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Three nights ago I noticed that after washing my hands they felt really sticky, almost like when you use the last paper towel on the roll and you get that glue residue on your hands. However, it wasn't the last paper towel so I figured maybe the liquid soap was really old and doing funky things so I rewashed with dish soap and again grabbed a paper towel. Once again, my hands got sticky as I dried them off. Thinking now that there was something wrong with these paper towels, I washed again and this time dried with a hand towel only to yet again find my hands sticky as they dried off. The stickiness only lasts 30-60 seconds, until the skin completely dries, but during that in-between time of soaking wet and totally dry they feel very tacky to the touch and my fingers will actually stick to each other.
The next day when I took a shower I noticed that the water was beading up on the skin on my arms. Sure enough, when I dried off afterwards I found that all of my skin is tacky to the thouch until it is completely air dried.
Today I shaved my legs and my skin felt almost like it had a layer of wax on it that kept catching the razor. The skin on my hands seems to be getting more sticky when they get wet. Water continues to bead on my skin when it gets wet. I asked my children if they can feel that my skin is sticky to the touch and they said yes.
This is affecting all of my skin now, including my face. I always put a moisturizer on my face after washing and it does not feel like my skin is absorbing it now, it just feels heavy and greasy since the lotion just sits there on top. I also tried putting lotion on my hands and it was not absorbed at all, just left my hands feeling very slimy and greasy so I wiped it off.
Has anyone ever experienced anything like this or have any suggestions for what might be causing it? Thanks for any held you can give.
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Hi, Pat. Not sure what is going on with this, but wanted you to know that from my computer there are just 6 pages and yes, about half of the comments are missing. This is probably what others who are mentioning this are seeing as well.
November 4, 2010 - 7:20pmThis Comment
Hi all - I'm not sure what you mean by missing pages. This goes back to July 2009 and you can go back to old pages through the numbers underneath the last comment on the page. There are 11 pages of comments here.
November 4, 2010 - 6:46pmIf any of you wants to use the Groups function on EmpowHER to start up a support group then please feel free to do so. It would be a self-managed group and you guys would decide what you want to do with it.
Hope that helps! Pat
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Hi everyone!
November 4, 2010 - 6:38pmYes, there about half of the comments missing.
Pat, is there anyway to get them back or are they "lost"?
A little worried about this cause a lot of important iformation is missing...
I have followed the comments here ever since I wrote as number two in this thread.
No improvement yet in my case,
I am amazed over how many people have responded, ,since I first started seeking information about sticky skin, It was almost inpossible to find anyone with this, or any information a couple of years ago.
This is hopefull.
I have been very sick and not had the energy to really put into words here what I am going through,
One thought that have been on my mind for quite a while now is that I It would be avery good thing to start up a support group with a website, where we can discuss futher and maybe make lists of symptomes and categorize them in a way that makes is easier to draw conclusions. As someone mensioned there seem to be a little variation about how the symtomes appear, I would belong to the group of people who has sticky skin only when moist,, rubbery skin when wet, and nothing when completely dry. The episodes start up after coming in contact with chemichals ,in my case, for example printed paper, plastic cast and so on, but then is persistent for a long time even if a dont use any of these products during that time. I also have what someone here called internal problems, Some sort of allergy seem to be a resonable conclusion in some cases, and some of us have other (related?) issues, I´ve been diagnosed with ME.
I feel I am a little different in the matter of how this first happened to me since I KNOW it was due to a chemical exposure the first time it happened, (please read my firt post) and my family was affected as well, and the symtomes of sticky skin actually was contaigues for quite a while. All of the discussions here about allergy, mold, fungal infections, chemichals are interesting, I have a lot of thoughts but It would take ages to write them all down, and i´m simply dont have the enrgy, unfortunately.
Is there anyone here who has time and energy (and ability) to start up a supportgroup/website and some smart system to categorise our symtomes of sticky skin and different health issues connected to it, I think it woulb be fantastic!
And Pat, please see what can be done about the several pages of missing comments? can we get them back? Really sad about them missing.
Take care everyone!
This Comment
testing this website comment...what i've written is not going through
November 3, 2010 - 6:34pmThis Comment
Try again!
