Hi Daniel,
I’m sorry to hear about the issues you’re going through, I seriously feel for you.
Over the last 4 months I feel I’ve got a little more handle on my skin.
Your symptoms do seem more severe than mine but I’ll give you a list of things I’ve tried to do to help.
Cut outs
Alcohol - If you drink then choose clean spirits with good mixers (tonics,apple/orange juice)
Beer/wine is a no go.
Meat - A tough one, I ate meat on a daily basis and I still eat it maybe 2/3 times a week bit its just cooked meat cold cuts and left overs are high in histamine so freshly cooked is best.
I wouldnt worry to much about gluten and more on high histamine foods, just google them and see if theres any you eat a lot of. For me it was Avacados, spinach and strawberries which are all very high. So if you’re eating a lot then antihistamine tablets are pointless.
I quit dairy mainly for my stomach issues so unsure if this helps skin or not but I think it helps
Things to take.
Vitamin D tablets (1 a day)
Omega 3 Fish Oil Capsules
Iron Tablets (1 a day)
PLENTY OF WATER (just water, fruit flavoured etc is not a replacement)
I use boots washing liquid and conditioner.
Shaving
I become less irritated if I don’t clean shave my neck. I just use a body trimmer on my neck and trim to a short length like 0.4mm so it looks clean but it dosn’t cause stubble rash.
Also dependant on how hairy you are it worth trimming body hair. For a couple of reasons.
Sweat seems to linger on the body with hair and sweat makes me itch.
Also I notice that ointments/moisturisers cover the skin better with less hair.
I’m a bit of a hairy guy so trim my arms/legs/back/abdomen down with an electric trimmer honestly you’ll notice the differance when using creams.
Potions to use.
So I shower once a day (personally at night as it aids sleeping)
I dont use any soap in the shower just warm water and try get done in 5 mins, don’t blast the neck or head just cup water into you hands and wash them.
Apply everything about an hour before bed.
Pat dry and whilst still damp apply steroid cream thinly to affected areas and then I moisturise head to toe with doublebase gel (get it on the nhs) let this sink in.
After that apply vaseline to the worst areas liberally. Its a bit icky but once you have things on track you can not apply so much.
In the morning I use steroid again thinly and O’keefes extreme moisturiser (the one that says guarantees to stop drying skin) and again head to toe about 40 mins before I get dressed.
If you plan on taking anti-histamines your doc should be putting you on Fexofenadine. I stopped because the withdrawel made my itching worse.
Last resort to help sleeping, you will want to shower in the morning if you use this.
If i’m going through a bad patch I buy Calamine lotion and literally coat myself in it, it obviously creates a dry chalky coating but I use about a bottle a week. Just make sure you are still doing the moisturising but maybe in the early evening and then calamine up 20 mins before bed.
My routine to get sleep if really missing out is moisturise before tea, then an hour before bed drink twinings sleep tea, take a Sominex (over the counter sleep aid) then calamine up. Buy some cotton gloves from boots for sleeping or in bulk on amazon to save.
Lastly and mostly important, keep stress to a minimum and know it will get better. Stress without a doubt is the biggest trigger. If you work and have to take holiday to chill and just have 2 weeks of TV and moisturising, just do it honestly. If it gets too much get a GP recommendation and take leave and do nothing. I’ve done this before and its seriously helped.
I’m sorry this was such a long read and it seems a lot to do, but it becomes routine and easy.