At forty two years of age I developed a rash that simply would not go away. I thought I was years away from experiencing Menopause but as time went on I learned that the mood swings and hot flashes were what the medical profession calls Perimenopause which means that you are on your way to Menopause but the symptoms are ongoing. That knowledge surely provided me little comfort. One doctor told me that these symptoms could go on for more than 10 years! But I had another symptom and it was not on the list of what is normal for my newly discovered age related condition and it was this darned rash! I was itchy and it was all over my body. My eyelids on some days were puffy and dry and my eyebrows were starting to fall out. I even lost hair around my forehead from the dry itchy skin.
Itchy Rashes are not on the list of the usual symptoms of Menopause
Since itchy rashes were not on the list of symptoms caused by Menopause I went to a dermatologist. She told me I had dry skin and called it eczema and suggested I use Moisturizing cream and put cold compresses on the itch and never scratch it ever. That was easy for her to say but impossible to do although I began slathering moisturizing cream all over my body. My skin soon got nice and soft. But the itching continued. I went back to the doctor and they gave me steroid cream containing hydrocortisone which is basically a stronger version of the stuff you can get over the counter. This helped but did not eliminate the problem.
Several months later with no cure in sight I changed dermatologists. Perhaps it was a hot flash making me glow on the day I visited my new doctor for the first time but he was a bit overly friendly. He asked me about where I was itching and naturally wanted to see where the rash was on my body. I showed him my itchy arms and then my back. He wanted to know if it was a problem anywhere else as he felt my back. I had told him my chest had a rash too so he proceeded to have me show him my breasts only then to tell me they looked great to him! He did prescribe oral steroids which helped knock out about 90% of the rash but I changed doctors again. This guy was just too touchy feely for me.
The next doctors I visited were Dermatological Specialists at a University Hospital. They took a piece of my skin and tested it in a laboratory after my first visit to rule out creepy stuff like Scabies. They kept me on steroids and changed my prescription from a steroid cream to an ointment and the itching lessened but did not go away completely. Living on steroids and slathering myself with moisturizing cream was helping me get through life one day at a time but I was still uncomfortable.
A Patch Test for Allergies Helped Find a Possible Cause for My Eczema
Next the doctor did a patch allergy test on my back which would tell them if I was allergic to various elements. The allergy test showed that I was allergic to two different things. The first was not something people usually are exposed to and that is Formaldehyde. As a social worker my risk of exposure to this compound was not likely. The other was called isothiasolinone and its counterpart Methylisothiazolinone.
Products I had been Using to Treat my Eczema were Actually Making it Worse
I had no idea what these ingredients were but learned that they were found in many shampoos, lotions, and hair care products. My doctor provided me with a long list of products that were known to containe isothiasolinone. I went home and threw away my Pantene Conditioner and hand lotion I’d been using because I thought it was helping my eczema. It turned out that it was making things worse.
UV Light Therapy Nearly Eliminated My Eczema Symptoms
After eliminating all of the sources of possible isothiasolinone exposure and still having eczema my doctor decided to try UV Light Therapy. This consisted of standing for less than 10 minutes in a little room made of light bulbs much like a tanning booth but many times more powerful. At first, I would be exposed for only a few minutes at a time until my skin got tanner and my tolerance increased. This worked like magic. After about 10 treatments I was nearly cured! Plus there was the added bonus of a nice dark suntan in the middle of the winter!
The combination of Light Therapy and eliminating the allergen in my shampoo from the chemical isothiasolinone combined with the occasional use of hydrocortisone cream solved my problem. Over time the itchiness stopped. Now, 10 years later with Menopause behind me, I have some itchy skin now and then, but if I go to an ordinary tanning booth and use a little over the counter hydrocortisone cream my skin clears right up.
Although eczema is not usually a symptom of Menopause it was a definite side effect for me. Things that never bothered me before suddenly became a cause for eczema for me during those years. I learned a lot from this experience and l highly recommend UV Light Therapy for eczema. I would also strongly suggest you get a patch skin test to help identify and eliminate possible allergic causes if you have been told you have eczema and have tried everything else.
