I have GA for 8 years - we all know that this skin disease itself is not painful however I want to know if other things are going on within your body?
I, personally, have issues with toe and leg cramps and nerve pain. Is this related or something else all together?
If you could please share your personal experience, I believe we need all info to assist each other.
Thanks,
Carole
I have leg cramps as well. I got it to go away with Chinese Herbs, but now it has raised its ugly head and I have had to double my dose of herbs and it is subsiding again, but who knows for how long. I seem to be building up an imunity to having the medicine work anymore. This time I am not going off the meds when it clears....
thanks for the info Holly - would you mind sharing your age? it all seems to blossom in menopause
I am passed menopause. I am 63 almost 64. It first cropped up about a year ago.
Now it is behind my ears, on the back of my neck and on each side of my forehead.
I had a full blood work up done to see if anything else was wrong with me and I am fine. The only thing is I have low thyroid and I am on Synthroid, low dose. I have read that it happens in people with Thyroid problems and Diabetes.
I appreciate the info Holly - it is a nasty disease for sure and doctors do not seem to know how to fix it.
I will keep you posted if I come across some miracle cure - I have tried so many throughout the years, it is frustrating but I won't give up, there is a reason and I will find out.
Take care,
Carole
Hi Carole
I have had GA most of my life and im now 55. I suffered leg cramps and hot flushes
due to menopause and was treated with HRT. However, this made my GA much worse and I now have over 30 areas of GA mostly on legs and torso. I am now off the HRT and started a gluten free diet and have also incorporated juicing fresh fruit and veg daily.
i have also been taking multivitamins and d3 which has got rid off the leg cramps and hot flushes. The GA has stopped spreading although I know I will have to eat "clean" including no sugary foods for at least 6 months. It's a work in progress, as I have never found any drugs from my dermatologist that work.
cheers
Claire
Hi Claire,
So leg cramps - hot flashes are part of this GA
The majority of women I connected with seem to have a healthy diet - are physically active and otherwise in good health. Like you, I have over 30 spots over my body from feet, legs, arms. Some days the spots are faded, prior to doing cardio and then become purplish red like enflamed - I drink a lot of water too.
It has to have to do with hormones - lack of or too much of - maybe the thyriod gland - mind is overactive (from my hair analysis). It is something that has accummulated in our system for years so very likely it will take a long time to get rid of - is 6 months the magic time to see any results?
Have you had any amalgam fillings removed? taking the pill when younger? I was also told my liver was stressed.
I am thinking that all problems are linked to the digestive system - I just ordered a colon cleanser which is to fix the leaky gut. I will update everyone once I have the chance to try it. Results to come in early February.
Cheers,
Carole
hiya i dont suffer from any symptons, it does'nt itch, it hasn't spread its a bit lumpy & it does look unsightly on my arm, some days it looks a bit more agressive than others i tried some cream that my doctor prescibed me years ago but it didn't make any difference, i just think that it is going to be with me for life now.
I get cramps as well but they are in my toes, I also seem to have issues with what I think may be the beginning of restless leg syndrom. I cannot get my toes and legs warm ever! I just had the A1c done to rule out Diabetes since this seems to be linked to it and mine was perfect. I do have severe IBS though and I swear it has something to do with this.
I had to double the dose of the Chinese herb pills and now the bumps are going away. For how long I don't know, but I guess I have to stay on this medicne to keep them at bay. The pills also seem to help my energy level.It seems to correct whatever problem is making the bumps happen and then I feel better too. I am thinking that caffienne is not good for this disease, so I need to stay away from that too. I don not have IBS. I am trying to eat lots of fruits and vegetables and eat other grains besides wheat.
Hi Carole
i think the leg cramps and hot flashes are the menopause but my GA got much worse when I was put on HRT.
