Grover's Disease: What works to help find relief?

One other tip- my dermatologist and her team are incredibly smart and I really trust her judgment. She has been having me use sunflower seed oil as soon as I get out of the shower (helps with inflammation) as well as Cerave. I use this combo in the morning. At night I use sunflower seed oil and amlactin. This can sometimes sting but just for a second. She said this will help rebuild new skin cells which may help with a long lasting remission. Anyone else try these?

Hi, I am a 34 year old male. I live in Salt Lake and so I experience 4 seasons. I was just diagnosed with GD in June after getting home from Mexico and having a severe outbreak. I thought it was an allergic reaction to a sunscreen. My dermatologist guessed it was GD and confirmed once the biopsy came back. I do consider myself lucky because I haven't experienced any extreme itch. Mainly just red dots and rough texture with very little itch. I think it's going away and then will do a bike ride or something outside and they all come back. Interestingly when my red dots come back they are not too itchy- just unsightly.

I have started the cilantro smoothies but it's only been about 2 weeks since I've been consistent- I can update after a month of taking those.

I'm looking for comfort really- I hate the way they look and make it so I can't do so many of the outdoor activities I love doing. I'm hoping as the season changes I might go into remission. Has many people had success with going into remission and still being able to go outside in the heat with no flare up?

One tip that has helped when I get a flare up is I put those thick hand towels that you see sometimes in nice hotel bathrooms, get them wet and put aloe on them, put it in a bag in the fridge so they are really cold. After outdoor activities and the dots get red, I lay it on my stomach (primary area) and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes. It has always helped. You can order those hand towels on amazon. I use them in my guest bath- that's why I had them.

I haven’t tried sunflower oil but have been using tea tree oil skin cremes and my Grover’s went away pretty quickly. I use it 2-3 times per week so it doesn’t come back. Had it for twenty years previously.

I haven’t tried sunflower oil but have been using tea tree oil skin cremes and my Grover’s went away pretty quickly. I use it 2-3 times per week so it doesn’t come back. Had it for twenty years previously.

Hi everyone. My name is Porty, I'm an 82 year-old guy from the South Island of New Zealand, and I'm fairly sure I've had Grover's for several years. It's never been officially diagnosed, but only came to light when I consulted a lady cosmeticist (qualified dermatologists being thin on the ground in these parts) about my skin itch. She thought it might be TRPA1 - Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 - but the topical ointment she provided wasn't as effective as that clue.

My wonderful wife likes nothing more than a good online search, and it was she who followed the TRPA1 trail to eventually find the reference to Grover's Disease. IMHO, I think the two are related - maybe even one and the same mechanism - but most of the info about TRPA1 that I've found online is in the form of complex, abstruse scientific papers, while info sources like this forum are more easily understood by those of us who aren't PHD's. Thanks, Mayo Clinic, and all who contribute here.

Anyway, I consulted a local doc and told him of my findings and he (a 60-ish guy) confessed that the only time he'd heard of Grovers was in med school! He grabbed a hefty paperback from his bookshelf, found Grovers in the index, found that the skin photos matched my bare back, agreed with the diagnosis and organized comprehensive blood tests, the results of which I'm still awaiting.

Interestingly, my doc's reference volume is published by Dermnet NZ, an excellent source of information which has been mentioned many times here. The website appears to be have been set up and maintained by specialists at Waikato Hospital, which is situated in Hamilton, about 80k south of NZ's largest city, Auckland. Too far away from us unfortunately, especially in these Covid times.

So I'm a newbie, both here and to Grovers treatment in general. Cilantro (aka Coriander in NZ) smoothies sound promising and I'll pass on to my doc information about the various topical and oral medication noted here by you good folk.

What follows are just odd snippets of info I've come across in my net ramblings:

High fiber intake might be helpful.

Dried cilantro in Keto cookies?

Keto diet itself could be helpful, if only for a short time. It really works for weight loss and health, but it's not too tasty!

Saliva (my own) has often worked for me on damaged skin, warts, itchy spots I can easily access, like forearms, thighs. Animals lick wounds to heal them. Some folks' saliva seems more beneficial than others. A long-ago school chum had no tooth decay, his dentist said it was because of his anti-bacterial spit.

UV light treatment? This would seem to be counter-productive, given that sun-damaged skin appears to be vulnerable to disorders. However, we've been in our current lower South Island location for the last eight years and for various reasons I'm rarely out in the sun, whereas previously we lived near sub-alpine Queenstown and I was frequently outside, tramping in the hills or around the Arrow river. Yet, regardless of the exposure then, I had no Grovers. Still, I'm older now, so maybe that's a factor.

Cetirizene tablets are effective (for me) for occasional insufferable itch, but they can be drowsy-making.

My mental state definitely affects itch intensity. When I wake in the morning, my back itch is almost dormant, but soon gets going again. Complex or intensive computer work often brings on severe itching, especially on forearms and thighs. (As well as migraines, though Rizamelt pills fix those) But if I get absorbed in manual tasks, like chainsawing firewood, mowing etc, the itch drops back.

Diet: So far I've been unable to identify any food types that appear to affect the itch level. Nuts are no problem.

