Sadly, the black seed oil didn’t work for me. I ended up going to the Dr. And getting a prescription for Aristocort ointment, which is working so far.
Edit: I think my main rash area was too far progressed - was very inflamed and causing oedema in my ankles. The seed oil was calming in areas that had a light rash.
Well it now seems that it doesn’t work 100%. Like it works for a while, but maybe an hour or 2 later the itching comes back. And Paulene- I too have it EVERYWHERE. Like i even itch behind my ears! This is really becoming an unbearable annoyance. I too have a doctor appointment for next week. But in the meantime I am using this oil to at least get some relief. And there is NO way I am quitting keto.
@Greg_keto_man
Yes, the scizenna site says they don’t sell overseas. Not only that, but other sites which sell similar creams also only sell nationally. All you can get over here is oil and capsules. But it feels like the rash is getting worse. Like I have new areas as well. On my scalp too, if you would believe it. The oil helps a bit but now I see not enough.
This is a photo of the rash on my leg about 5 days before I went to the Dr. It got about 50% worse after this photo. I’ve never had a rash like it and I just couldn’t stand it any longer. So grateful it’s getting better.
(I’ve blurred the photo so people can choose not to see the detail)
Yep- mine looks similar. I even have some dark red angry spots. Worried me sick when I started to get it on my face too! Check out what doctor Boz says about the keto rash on youtube. She says she sees it mostly in her patients who belong to the “over 200 club”. These are people who ate more than 200g of carbs/ day before keto. Thats me for sure. Then she says the rash is actually a sign of our skin healing from all the damage of having eaten so many carbs.
It certainly doesn’t look or feel like skin healing.
It’s pretty easy to eat over 200g carb per day on a HCLF diet. Non-keto dietary recmmendatios are for 225 to 325 grams of carbs per day. So by Dr Boz’s rule just about everyone that turns keto should get keto rash! But apparently it is relatively uncommon. We are just ‘lucky’, I guess.
My Dr was concerned the rash was cellulitis that indicated diabietes. I had a quiet giggle to myself at that but didn’t say anything - I just let my blood test results speak for themselves. HbA1c = 31mmol/mol (5%) = no diabietes in sight. Just a bloody aweful rash.
@Paulene
Yeah- it doesnt feel like healing at all.
When I was young and watched my figure- I weighed about 125 lbs at 5`7`` tall. I smoked a lot in those days, did OMAD without evening noticing it ( breakfast was only coffee and marlboros then one meal in the evening ) and I absolutely did not eat 200g of carbs/day. I almost never ate any sweets too. What can I say? Being slim was important back then. The weight crept on me around menopause. I discovered the joys of chocolate. I definitely belonged to the 200 club after that.
But honestly- I dont know how much the medical world knows about keto and the keto rash. I just hope the dermatologist I see next week has something to lesson the itching- something symptomatic if they cant get to the real cause. I refuse to up my carbs!!! And hopefully the rash will subside one day. Maybe when keto has become a way of life. But for now it is more than annoying and bordering on torture. Do you notice that it itches more if you rub on material or touch it on something? Kind of like a mosquito bite will itch more when you scratch it? Its histamine for sure. I dont know if I buy the story that these are damaged cells being eliminated either. But it is certainly something inflammatory going on. Does it feel like “healing”? Not really- more like a rebellion of the cells than healing. But what should they be rebelling at? Losing carbs/insulin which were harmful to the body? It just doesnt make much sense.
I’d be interested to hear what your dermtologist says. This is the stuff I’m using - it’s an ointment but also comes in a cream, I believe.
@Paulene
Yeah that is basically a cortisone type of cream. Lots of possible side effects and dangerous ones too. I think it could also affect keto. Let me know if you are still losing weight while on it. What is worrisome if I get prescribed something like this is the amount of skin affected. One should not use these products on a big area of skin because it gets absorbed and can lead to an overdose. But now almost my whole body is affected. I dont think I can use this cream on my whole body! Are you using it only on your leg?
Yes, it set off a whole party of itches.
But when I started the black seed oil I also started wearing my husbands football socks to bed, mainly to save the sheets from getting oily. It’s almost necessary with sticky ointment. This seems to have stopped the overnight itching, I think because there is a constant even pressure that acts as a desensitiser.
It’s summer here in Australua so I’m wearing a singlet, shorty shorts and long socks to bed. Looks like I’m a football fanatic heading out for a game (Aussie reference - picture a fat Warwick Capper 
)
Yes, it’s a corticosteroid. I’m using it on the front of both legs, knee to ankle, basically the shins… Not using it elsewhere but the rash has now subsided from my chest, arms and back where I had light patches. I think it is being absorbed and having a systemic effect.
If it keeps working at the current rate, I should be stopping it early next week.
I should also say that I am using pHisohex to wash the area before iusing the Aristocort.
