Finally able to sit down for a few mins and write! It's been manic lately with baby having his immunizations and all of a sudden babbling baby words all the time. He's changed so much since being born, I was literally just looking through some of his old new born photos in awe.
Anyway, what I wanted to write about was the problems eczema sufferers face on a day to day basis. I've always suffered eczema, whether it be hereditary, or triggered by the environment, who knows.Growing up, It's always been relatively manageable. If ever I were to have a flare up I would just use some kind of cortisone cream as such but thinking back I think that was quite a rare occasion. Also, if it were to flare up it would mainly be back of shins and inside of my arms, so i'd never actually considered my eczema to be a major problem as such.
However, it progressively got worse as I got older. In university, I remember my skin having really bad flare ups after I met my ex. Whether it was down to stress of being in a toxic relationship or stress of moving out and away from home, I don't know. I do remember thinking Am I allergic to this person? Can you have an allergy to certain people (lol) Anywho, again, with cortisone cream my skin cleared up pretty fast if ever i were to have any flare ups, again, wouldn't exactly consider that to be bad eczema as it was manageable.
2 Years ago, I was renting out at my sisters and her [then] fiances house. A few months before her wedding me and my current [now husband] partner had got together. My skin started to go all crazy again, but just before her wedding it had got really bad. My life at that time was incredibly stressful, my older brother had fallen out with me for dating his friend, and the pressure of doing things for my sisters wedding was just unreal. I'd put the flare up down to stress as it's never ever been that bad before. The whole of both of my arms were red raw, it had even started to affect my face and chest, now even cortisone cream wasn't helping. The worse thing was, it wasn't just red patchy skin anymore. It was burning itchy raw skin. Eczema sufferers will understand when people say "Stop scratching it then" its hella annoying. Having eczema meant it wasn't just your usual itch. It is intense, and things like pre-occupying yourself, or just casually applying calamine or aloe vera did not help. The only way to relieve it was to scratch.
Unfortunately those who know about eczema and dry skin will know that when you scratch and you get that momentary relief- it's actually harming your skin in the long run. From what I've read up; when the skin is scratched your body created histamines to counter the potential "threat" to your skin...when it turn makes me more itchy (what). And then you enter some kind of dry skin cycle, where you itch- it dries your skin out from itching- dry skin makes your skin itchy- and repeat. The only solution doctors have to offer is here have some emollient cream and stop itching. Great.
Since being pregnant my skin has gone to shit and basically hasn't got any better since. I was signed off work for 2 weeks during my pregnancy as I wasn't able to sleep due to severe itchyness. The doctors had put it down to my hormones going all crazy from being pregnant. The problem was that I really did not want to use any steroid cream this time, as I heard trace amounts could affect the baby. Unfortunately my skin has gotten so bad that I had to start using it as it had started to get infected, which meant that I would have to be put on anti-biotics if it had got any worse; which really was the last thing you'd want for your unborn baby.
I had tried nearly everything at this point. Doctors had prescribed emmollients, bath oils, I'd tried lotions and moisturisers from the shops, home made natural remedies. Absolutely nothing was working. Even during labour my skin came out in bright red patches on my face. The midwife even asked whetehr she'd given me something I was allergic to.
Stuff that i've tried include:
Emollients, Moisturisers and Lotions-
Double Base
E45 Cream
E45 Itch Relief Cream
Aveeno
Cetraben
Boots Itch Relief Cream
Calamine Lotion
Hydromol
Raw Aloe Vera (directly extracted from the plant)
Organic Raw Coconut Oil
Home made fine ground Oatmeal
Ice Packs
Sudocream
Vaseline Moisturisers
Palmers Coco Butter
Sanex Atopicare Moisturiser
Oilatum Moisturiser and Bath Oil
Pure Lanolin
None of the above worked on my skin unfortunately, I actually found with the emollients it had actually made it worse. My skin felt sticky and i'd wake up in the night to scratch as it had felt uncomfortable.The best one to have had ltitle effect was the sudocream. I would be covered in top to toe in white cream but it seemed to clear up any redness if it was left on overnight. My skin was still dry and flaky, though.
My usual routine is constantly moisturise throughout the day and use emmolient bath oil for showers and heavily moisutirise right after I get out of the shower and before bed ect. I really don't know what else I can do to help my skin clear up.
Since then my skin hasn't got any better. Some days its so sore that I can't turn my neck and smile properly without the skin breaking. I'm currently refusing to leave the house until at least the skin on my face clears.
Sever Eczema sufferers will understand how difficult the day to day can be, and it can be so horrible when you feel people may be looking at you. I was out at a park the other day as I thought my skin had cleared slightly. When i checked my compact mirror later I saw that my skin had two really big patches of flaky dry skin on my face. Immediately feeling extremely self conscious I coated it in Vaseline hoping to mask the bits of dry skin and wanted to come home.
My auntie has recommened a brand called Salcura which I've just puchased and awaiting delivery at the moment. She seems to think its a God send and worked wonders on my uncle. So fingers crossed!
Amy x x
