About gluten... and ProActive. I kid you not.

July 9, 2002

Group,

As you may remember, I went through a very bad skin

spell a couple (or three) months ago. I thought I

would check in.

As some of you know, I discovered through trial and

error that gluten (and raw tomatoes and onions) were

the primary foods to which I react. Although I haven't

been tested for celiac disease, with my doctor's

approval, I have followed a gluten free diet for about

18 months. Most of that time my skin has been much

better. There has also been a HUGE reduction in

symptoms in other parts of my body.

Note: I DO NOT have permanent redness, but tended

instead to get the itchy bumps that left red marks

behind, and island-shaped patches at the corners of my

mouth and nose which were often swollen and flakey.

The bumps had created a lacey pattern of red scar-like

marks across my jawline. I frequently broke out in the

same locations over and over again, often creating

little clusters of breakouts.

I was also taking Claritin to mitigate the histamine

response when I was accidentally exposed to gluten --

which can happen in a variety of ways, no matter how

careful I am.

So, mostly clear... then beginning in Feb. or March, I

began to break out again. Nothing was helping. My skin

was getting more and more sensitive. The patches at

the corners of my mouth burned and peeled constantly.

I was a mess! I stopped all topicals and began to use

plain water to wash. Finally, in April, I received

notice, through a gluten-free health site, that the

formula for Claritin had changed and could no longer

be guaranteed gluten-free!

I switched to Allegra and my skin began to improve

immediately. After a month it looked much better, but

not great.

Then,

get this,

In a fit of consumerism, I ordered ProActive skin care

off of the television. It's loaded with benzoyl

peroxide, but contains no wheat derivatives (I can't

use anything with gluten topically, either). My skin

was terribly dry for the first week or two on the

system, but I noticed my bumps were going away and the

ones that remained were healing much faster.

I've been using it for about five weeks and my skin

looks great. I mean great -- like it did in my 20s. I

wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself. (OK, I

have the little lines of a 40-year-old, but very few

bumps... and they seem " normal " -- not the big itchy

hive-live breakouts I'd come to expect).

Since then I've begun using their night cream and day

moisturizer, as well as the compact foundation. My

skin is still looking great.

Over the 4th of July weekend, I had contact with some

gluten in a potato salad. I itched a little and broke

out with two bumps, which healed in about a third of

the time it used to take. They left no mark behind.

So, for what it's worth, I thought I'd pass it on.

Those of you who have been on the list for while know

I'm a big proponent of dietary controls (finding your

problematic foods, not any published list of

" triggers " )and natural healing. I'm the last person I

thought would be singing the praises of an infomercial

skin care line...

Suzi

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July 9, 2002