Message to Wendy to request removal of rude comment

Hello Wendy. This is Sadie M. I've made an account after emailing the Hubpages team last week about the response made by cjbirch80 on your article about the oregano oil treatment. They recommended me to contact you directly and I couldn't do that without an account.

I'd like to apologize in advance about the length of email. I didn't realize how much I'd write.

If you don't recognize my name, I commented on your article toward the end of May 2017. Last week I decided to revisit your article after learning more about my skin condition in hopes to see your reply (an assumption I know, but you did look like you were good at responding though) and help contribute to your article, only to find cjbirch80's comment. I felt attacked and didn't know how to react, so I emailed Hubpages, who then recommended me to email you.

I was not trying to seem like a hater or troll, but I did stumble upon your article through a google search because the URL did have the words "Cure For Eczema" in it: "https://healdove.com/alternative-medicine/There-is-a-Natural-Cure-For-Eczema"

It was my fault for not clarifying, but even with the title "How I Cured My Eczema Naturally" I still felt it was misleading because it did give me hope to finally get rid of this awful skin condition. After a year of testing out alternatives to relieve my symptoms such as apple cider vinegar, Vick's vapor rub, the most expensive extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut oil, in addition to topicle steriod prescriptions and oral steriods, etc) I gave your method a chance. You've suffered from eczema as well, so I hope you understand where I'm coming from when I say I've tried everything.

I think I've found out why my skin reacted the way it did to the oregano oil. No I wasn't allergic to it. I'll tell you what had happened to me toward the end of this email.

Despite the "no offence"[sic] I was still offended and hurt by cjbirch80's anonymous comment (which I now know is anonymous because I have an account and can't click his name), and for his (I think he's a he?) attempt to debunk and trivialize my very real suffering that was caused by the oregano treatment (which I'll explain with more detail in a moment). What he didn't know was I did try the treatment about 2 weeks prior to my comment, but I was accused of trying it for the first time without testing it on my way to work. I have had some minor success with your method in the begining, but looking back I am pretty sure it was just an expensive moisturizer.

He continues, "Secondly you saying you were sent home from work ( meanwhile screaming in your car on the way there.... reason enough to turn around...) IS a fishy story where the blame rests on you for a regimen like that before work." Again, what he didn't know was I had to pull over, took an Advil from my purse, called my boss saying I would be a little late, and when the pain was manageable, I continued on with my commute. My skin was bright red and still burned a little when I walked through the door and that was when I was sent home. I work with clients, so I have to look somewhat presentable, but my entire neck and the skin surrounding my eyes were bright red and my boss sent me home. I was really hurt at these assumptions.

cjbirch80 compared oregano oil to prune juice, a substance we all know will cause bowel movements. I found that insulting and a poor comparison because, once again, I had some success with the oil and did not think much of it when I was on my commute. No, it doesn't show a "lack of understanding" because I didn't anticipate being burned. "Too bad this is anonymous we could ask if you applied it to your face!!" I didn't want to create an account to post one comment, and he could've just asked me in his post. A simple, "Did you apply it to your face?" would have sufficed. I understand since I had no account, I would have no way of really keeping track of any responses. "you leave no details about brands or your regimen but a detail free fear inducing story." I didn't think I should have. And my intent was NOT "fear inducing" but rather just describing my experience as I said in hopes other sufferers with similar symptoms could perhaps be more informed about the possibility of this treatment causing more harm than good, such as in my case. I still do believe the title and URL are misleading. Again, I apologize for not being more clear. That being said, it was rude of cjbirch80 to make those assumptions and fill in the details himself. "No one will ever know." Now that's just being dramatic.

"PS who tries something minutes before work? i understand minutes after buying it." Another assumption. I did try it minutes after ordering the oil online. It worked, though I still felt it was just a pricey moisturizer that I wanted to believe worked for me. He is allowed to be a skeptic, but at least have some manners and some respect toward others.

After recently seeing my dermatologist, he decided to take me off of topical steroids and put me on anti-inflamitory medication (Elidel) to use as needed. I said no to messing around with suppressing my immune system and was prescribed to go through UV light therapy (phototherapy) at a clinic with a nurse multiple times a week. I had insurance, so now I'm purposely being exposed to UV rays. If I lose my insurance or can no longer go to the clinic, I can just go outside and expose myself to the sun for a little bit at a time, but it won't be monitored and it has an even higher risk of skin cancer than the clinic. There are medical articles written about the benefits of phototherapy if you search it.

The reason my skin reacted to the oregano oil was because I just started to experience withdrawal symptons caused by the prolonged use of the topical steriod ointments. Your article briefly mentions prolonged use of steriods, but not the effects of withdrawal symptoms such as mine. I was taken off steriods when even potent ointments such as betamethasone were no longer effective, hence the change in treatment. My outbreaks were yo-yoing with all these ointments, then when my body stopped absorbing the steroids, my skin became worse and worse. I have "red skin syndrome" and am extremely hyper sensitive to every type of moisture; even water.

Water isn't suppose to burn my skin, but it does. The oregano oil isn't suppose to burn my skin, but it did. Even the Elidel ended up burning my skin.

My withdrawal symptoms worsened when I stopped the steroids and was using oregano oil. I thought it was the oil itself that caused the red skin, but it was just withdrawal symptoms that appeared as I was using it. Was poor timing when it burned me while driving.

I'm still trying to understand more about this red skin syndrome myself seeing that eczema did cause this. Everyday has been a painful challenge. I have to dry myself off quickly if it rains or when I'm showering before my skin gets too wet. It's very painful, but I've found some support groups for it. If you'd like souces, I can provide them to you. I hope you consider revising your steriod section.

When I revisited your article to give an update, I did not expect such a rude response from cjbirch80 last week. I'm in enough pain as it is and don't like being accused of being dishonest.

I've seen your respectful response to Okapina and I was hoping to get a response to my painful experience. I'm reaching out to you because I felt attacked and am still going to suffer from this painful unsightly skin condition for however long it'll take to naturally heal. I ask if you can remove cjbirch80's comment and my anonymous comment, since I feel cjbirch80's comment doesn't add to the article itself, but just to attack me. I don't even know if he has eczema or even tried oregano oil. If you'd like I can respond in the comments with a shorter version of this email to sum up my experience and help contribute to your article since you've recently updated.

I'm really embarrassed and hurt by all this and I hope we can come out of this with a compromise or something. I don't want to spam you, or post while upset. Been going through a lot of other problems in addition to my painful skin and really don't want this humiliation on my plate. I'd like to share my experience and help contribute to your article, and I pray we can come up with a resolution that'll help other sufferers and help me move past this.

I hope to hear from you soon. Please understand where I'm coming from, Wendy. We eczema sufferers (an ex-sufferers) need to stick together.

Sadie.