Spooks and Itches

October is by far one of my favorite months and Halloween is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love the spooky aesthetic, fall leaves, carved pumpkins, costumes, etc. And not to mention how I love playing one of my favorite games, Majora’s Mask around this time.

Amid all the festivities, there is a dark side that if not careful will take the fun out of my favorite month. Avoiding candy and trigger foods and trying to find a comfortable costume is always a struggle for me.

The candy and treats

I’ll be honest, I kind of love candy. However, I try to limit how often I indulge by only having some on Halloween itself and possibly a few other times throughout the year. If I ate candy all of the time, it would lose its magic and it would be terrible for my eczema and general health.

The hardest part about Halloween is limiting myself to how much candy I do eat. I try not to have too much, because I don’t want a sugar hangover or to trigger a flare.

Everything in moderation

My game plan is to pick just a few that I know I absolutely love like Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, Kit Kats, and Tootsie Rolls. Then I only buy a small amount of each, enough to satisfy those cravings, but not too much to where I flare up and get sick. If I purchase them early in the month, I make sure to store them somewhere inconvenient, so I’m not tempted to eat them before Halloween.

Halloween indulgence

Another thing I love doing during the month of October is visiting Disneyland! I absolutely love what they do with the parks during the Halloween season. And who can resist the holiday merchandise and food? It is just amazing!

The hardest part for me is trying not to eat every Halloween treat they have. Luckily I always visit with a family member or a friend, so I can share whatever spooky treat I get.

Oh fudge

Every once in a while the people I am with don’t want the same snack as I do. Last year, I was the only one in my party that wanted to try some Pumpkin Fudge. Oh boy, was that an experience!! It was delicious for about the first five bites, then it became incredibly sickly sweet. It didn’t help that it was quite big for a piece of fudge or that I was determined to finish it all. Within minutes after finishing it, my eczema started to burn and itch like crazy. I remember sluggishly making my way to my car and thinking “never again.”

The right costume

Finding a comfortable costume is hard, especially with eczema. I never know when I’m going to flare up or where the rash will appear. Plus, living in California, I never know what the weather will be like. Some years it’s hotter than heck and I feel like I am going to sweat to death. Other years it feels like old man winter came to visit early and I spend the night chilled to the bone.

What I like to do is to put together a costume that is fairly simple, yet still comfortable. I don’t buy premade costumes since most of my experience with them hasn’t been great. I prefer taking using comfortable clothing and using them as a base in the creation of my costume.