My Eczema & Psoriasis Healing Journey

This is my journey attempting to heal severe eczema and psoriasis, by trying to solve the root cause of my skin conditions rather than patching over them.

My intent is to make this as fully transparent as possible, so that others can learn from my experiences and potentially avoid some of the mistakes I made. You can see tests that I'm running and my healing protocol adapted throughout my timeline as I learn more. I'm heavily relying on holistic approaches to attempt to fully heal the root cause so that I don't have to keep suffering from these skin conditions.

This is a fully transparent roadmap of my healing process.

Current Status

As of February 19, 2026 (24 days in), I haven't seen the eczema or psoriasis turn around in a way that implies true healing. In fact, things seem to be getting worse. Today, I woke up with neck and eye swelling. My arms are already slightly swollen. It seems like this is related to the rebound from oral steroids, so it should be short lived.

Reminder to myself: symptoms getting worse doesn't mean you aren't healing. The body is self-regulating and detoxing, it may look worse before it gets better.

On a more optimistic note, I have made some serious progress and believe I'm going in the right direction:

• I have a skin care routine that works well for managing symptoms
• I have numerous test results that have provided me with an action plan
• My carnivore diet seems to be ideal for this point in time (putting out the fire). I've had 22 days where food sensitivities and sugar have not been a factor. If gut issues are the underlying cause, I likely haven't been making it worse and possibly even helping it heal.

Key Insights so far

• I regret taking oral steroids. The rebound from the oral steroids was terrible and has slowed my progress. The flare ups on my timeline are clearly corelated with steroid rebounds. The withdrawal effect was worse than the eczema. Also, never water fast while on prednisone. Sleep was terrible and it felt like I was on stimulants for the entire fast.
• When talking to my primary care doctor and dermatologist, and realizing the advice did not line up, I should have pushed back harder. For example, my primary care doctor thought I had heat rash when nothing reinforced that theory. My dermatologist took a biopsy to check whether or not psoriasis or eczema was flaring on my swollen arms (it was both). This information wasn't helpful at all since I could feel from the burning/itching that eczema was my main problem and clearly that needed to be dealt with. No biopsy was needed to confirm this. I spent extra money and damaged my skin further for no reason!
• Carnivore diet initially was fine as an elimination diet to identify if a foot sensitivity was the problem (likely not), but the lack of bowel movements/fiber wasn't good for gut healing. My current diet is much better aligned with healing. I should have shared with my eczema coach that I wasn't having daily bowel movements (maybe every 4 days).
• Quitting coffee has the clearest upside out of all decisions I've made so far. Dr Jason Lee's insights on how coffee is bad for eczema and psoriasis reinforced this decision. Clearly a huge win!
• Getting good sleep is critical for everything, especially my mental state.

Timeline

January 24, 2026 Started getting bumps on the underside of my forearms, both arms. It initially looked liked hives. I suddenly had lots of little bumps appearing on the underside of my forearm and also had an itchy patch appear on my bicep. My arms were itching and burning, specifically where those bumps were. The little bumps looked like hives. I'm noticing it's hard to sleep at night from the itching and burning.

January 26, 2026

• Primary care doctor prescribed a 5 day dose of methylprednisolone to deal with "heat rash." In hindsight, I deeply regret taking oral steroids and think it made everything 10x worse.
• Burning and itching is so bad that I'm having to spray burn cream on my arm. I go to my primary care doctor and she's puzzled - ultimately thinks it is heat rash. However, that didn't make sense to me.

January 27, 2026

I'm in full panic mode at this point. Each day, eczema seems to have spread somewhere else on my body.

I start to work on a healing protocol (this gets adjusted quite a bit throughout):

• I start on the strict carnivore diet. Why I'm using the carnivore diet for eczema and psoriasis

• I commit to cut out caffeine completely. Why I quit coffee for eczema and psoriasis healing

• I start using Apple's journal app to keep a log of insights chronologically.

• I went to my primary care doctor yesterday and was prescribed some methylprednisolone that could help push it back for a bit.

• I went to the dermatologist today and she confirmed it was a bad case of Eczema.

• I start on a strict carnivore diet, even cutting out coffee completely. I'm decaf tea/water only for liquids, eggs, beef, fish, chicken for diet.

• I start taking L Glutamine powder, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. If my issue is gut-related, L Glutamine can potentially help with gut healing.

I start to notice my arm near my bicep/shoulder is getting smaller spots and another patch has appeared. This also burns and itches - now i know this was a mix of eczema and psoriasis.

The watch-wear mark on my wrist develops into a solid plaque and the top of my arm is developing itchy patches:

Legs have a few patches

January 28, 2026

• Day 2 of methlyprednisone with 4 pills taken over the course of the day.
• All of my symptoms are getting worse quickly. My eyes and ears start to develop eczema or psoriasis, not sure which. It feels like flames under my eyes, so likely eczema.
• my ears get red hot, especially when I'm in a room with hot air blowing.