November 3, 2010 - 6:35pmThis Comment
I wrote a lengthy response and somehow it was lost while submitting. I'm also not getting all 10 pages of comments only 5 on this website and the dates aren't chronological. something is amiss. This is my second attempt. Anyway, Hi everyone. This is Diane. I went to the dermatologist and he felt the stickiness on my hands. Also a piece of paper had attached itself to my wrist while i was leaning on a desk in the exam room which left a lasting impression on him. He said he has heard of this but only in patients on certain medications. He asked if i was on any meds or vitamins i told him no. He says this happens to people with too much vitamin A or thyroid disorders. I told him I have 5 thyroid nodules. He wrote a script for my vitamin A level to be tested and T3 and T4 thyroid levels. My TSH has only been test thus far but never T3 or T4. "Sticky mess" our doctors concur! He prescribed a cream called EpiCeram skin barrier emulsion which he feels will help the situation. I have not researched the ingredients yet. If ingredients are OK i will consider filling the prescription and using the cream on my feet, hands and lips as he told me to do. I am eagerly awaiting the blood test results. If it comes back positive then it tells a story of how this manifests from the inside out. I also had a washing machine repairman come to troubleshoot my non working machine and i was told a lot of water in these new machines remains behind and doesn't drain like the older models did. I blasted the machine with Tide washing machine cleaner, threw out all my towels and currently do not detect mildew in the machine. Its sad that there will always be stagnant water to contend with giving off mildew. I will keep everyone informed of my results. In the meantime keep the faith! Sticky mess I hope you're doing a little better. I'm thinkin of you
November 3, 2010 - 6:58pmThis Comment
OMG Diane, what a breakthrough! This is giving me hope that we're going to get this figured out and the stickiness is going to go away for good! I'm so glad you found a doctor that is knowledgable with these issues, and I cannot wait to hear what your lab results show. I'm going to look into the EpiCeram cream too. Thanks for keeping us updated on this and your washing machine issue!
I don't know about all of you, but my skin is extremely dry from head to toe and it keeps getting worse. I learned that this is another symptom of underactive thyroid as your skin only receives about 20% of it's blood supply. I've been using Vaseline, instead of lotion, and it seems to help without making my sticky skin worse. Just wanted to pass that along in case it's helpful for others! :)
November 4, 2010 - 2:20pmThis Comment
OMG Diane is right! Thank you so much for hanging in there and making sure your comments got on the site. This is very helpful information!
I'm sorry for the glitches you encountered. Every once in a while the site gets a bit "sticky" and "messes" things up. :-)
November 4, 2010 - 5:10pmPat
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Hey Diane! Thanks for all of the information. You are helping me so much. We might have the root of the problem narrowed down now. Keep us posted about your upcoming visit with your endocrinologist... I'm curious to find out if they test your T4 levels to see if they're low like mine. Although I don't have thyroid nodgules, we both might have a slight thyroid hormone inbalance that could be messing with our skin. My TSH is always in range too. I don't know if I have too much Vitamin A in my diet or not, but I thought it was great that my Dermatologist knew about that as a cause of sticky skin. I don't know what foods contain Vit A so I don't know what to avoid.
I love to eat breads, pastas and sweets, but I've cut back as I've been trying to do THE YEAST CONNECTION diet & starve the excess yeast out of my system. I recently had a delayed Food Allergy blood test from Immuno Labs, and it showed that I'm highly allergic to Baker's Yeast. Now I'm wondering if the allergic reaction to yeast is causing some additional allergies to surface (Colophony/Sodium Benzoate) that have never bothered me before!
Here's some information that is helping me: If you have the Sodium Benzoate allergy, stay away from product ingredients containing PEG or Propylene Glycol. I found that both of them are derived from Benzoic Acid. It's very difficult to avoid as they're in everything. My underarm stickiness is better from using SURE deodorant too... THANKS Scf500! Also, my sticky hands are a little better since I started using DOVE 'sensitive skin' soap to wash my hands & face and to wash in the shower. I put a bar of DOVE in every bathroom at home so I can keep it consistant. I try not to use the soap in public restrooms if I'm out at the mall, etc. because I don't know if the ingredients contain benzoate, and some soaps make my hands extra sticky. I also switched to California Baby 'sensitive' Shampoo & Conditioner from Whole Foods, and the stickiness on my skin overall has improved as the ingredients don't contain benzoate! I have long thick hair and it takes longer to wash and lather, but it's worth it to have less stickiness. It also helps if I tip my head upside down in the shower and wash my hair that way to keep the soap from running down. The stickiness on my shoulders & back has improved quite a bit as I've made these changes!
October 30, 2010 - 12:26pmThis Comment
Went to the dermatoligist about my sticky hands... she looked at them for a minute and said hyperhydrosis. I didn't really think I was sweaty though. ??? Oh well. Might as well try the stuff she reccommended
October 30, 2010 - 11:28amThis Comment