On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:30:55 -0500, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:
Thanks. The most definitive diagnosis I got was Atopical
Dermatitis,

In plain English that just means allergic skin desease. Not
very definitive if you ask me.

But then again, I do know how hard it is to find a good
allergist or a good dermal so I guess I can understand why
this is the best diagnosis, you've gotten.

Sandie
who goes to an allergist at Duke and a dermatologist at UNC

*spelling correction*

"Sandie Hudson" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:30:55 -0500, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:
Thanks. The most definitive diagnosis I got was
Atopical
Dermatitis,

In plain English that just means allergic skin desease.
Not
very definitive if you ask me.

But then again, I do know how hard it is to find a good
allergist or a good *dermatologist* so I guess I can
understand why
this is the best diagnosis, you've gotten.

Sandie
who goes to an allergist at Duke and a dermatologist at
UNC

"Susan H. Simko" wrote in message ...
Kira Dirlik wrote:

A dermatologist told me not to use Tide... that it was one of the
worst. I don't use any fabric softeners, nor sheets of stuff in my
dryer. Use dermatologist-recommended Dove soap.
I've lived here in the woods for 7 1/2 years, but the last two summers
I had developed a rash on my feet, ankles, and calves. I've seen a
number of doctors and none can pinpoint it. I know other folks who
seem to have just recently developed this same stuff. Bamboo grass?
(I started pulling it in earnest the last two summers). Systemic
reaction to tick bites? It went away completely last winter, came
back again last summer, and is mostly gone now.

My mom and a friend's mom had something that sounded like this. My mom
in Pennsylvania had it for several *years* before a doctor finally
diagnosed it. It turned out to be a fungal infection. Some drugs and
oitment and she was doing much better. In telling a friend about her
ordeal, it turned out her mother was undergoing somehting similar in
Texas. My friend relayed the info to her mother who had her doctor
check for a fungal infection... She is doing much better now, too,
after drugs and ointment therapy.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

Some 40 years ago, my mom used to plop me down in a bathtub fairly
overflowing with hot water and Mr. Bubble. Oddly, I'd turn a rather
vivid shade of cranberry red just a few hours later.

Experience has taught me that I'd rather not wear clothes washed in
bleach or a bleachy-substitute so I'm vigilent about making detergent
decisions (my, that sounds toffy-nosed).

You might find, as have I, that using bath soap made from Shea Olean
is gentler on the skin. You can get it at the old Wellsprings in
Raleigh.

Kira Dirlik wrote:

A dermatologist told me not to use Tide... that it was one of the
worst. I don't use any fabric softeners, nor sheets of stuff in my
dryer. Use dermatologist-recommended Dove soap.
I've lived here in the woods for 7 1/2 years, but the last two summers
I had developed a rash on my feet, ankles, and calves. I've seen a
number of doctors and none can pinpoint it. I know other folks who
seem to have just recently developed this same stuff. Bamboo grass?
(I started pulling it in earnest the last two summers). Systemic
reaction to tick bites? It went away completely last winter, came
back again last summer, and is mostly gone now.

My mom and a friend's mom had something that sounded like this. My mom
in Pennsylvania had it for several *years* before a doctor finally
diagnosed it. It turned out to be a fungal infection. Some drugs and
oitment and she was doing much better. In telling a friend about her
ordeal, it turned out her mother was undergoing somehting similar in
Texas. My friend relayed the info to her mother who had her doctor
check for a fungal infection... She is doing much better now, too,
after drugs and ointment therapy.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:30:55 -0500, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:

Kira Dirlik wrote:

A dermatologist told me not to use Tide... that it was one of the
worst. I don't use any fabric softeners, nor sheets of stuff in my
dryer. Use dermatologist-recommended Dove soap.
I've lived here in the woods for 7 1/2 years, but the last two summers
I had developed a rash on my feet, ankles, and calves. I've seen a
number of doctors and none can pinpoint it. I know other folks who
seem to have just recently developed this same stuff. Bamboo grass?
(I started pulling it in earnest the last two summers). Systemic
reaction to tick bites? It went away completely last winter, came
back again last summer, and is mostly gone now.

My mom and a friend's mom had something that sounded like this. My mom
in Pennsylvania had it for several *years* before a doctor finally
diagnosed it. It turned out to be a fungal infection. Some drugs and
oitment and she was doing much better. In telling a friend about her
ordeal, it turned out her mother was undergoing somehting similar in
Texas. My friend relayed the info to her mother who had her doctor
check for a fungal infection... She is doing much better now, too,
after drugs and ointment therapy.

Susan

Thanks. The most definitive diagnosis I got was Atopical Dermatitis,
not contageious, not dangerous.
Steroid cremes work well, but don't actually cure it. Mostly dormant
in winter, active in summer. I do have really nasty reactions to
tick bites at the sites, and those hordes of baby ticks can plant 100
bites at a time. That's my latest theory (of many).

On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:30:55 -0500, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:
Thanks. The most definitive diagnosis I got was Atopical
Dermatitis,

In plain English that just means allergic skin desease. Not
very definitive if you ask me.

But then again, I do know how hard it is to find a good
allergist or a good dermal so I guess I can understand why
this is the best diagnosis, you've gotten.

Sandie
who goes to an allergist at Duke and a dermatologist at UNC

*spelling correction*

"Sandie Hudson" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 10 Feb 2003 15:30:55 -0500, "Susan H. Simko"
wrote:
Thanks. The most definitive diagnosis I got was
Atopical
Dermatitis,

In plain English that just means allergic skin desease.
Not
very definitive if you ask me.

But then again, I do know how hard it is to find a good
allergist or a good *dermatologist* so I guess I can
understand why
this is the best diagnosis, you've gotten.

Sandie
who goes to an allergist at Duke and a dermatologist at
UNC

Xref: 127.0.0.1 triangle.gardens:16227

"Susan H. Simko" wrote in message ...
Kira Dirlik wrote:

A dermatologist told me not to use Tide... that it was one of the
worst. I don't use any fabric softeners, nor sheets of stuff in my
dryer. Use dermatologist-recommended Dove soap.
I've lived here in the woods for 7 1/2 years, but the last two summers
I had developed a rash on my feet, ankles, and calves. I've seen a
number of doctors and none can pinpoint it. I know other folks who
seem to have just recently developed this same stuff. Bamboo grass?
(I started pulling it in earnest the last two summers). Systemic
reaction to tick bites? It went away completely last winter, came
back again last summer, and is mostly gone now.

My mom and a friend's mom had something that sounded like this. My mom
in Pennsylvania had it for several *years* before a doctor finally
diagnosed it. It turned out to be a fungal infection. Some drugs and
oitment and she was doing much better. In telling a friend about her
ordeal, it turned out her mother was undergoing somehting similar in
Texas. My friend relayed the info to her mother who had her doctor
check for a fungal infection... She is doing much better now, too,
after drugs and ointment therapy.

Susan
s h simko at duke dot edu

Some 40 years ago, my mom used to plop me down in a bathtub fairly
overflowing with hot water and Mr. Bubble. Oddly, I'd turn a rather
vivid shade of cranberry red just a few hours later.

Experience has taught me that I'd rather not wear clothes washed in
bleach or a bleachy-substitute so I'm vigilent about making detergent
decisions (my, that sounds toffy-nosed).

You might find, as have I, that using bath soap made from Shea Olean
is gentler on the skin. You can get it at the old Wellsprings in
Raleigh.