January 29, 2026

• I didn't sleep well last night. I was feeling weird pulses all over my body. It sounds like this is due to caffeine withdrawal and possibly the methlyprednisone.
• Day 3 of methlyprednisone with 3 pills.
• Minor skin improvements today, especially with my eyes.
• • Started drinking decaf tea
• • Added in probiotic (Saccharomyces Boulardii) to my healing protocol
• Pooped today - it was not healthy looking (split apart, floating in the bowl, light brown color).
• Energy isn't great, likely due to adapting to the carnivore diet and being caffeine free.

January 30, 2026 - adapted to no-caffeine/carnivore diet

• Day 4 of methlyprednisone with 2 pills
• Energy is stable all day! I'm not feeling fatigued. I feel great and am productive.

January 31, 2026 - clues in the poop

• I have a bowl movement, the poop is separated, light brown, floating in the bowl, and extra fowl. This might point to malabsorption or microbiome imbalances affecting fat digestion. It could indicate issues like IBS, food intolerances, or infections.
• Last day of methlyprednisone

Feburary 1, 2026 - updated protocol

• burning and itching are getting even worse. Likely due to being off methlyprednisone.
• I didn’t sleep last night due to the burning in my body. I had to use the burn spray + the burn relief medication primary care doctor gave me. I think I fell asleep around 3am. Awful night.
• • L Glutamine first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Why I'm using L Glutamine in my eczema & psoriasis healing protocol

Feburary 2, 2026 - symptoms get worse at night

• At night is when burning and itching is the worst. Seems to calm down very early morning.
• Read eczema free naturally by Logan Trudell and ordered some additional supplies based on the recommended protocol.

Feburary 3, 2026 - updated protocol

• • start stinging nettle tea
• • experimenting with witch hazel + aloe for reducing itching

Feburary 4, 2026 - updated protocol

• Burning and itching last night wasn't as bad, I was able to sleep well last night.
• My eyes are really bad today - they are shriveled and wrinkled now.
• +Started taking Sangre de Drago drops. Why I'm using Sangre de Drago (dragon's blood) in my eczema healing protocol.

Feburary 5, 2026 - start of two day ski trip

• I go on a two day ski trip and am able to tolerate it decently well, despite my symptoms in my arms, legs, and eyes. My energy is great! It's nice to be distracted from my skin problems. I really enjoyed skiing.
• I had a healthy bowel movement. Likely due to the carnivore diet. I'm having fewer bowel movements, but they are at least healthy.

Feburary 6, 2026

• I didn't sleep well last night due to itching, burning, and the airbnb being uncomfortable. Got about 4 hours of sleep.
• Note to self: get sleep mask and earplugs, always have these handy.

Feburary 7, 2026 - flare

• My right buttcheek has eczema now. I only noticed it in the afternoon, but it could have been there in the morning. I had started to see it form the previous day.
• Skin feels awful today. Was it because I was out in the sun for a while yesterday? I was fully covered with a jacket, pants, gloves, neck sleeve, so my skin wasn't getting much sun contact at all. I used sunscreen on my nose.
• I slept great this last night.

Feburary 8, 2026 - urgent care - severe swelling in arm

• I had diarrhea in the morning. I wonder if it's because I had slightly burnt sirloin steak the night before? (it was pretty charred).
• Around 10pm, left arms starts swelling and is warm to the touch. I go to urgent care. Doc says it is bad inflammation, likely not systemic infection. Tells me to take antibiotics if I start to get a fever, but I likely don't need them. I didn't end up taking the antibiotics.

February 9, 2026 - updated protocol, dermatologist, start on prednisone

• I go to dermatologist. She took a swab of my arm to check for infection. Also took a biopsy to see if it is a psoriasis or eczema breakout. She told me to take the antibiotics just in case it was an infection (I didn't end up taking the antibiotic). But also said it wasn’t life-threatening. I’m supposed to go to the ER if I get a fever or lose feeling in my hand. She gave me a high dose of prednisone to try to kick it back a bit. The dosage of prednisone is 10mg tab, 6 tablets per day for 2 days, 4 tablets daily for 2 days, 2 tablets daily for 3 days, 1 tablet daily for 3 days. I start on the prednisone (6 tablets) that day.
• +take activated charcoal (or a binder) at night before bed (not around food or other supplements).
• Day 1 of prednisone (6 tablets)

February 10, 2026 - updated protocol, started water-only fast

• +add antimicrobial spray to my skin routine. Why Antimicrobials are important for eczema healing
• Day 2 of prednisone (6 tablets)
• Day 1 of water fasting
• I fell asleep fairly easily, symptoms weren't too bad, but woke up around 3 and struggled to fall back asleep.
• Skin has cooled off a bit. My eyes are a bit better, not nearly as red

February 11, 2026

• Day 3 of prednisone (4 tablets)
• Day 2 of water fast.
• I note that my poop is healthy. I feel very energetic all day.
• That night I was able to fall asleep easily, itching and burning wasn't that bad. But I woke up at 2:30am completely wide awake and couldn't sleep again.

