Winter Flare Ups: Living with Darier's White Disorder in all seasons

Each winter I am reminded why I hate the cold weather: it's dry here in Ontario and I run my humidifier constantly, but it is never enough. My scalp gets flaky and my skin gets flares easier. But this year a NEW thing has happened :( my face is getting dry red patches that itch and have a mix of acne and flare up bumps = NOT FUN.

dry patches are new and I hate them

I am trying to treat it with a mixture of things as I am finding one cream is either too heavy (Vitamin E cream and a new one I tried from LUSH called Celestial) and takes away the redness/dry spot but leaves pimples, or it dries out the pimples and soothes the dry skin but leaves flaky dry skin (Vitamin A cream, Polysporin, and the Germolene).

UPDATE: Celestial didn't work out, it was too heavy and left me breaking out** I ended up using it as a hand cream.

I hate winter.
(And yet I prefer it to summer? Ugh, scratch that, I just hate my stupid skin.)

Granted I'm also highly stressed lately and have been consuming more sugar than normal... I need to focus on getting back into a routine of meditation and low/no sugar intake as my back has sprouted red "wings" and the front of my torso is sporting red blotches here and there. I am feeling very defeated.

I have been going to the gym somewhat regularly so sweating and friction of the workout clothes might also be contributing, and they have a hot tub there which is chlorinated so that could be helping or hindering me as well; I have heard that chlorine helps some of us with DWD and people go swimming in pools to help keep flares down.

I am going to go back to 2x 100 mg magnesium a day - one in the morning and one before bed to see if that helps, on top of my regular Vitamin B + Pine Bark Extract mix in the morning. It could be time to mix in Vitamin D (cloudy winters are not making this fun either).

So just a reminder that it's not always the same thing day in and out that works - sometimes you have to bang your head against the metaphoric wall and try to tap into what's making the flare and fix it on the fly.

Happy winter everyone :/

This is the worst.

Seriously. This is the worst my Darier's has been since back in my 20s when I didn't know what it was. It is sore, weepy, itchy, and this is better than last week - granted I needed to let my skin calm down after me trying to put everything on it (TL;DR Bio Oil will mess you UP!)

The pictures can't really capture how red/scaly/irritated/ it is (thanks iphone camera and my lame photography skills) and it's spreading past my usual areas to upper neck and my back... I haven't been this concerned in a while. Yes, I know it's only been 2 months since I went on the IUD and I hear that changing your hormones can affect your Darier's and I have always believed that - I mean, come once a month my "lady time" makes my skin flare up to the point of tears. Now it's at that as base level and it's driving me crazy....

So I'm doubling up on Vitamin A topically and orally in pill form. I'm even splitting the gel cap of the 10000 IU and putting it on the saddest part on my right shoulder/neck. Not applying cover up and letting it breath, lots of scarves and turtlenecks... I am going to talk to my doctor about hormone therapy to see if I can settle this down with more estrogen or progestin, as the low dose from switching t an IUD is the ONLY thing that has changed - I still eat the same, drink the same, and my supplements haven't changed. So that's gotta be it. 

I don't know if I can ride out my natural body chemistry - my friend said it took her body about 6 months to adjust to the IUD after doing pills for most of her life and that's the same boat as me. But, she didn't have her skin reflect her inner chemical circus! 

Gah. This is the worst. 

Trying something new: Saje Restoral Ointment

I'm a bit hooked on Saje what with their amazing smelly stuff - but being so prone to flare ups and finding the more natural I go the more my skin seems to be happy with me... I started trying things other than their lavender pillow mist (which I HIGHLY recommend...) but their skin stuff.

Restoral Healing Skin Ointment's first ingredient is PINE TAR! See a theme here? My Pine Bark Extract pills are something I can't live without - and here I find this pine tar ointment?! I have to try it.

It is like a potted lip balm in texture, it's brown and it leaves a bit of an orangey brown colour on my skin when applied. BUT it is soothing and it doesn't make my DWD itch or flare. I have been using it for about a week now and my neck bumps (for lack of technical term for the bumps that are ALWAYS around) are not chapped or red, they are pink and soft. This bodes well...

I will keep trying it out and add it to the routine - though I am still applying Vit A cream at night this is something I have started to put on when I get home from work or in the morning under my make up. (Yes I sometimes use Cover FX on my neck to cover up the redness...)

I will report back after some time but I do think it might be worth a try for those who want an alternative to anti-itch creams and ointments. I used this on mosquito bites too and it helped as well!

Itchy?

I find that when I'm stressed out my skin just crawls - it gets itchy with no rash. It just IS itchy. This is something that wasn't always so....  I wonder if it is psychosomatic or is actually a warning sign to chill out? Anyone else have this?