Sitting here scratching. I dont feel well. It really is taking away my joy of life. If my doctor gives me cortisone cream, I`ll take it.
@Paulene
WAKE UPDOWN UNDER!!! Can you find the link to the podcast I was shown? Stop with the cortisone and try this: take a towel and mix it with apple vinegar and some water. More vinegar than water if you can- and press it on your rash. Tell me how it works for you. Just heard a podcast where the doctor said this worked for her patients. She also advised drinking 3 x 2 tbsp of the apple vinegar daily mixed with water, and eating 1 cup of raspberries or strawberries. She says it is due to a yeast infection of the skin and/or intestines. It is working Paulene! I have a compress on my chest and I no longer itch there. Dont know what will happen when I take it off…but I will be drinking a lot of apple vinegar the next few days too.
I close my eyes for a second (or, maybe, 6 hours) and look what happens - you’re cured! I should sleep more.
So happy for you that you are getting some relief.
I did the ACV thing but it didn’t really make a difference for me. And I was aleady taking ACV in my water when I got the rash. I add 2x capfuls in my 500ml water bottle each time I fill it - i drink 3-4 of those a day. I had to use cool compases one night after a walk to take the throbbng away - should have tried ACV in that.
As for the berries, I did that for a week only - was taking me out of ketosis. I’m going to Italy in April so I’m saving my ‘not in ketosis’ time for then 
Aristocort is my heroin (and heroine) right now. While it’s giving me relief, I’m staying on it. I cant go back to itchy burning rash, Lord help me!
This is my leg after 4 days on Aristicort.
If I’m still on it in 2 weeks, it’s time for an intervention.
@Paulene
Good morning!
Megan Ramos said that she gives her patients 3 x 2 tbsp of ACV in water each day, and also treats the rash directly with the ACV. She gave them a cup of berries once a day too. She said the rash healed from this treatment. I am going to try it.
Cortisone heals everything. At least on the surface. It just gets rid of the symptoms and it is every dermatologist`s go to medication - but the side effects are scary. But I understand because if this doesnt work, then I am going to take cortisone too. My problem is that I have too much rash and too much skin to cover it with cortisone cream without having it work systemically (with all the possible side effects.) Like it isnt just my leg. I have it on my chest and my stomach and my lower back and my neck and even 2 lesions between my eyebrows! I dont think I can use that much of the cortisone cream and not poison myself.
Ramos said the rash is due to a yeast infection in the intestines coupled with the ketones in the blood. Like they dont jive or something. She said the ACV kills off the yeast in the intestine- if we can believe it? I have read so many possible “causes” for the keto rash that I dont know what to think anymore. I don`t think there is any proof of one idea or another. But if her patients actually get well from ACV - then I will try it all the way through. I just stopped the ACV compresses and I still itch in some places, but the really BAD itch has subsided- FOR NOW.
I needed this complication like a hole in the head. It is depressing me. I was so blissfully happy before.
I know, right?! - it’s frustrating, worrying and depressing rolled into one.
I think that keto rash might have a common base cause but expresses itself itself differently in everyone. The rash on my legs appeared 4 weeks earlier than the rash blotches on the rest of my body, and looks and feel different. And it’s a weird (non-typical) place for keto rash. Perhaps there is another explanation for it, but as I have never had a rash before, and it gets worse when I fast, I strongly suspect it is a type of keto rash.
@Paulene
Lets keep our fingers crossed. I dont want live with this for months on end.
@Paulene
I look like I have the measles or the chicken pox- but thankfully my face is clear. I gained 2 lbs upping the carbs a bit for the last 2 days. So sad. This morning I still itched a bit but a lot less, so I decided I am going to the pharmacy to try a zink cream. I am now just looking at anything to help with the itch, ignoring any causal diagnoses, because I figure this is about ketones and wont really heal until the body says this phase of irritation is over. Did some errands. Supermarket for more cream and butter too. And I just got home and realised I have not itched in 2 hours. I don’t know what to make of it. I have my fingers crossed, but dont know if I wont be scratching again tonight. Did upping the carbs for 2 days help? I am going back to under 20g now and wonder if that might set it off again.
@Greg_keto_man
I am taking doxycycline for now.I find that after I have taken it, I have peace for many hours. But they say this is due to its antiinflammatory effect. But by evening the itch comes back, albeit less vehement. Usually I itch a lot during the night which is bad for my sleep and then it subsides by morning. In truth I am pretty miserable when you add a beginning flu to that. My nose is runny and my face hurts like I have a sinus infection. Not a good place to be right now. I think when I stop taking the doxycycline after 7 days, the itch will return. I refuse to stop keto because I love this way of eating, but the ketones are really hard to bear on the skin I guess. For me, at least. KCKO, but it is hard. What really works is upping the carbs but then I don’t lose any weight- on the contrary I regain. The health benefits of losing the weight is also greater. I guess I am between a rock and a hard place right now. Not a happy camper. Thank you for asking.
