Dermopathy Help

[Gator]

I'm new to all this and early last spring I was under terrible job stress, really bad, and hit the micronized kava (ikaika from GHK - great stuff) pretty heavy each evening. About one heaping tablespoon in just enough water to dissolve the powder. I'd do that twice in an evening and it really helped to settle me down and relax. After about ten days, the backs of my hands began to look like I was about 100 years old, really dry and wrinkled. I used a hydrocortisone cream and that helped a lot, still somewhat ugly on close inspection, but not so noticeable to the casual observer. Next, I developed some redness along the belt line and the redness spread to the upper thighs. Finally, I ended up with hives all over my chest and back, for which the hydrocortisone did not help at all . Needless to say, I stopped the kava; although I then began to "peel" on my arms and legs, as though I'd had a really bad sunburn. Big mess! I also lost about 10 pounds, which was not necessary in my case. It took about six weeks off the kava for everything to go back to normal and I've stayed away from kava since.

I have quite a bit of the kava on-hand and am about to go into another high stress period. The stuff REALLY helped and I'd like to be able to use it again in the evenings. What did I do wrong the first time and what can I do, if anything, to avoid the negative issues I experienced the first time around? I know it was dermopathy.

 

[Camaytoc]

It seems like the dermo is a lot driven by the sediments. My best guess is going with trad prep with a 50 micron strainer bag that you can buy at kavafied.
I'm fighting against dry hands too so I'm actually in the process of changing my way of prepping the root. From what I've read on this miraculous forum, the micro isn't really the best friend of the human skin, but it depends of the individual.

 

[AlohaAimee]

I would experiment with medium grind instead of micro. Get yourself some liters of coconut water on hand and drink that along with water all day long, both on the days you drink kava and on your "off" days as well. Also it may help to add more oils to your diet (coconut oil, olive oil, avocado oil, etc). Flax seeds and chia seeds are also a good thing to add because of their healthy fats and chia's ability to store water. Oils are another great thing to apply to your body (coconut oil can be used as a lotion all over, just skip the face). Also, when you make your kava, make your shells weak (add more water, so that you have to drink way more water to get the same desired effects you've always had).