Hi! My name is Annette and I am a violinist and German.
It's been 2 1/2 months now that I moved back to Berlin after living in New York City for almost 12 years.
Now it's time to get a bit personal and write about eczema...just because it's a lifelong topic for me and a lot of other people and maybe it helps somebody if I am writing about it.
If you know me a bit you have seen me struggle with eczema...an up and down is pretty normal for this disease however the past 3 years (more or less) before moving back to Berlin it was mainly a down period...the worst was winter...my whole body was struggling and I was trying everything to make it better...extreme diets (I tried everything from raw to vegan to paleo!), all kinds of lotions, supplements, acupuncture.....the list goes on and on...struggling with eczema is not just a vanity thing...it's about being uncomfortable in your own skin, it can feel like 1000 needles when you move around....being itchy and therefore not being able to concentrate as well....forgetting your lotion or your emergency cortisone....a nightmare! Having to answer uncomfortable questions and being ok with people staring can be tough at times...and the past 1-2 years I would also feel sick a lot...and sometimes have insomnia....eating out was always scary specially when I had a lot of work the next day...I never knew how my body would take it....sometimes I would feel hungover without having had much or even nothing to drink at alI...I thought something is seriously wrong with me...
With eczema people quickly blame psychological issues as a cause....now sometimes that is true. Having a lot of tension in your life can affect your skin. I also think that the personality of a person with eczema tends to be sensitive. However eczema patients are often told that they can't work under pressure and may be depressed....and therefore should choose a life without pressure-that I don't believe at all!!!
In my case partially my psychological state may have contributed to my uncomfortable phase...not having figured out where I belong together with living in a very nervous city like NYC probably didn't help.
However I always thought that there is something else there that I couldn't figure out...
When I moved to Berlin after 2-3 weeks I could tell that my skin wasn't overreacting as much....after a month I noticed I can eat without get sick, also me waking up for hours in the middle of the night got less and less. In fact I couldn't stop myself from eating a lot, because it was so wonderful to not get sick anymore! (but I think it balanced itself out now, thank goodness!) Some hardcore eczema spots, for example a spot on my face, that was there for months, disappeared!
Now, my eczema is not gone, however I can eat a lot more ingredients again. I had times where I worked out without getting itchy at all despite sweating!
I can eat out and not get nervous! I can sleep without itching!
I almost don't take use of my emergency cortisone anymore-I can even drink red wine and coffee again! And that being a new beginning in a new city with a lot of things to take care of.
Well I have no idea what the cause was in NYC - it may have been something in the water, I know that there is chloride and fluoride in the water in the USA. There are more artificial ingredients in food. And maybe the apartment I was living in had mold or dust or something that I was allergic to. Berlin is a lot calmer, and maybe I am calmer too? I don't really know the cause....
...but I know that I am feeling so much better! So I guess what I am trying to say is that sometimes you get sick from stuff around you that you can't see or maybe not even prove....but always trust your instinct and never stop trying to find solutions to heal....eventually you will get there! Namaste!
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