Alcohol: I've been a moderate to heavy drinker for much of my adult life, but I've consumed absolutely zero alcohol over the last sixteen months. Maybe that's what got Grover's started, lol, although I wouldn't have thought I'm stressed over it. I used behavioral psychology to stop, the same painless way I quit smoking forty years back, so I hardly ever think about booze now.

Anti-depressives: I've been daily-dosing 20mg of Citalopram for six years, ever since a couple of 47 year-old teenagers moved in next door and began sharing their rock music with the neighborhood. Citalopram is actually contra-indicated for TRPA1 conditions, so I recently stopped taking them, but, as there was no cessation of itch, I resumed dosing. They're quite mild.

So that's where I'm at. I have to say I'm amazed that, in these modern times, with incredible advances being made almost daily on many medical frontiers, there's so little known about this crippling disease. Here we are, then, forced to YES-NO experiment like the early humans must have done, to try and find a comprehensive and effective remedy.

My very best wishes to you all. At least, we know our enemy, and that's a great start.

Hi everyone. My name is Porty, I'm an 82 year-old guy from the South Island of New Zealand, and I'm fairly sure I've had Grover's for several years. It's never been officially diagnosed, but only came to light when I consulted a lady cosmeticist (qualified dermatologists being thin on the ground in these parts) about my skin itch. She thought it might be TRPA1 - Transient Receptor Potential Ankyrin 1 - but the topical ointment she provided wasn't as effective as that clue.

My wonderful wife likes nothing more than a good online search, and it was she who followed the TRPA1 trail to eventually find the reference to Grover's Disease. IMHO, I think the two are related - maybe even one and the same mechanism - but most of the info about TRPA1 that I've found online is in the form of complex, abstruse scientific papers, while info sources like this forum are more easily understood by those of us who aren't PHD's. Thanks, Mayo Clinic, and all who contribute here.

Anyway, I consulted a local doc and told him of my findings and he (a 60-ish guy) confessed that the only time he'd heard of Grovers was in med school! He grabbed a hefty paperback from his bookshelf, found Grovers in the index, found that the skin photos matched my bare back, agreed with the diagnosis and organized comprehensive blood tests, the results of which I'm still awaiting.

Interestingly, my doc's reference volume is published by Dermnet NZ, an excellent source of information which has been mentioned many times here. The website appears to be have been set up and maintained by specialists at Waikato Hospital, which is situated in Hamilton, about 80k south of NZ's largest city, Auckland. Too far away from us unfortunately, especially in these Covid times.

So I'm a newbie, both here and to Grovers treatment in general. Cilantro (aka Coriander in NZ) smoothies sound promising and I'll pass on to my doc information about the various topical and oral medication noted here by you good folk.

What follows are just odd snippets of info I've come across in my net ramblings:

High fiber intake might be helpful.

Dried cilantro in Keto cookies?

Keto diet itself could be helpful, if only for a short time. It really works for weight loss and health, but it's not too tasty!

Saliva (my own) has often worked for me on damaged skin, warts, itchy spots I can easily access, like forearms, thighs. Animals lick wounds to heal them. Some folks' saliva seems more beneficial than others. A long-ago school chum had no tooth decay, his dentist said it was because of his anti-bacterial spit.

UV light treatment? This would seem to be counter-productive, given that sun-damaged skin appears to be vulnerable to disorders. However, we've been in our current lower South Island location for the last eight years and for various reasons I'm rarely out in the sun, whereas previously we lived near sub-alpine Queenstown and I was frequently outside, tramping in the hills or around the Arrow river. Yet, regardless of the exposure then, I had no Grovers. Still, I'm older now, so maybe that's a factor.

Cetirizene tablets are effective (for me) for occasional insufferable itch, but they can be drowsy-making.

My mental state definitely affects itch intensity. When I wake in the morning, my back itch is almost dormant, but soon gets going again. Complex or intensive computer work often brings on severe itching, especially on forearms and thighs. (As well as migraines, though Rizamelt pills fix those) But if I get absorbed in manual tasks, like chainsawing firewood, mowing etc, the itch drops back.

Diet: So far I've been unable to identify any food types that appear to affect the itch level. Nuts are no problem.

Alcohol: I've been a moderate to heavy drinker for much of my adult life, but I've consumed absolutely zero alcohol over the last sixteen months. Maybe that's what got Grover's started, lol, although I wouldn't have thought I'm stressed over it. I used behavioral psychology to stop, the same painless way I quit smoking forty years back, so I hardly ever think about booze now.

Anti-depressives: I've been daily-dosing 20mg of Citalopram for six years, ever since a couple of 47 year-old teenagers moved in next door and began sharing their rock music with the neighborhood. Citalopram is actually contra-indicated for TRPA1 conditions, so I recently stopped taking them, but, as there was no cessation of itch, I resumed dosing. They're quite mild.

So that's where I'm at. I have to say I'm amazed that, in these modern times, with incredible advances being made almost daily on many medical frontiers, there's so little known about this crippling disease. Here we are, then, forced to YES-NO experiment like the early humans must have done, to try and find a comprehensive and effective remedy.

My very best wishes to you all. At least, we know our enemy, and that's a great start.

Can you share the brand of tea tree oil cream that worked for you? Thnx!