It's very interesting that your liver is stressed as my blood test that I had done last November also came back with a high reading and I don't even drink! Lol. That is why I changed my diet to no wheat and using fresh fruit and raw veg. I also can connect with your saying about the overload of hormones. Which I think is what happened to me. I also believe I have a leaky gut due to the wheat so I have changed that and yes it does take at least six months to get the body clean from the toxic build up inside. I also have candida overgrowth and I think this also may be toxic to the liver. I am having a follow up test on my liver in February. So that will be interesting and I would like to know how your colon cleanse goes? I thought about doing it too 
I also had amalgam fillings removed but I did have to have one put back in as the other type of filling would not stay in. But I'm hoping to have this tooth crowned soon. Yeah I also took the pill when younger but bare in mind I was only about 3 when I first got GA although it has only ever been in two or three patches until a year ago. Some of mine on my body are huge areas of dissamated type and are sometimes itchy so I can no longer wear a bra unless over a cotton sleeveless t shirt. I definitely won't be able to wear shorts this summer either 
Have you tried anything else?
I am going to go on the green tea now lol I will try anything haha
Claire
Until you mentioned leg and toe cramps, Carol, I had never associated both with GA. I do have the same problems, and I do have GA. I wondered if the cramps were a result of magnesium deficiency, but you have raised an interesting possible association. I am going to do some experimenting, like eliminating all supplements I take and seeing if there is any effect on those horrendous toe/leg cramps and/or GA, then adding back gradually to test effects, if any. If I learn anything of value I will certainly share the information. Meanwhile, thank you for raising an interesting possible connection I had never thought of before.
My profile: Female/ 59 yo/ fair complexion (Scandanavian). Overall lifestyle and diet is above-average healthy.
Onset of GA: About one year ago (age 58)
Other health factors: Migraine (lifelong); moderate allergies (pet/ dust/ pollen); digestive/gastic sensitivities (lactose reactive); non-healing bone w/in past 3 years, now resolved.
Thanks Carole, I hope that others will chime in! Here's an interesting note - the very first time I did a google search for GA, I came across something that cited 3 possible causes: exposure to certain metals/ recent broken bone/ gluten
Interesting on the cramps - I never thought it was linked but now am convinced it is.
I believe we will be suffering until we can fix our digestive system - obviously our body doesn't get the nutrients needed so it has got to be with the digestion - IBS is definitely part of this.
If I find anything useful, I'll make sure to get back to all
Cheers,
Carole
Hi Claire,
It sounds very similar to my story - when I did a hair analysis, it showed toxic level of mercury (probably due to the tooth fillings) this was prior to the removal. Perhaps all our problems come from this mercury attaching itself to our cells - I have tried a regimen of chlorella, spiritulla, mud pack, etc. It has improved in some areas but other spots started. I also got rid of candida.
At the moment and from the recommendation from my hair analysis results, I am taking B5, potassium and Vitamin C. I am seeing some spot fading but it might not be related as I just started Jan. 5th.
I'll keep you posted,
Carole
Interesting Lisa - I have the metals and possibly the gluten. No recent broken bone but have tons of problems with my feet from plantar faciitiis, long time ago broken ankle (14 years old) - I now wear orthotics but the bottom nerves in my feet hurt and have little lumps on them
Hi Carole, I would be interested to know how or where you did the hair analysis?
I have also tried kelp and spirulina and apple cider vinegar but although these may work for others it didn't for me. Although my leg cramps all disappeared with d3.
I am now eating as much alkaline foods as I can to get the PH balance right in my digestive tract. I saw that you wrote that we need to fix our digestive system, and I think you are spot on! GA is an auto immune disease so we need to build the immune system and to do that perhaps we need to heal our digestive tract so that we can absorb nutrients properly?
I also used to get a lot of headaches around the time when my GA got worse and I suffered with constipation too. But all this cleared when I went gluten free. I am not saying in any way that these ideas are going to be a cure for GA because as we all know, the doctors say we are stuck with it. But I would love to find a way to keep it to a minimum and would value and appreciate any help I can get Claire
Carole, I forgot to say this before, but (to make things even more interesting) my foot surgeon used metal to stabalize my foot "reconstruction". Now that I think about it, I'm going to circle back to her and ask about the make-up and quantity of the metal! (Onset of my GA was just about a year after that surgery.)
Claire - I believe the doctors call chronic disease anything they can't fix - it doesn't mean it cannot be fixed
Here is the link for hair analysis I used and the link for candida removal:
Good luck,
Carole
Emis Moderator comment: I have removed the links as they were to sites unsuitable for inclusion in the forums. If users want this information or want to exchange other details such as email addresses please use the Private Message service.
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Claire - what is your email address?