February 12, 2026 - end water-only fast, see dermatologist again

• Day 3 of water fast.
• Day 4 of prednisone (4 tablets)
• I'm feeling way too much energy today - almost like I had coffee. I'm very mentally alert and sharp.
• I see my Dermatologist, who says the biopsy shows psoriasis mixed in with eczema. She says methlyprednisone likely caused my psoriasis to flare up on my arms since that can be the rebound effect of that drug. What? So why did she just give me prednisone again? It sounds like the plan is to transition me to a biologic to mask the flare up... I wish I had asked more questions! I ask a ton of questions at the appointment.
• I decide to break my fast early by eating dinner that night due to the bad combination with prednisone.

February 12, 2026 - reduced swelling in arm

• Day 5 of prednisone (2 tablets). I note that I barely notice my skin issues all day. Swelling in my arm has finally gone down (but not completely). I'm not burning or itching at all. My skin is still flaky on my arms. Skin has way calmed down at this point.
• My energy feels "crashed" today relative to the day prior. it felt like an adrenaline crash.

Feburary 13, 2026 - update protocol

• Day 6 of prednisone (2 tablets)
• +added in peptide sprays. BPC 157 and KPV. Two sprays in the morning, two in afternoon. Try to take them on their own. Why I added peptides to my eczema & psoriasis healing protocol.

February 14, 2026 - flare

• Day 7 of prednisone (1 tablet).
• It was difficult for me to sleep the night before. I was itching/burning more last night.
• My skin is starting to get worse again, especially my eyes. My eye elasticity is terrible, making it hard to keep my eyes opened all the way.

February 15, 2026 - flare

• Day 7 of prednisone (1 tablet)
• Skin is getting worse again

February 16, 2026 - flare

• Skipped my last prednisone dose (1 tablet). Just ripping the bandaid off. I know I'm going to rebound hard, may as well get it over with.
• Eczema now spread to my entire chest and torso. It wasn't there before. Its lots of small red dots, almost looks like guttate psoriasis, but it has more of a burn/itch to it. It's not raised initially.
• Pooped today, it was weird. Very stringy, but not diarrhea. It went to the bottom of the bowl and the water stayed clear.

February 17, 2026 - updated protocol, swelling

• +took a unison to help sleep. It worked!
• I saw a good eczema healing story on YouTube that turned me on to patch testing for contact dermatitis to help eczema healing. I contacted my dermatologist about it, they said I need to wait 1 month for a patch test from the last use of my oral steroid. Gee, I wish I had done this at the beginning! I'm irritated that I wasn't advised to do this at the start, especially since my initial issue could have been a contact-related reaction.

February 18, 2026 - huge flare, swelling, updated protocol

• I woke up to both of my arms starting to swell slightly. I don't have any signs of infection. Swelling isn't too bad. Is this from tapering off the prednisone?
• My neck has lost it's elasticity. The skin is really thick and immobile. I think I have a big patch of psoriasis there now
• I didn't take my final prednisone pill, I feel like I'm just drawing out the inevitable. In fact, I think this is just making everything worse! Wish I had never taken them.

February 19, 2026 - updated protocol, flare, swelling

• Woke up with my eyes and neck swollen
• After some research and asking online in Facebook groups, it seems this is a common sign of inflammation and steroid withdrawal. My eczema coach experienced the same thing. I was encouraged to "keep doing the right things - clean diet, herbs, low stress, and sunshine, and you'll be on the right track to healing. Your body is now recalibrating!"
• +added coffee enemas to my protocol. Why I added coffee enemas for eczema & psoriasis healing.

February 20, 2026

• My right leg has started to swell near the calf
• Swelling seems to shift in intensity between my arms
• Swelling in face/neck went down

February 22, 2026

• The swelling in my right leg has moved up into my hamstring and quads. Mobility is affected now and I get pain in my right leg when I stand up and start moving too quickly.
• The swelling in my arms is still there, it's more swollen in my right arm now. Left is only slightly swollen.
• I found an incredibly useful resource on functional dermatology; maybe the most comprehensive I've seen on the subject. After watching this video, I ordered an organic acid test (OAT) so I can check for yeast and fungal markers. I'm still waiting for the GI-MAP stool test to arrive. Based on the training video, I'm confident I'll have a clear protocol to follow once I get these two test results. Functional dermatology training for treatment of eczema.