Hi Vera,

I have had dyshidrosis for 12 years and it has steadily gotten worse. It started when I was 39, also the year I started perimenopause. I am now 51 and am almost finished with perimenopause and going into menopause. I recently had a change in my hormone replacement therapy. I went from pill to patch. The patch gave me only half of the amount of estrogen that the pill did. One week after I switched to a lower estrogen product, my dyshidrosis disappeared!!!

Unfortunately, night sweats and hot flashes appeared. I tried to tough it out for a couple of months, but ended up only lasting for six weeks. But during this time, the dyshidrosis on my feet had completely healed and there was absolutely no sign of it anywhere.

Then I switched back to a higher level of estrogen. Within 4 days of taking a higher dose of estrogen, the dyshidrosis was back with a vengeance. I believe, from my experience, that some dyshidrosis cases are linked to estrogen dominance, which is seen in menopausal and perimenopausal women.

I did try H2O2 treatment and it worked, and will have to go back to that regimen. I just thought this would be an interesting addition to the info on your website. Thanks for sharing all this info with us!

At this point, I asked Kathy if perhaps cooler weather was responsible for the alleviation of the dyshidrosis, and whether she would be willing to repeat the experiment in the summer, prime DE season.

Hi Vera,

All the patch changing was done during the winter. There is no doubt in my mind that lowering the estrogen caused my symptoms to subside, because dyshidrosis also came on when I began perimenopause. Another strange thing happened when the estrogen was at 50%, my allergies went away. My allergies started when I was pregnant with my daughter (again high estrogen). When I went on half estrogen, my allergies went away. It was amazing. Both the allergies and the dyshidrosis were gone. I had a wonderful 6 weeks except for the hot flashes.

I would be willing to try the experiment again, but presently am going away on vacation and won't be back until mid-June. When I come back, I will cut my patches in half and see what happens. If I can help someone else with dyshidrosis, I'll suffer the hot flashes for awhile!

Also, I wanted to mention that putting Aquaphor on in the morning and Fluoxinoate in the evenings before sleeping does seem to keep the skin much softer. Doesn't completely clear dyshidrosis up, but keeps it to a dull roar. Aquaphor is an over-the-counter petroleum based product similar to vaseline in texture. It is made by Eucerin. Here are the ingredients: Petrolatum; Mineral Oil; Ceresin; Lanolin; Alcohol; Panthenol; Glycerin; Bisabolol. A very well-known pediatric dermatologist in Manhattan suggested Aquaphor to my sister for my niece, a 12 year old with psoriasis brought on by juvenile arthritis. It works well for her, too.

But the best by far is your H2O2. I buy large commerical-type nail files used for artificial nails (pretty rough) and I sand my foot in the bathtub, apply H2O2, let the feet dry, and put acquaphor on after. I put cotton socks on then, and I go to bed and read until I fall asleep. I try not to get up during the night.

Anyway, I will try the experiment when I return from vacation and we'll find out if it was coincidence. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly.

Bless her, here she comes again, in late summer, with more information. Thank you, Kathy, for contributing so well to our growing data base!

I have an occasional one or two (1 or 2 !!!) vesicles on my hand and some on my feet. But the rashes of vesicles are gone, and the peeling I have filed away.

Lowering estrogen has helped dramatically and it all makes sense, since I started into perimenopause and had elevated estrogen levels about the same time as the dyshidrosis started. More women than men have this, and it is rare in children under 10, so for some it might be linked to hormones.

Definitely estrogen is the trigger. When pregnancy occurs, estrogen output is estremely high, and it also peaks during perimenopause. In perimenopause, as estrogen increases to try and get luteinizing hormone (LH)) and folicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to get the ovaries to release an egg (this is called a hormone cascade). Once the egg is released, the feedback from LH and FSH turns off the estrogen. During perimenopause and menopause, there are no more folicles, so estrogen continues to pour into the system but doesn't get turned off.

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Written by Kathy Beck © 2006-2007
Updated 10-6-2006

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