect, and although we absolutely should hold our medical professionals to the highest standard, we must have collected our own facts to make educated decisions that are right for our bodies.
This is the number one reason why I’ve created Poppy. I want to share health knowledge with the world - medical professionals are not the only ones who should be equipped with the tools needed to truly care for our bodies! My doctors never mentioned looking into my gut microbiome health. Imagine how much farther I would have been in my recovery if my dermatologist had recommended a low histamine probiotic and occasional usage of the steroid cream. Advocate for yourself. Do your own research and question the status quo. Although this process was brutal, I feel so lucky for my short-term ailment and ability to heal, learn, and share my experience with others.
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