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My severe Eczema is ruining my day to day life! Help.

Posted , 42 users are following.

tomtennant11
tomtennant11

Hi there, i'm a 20 year old university student struggling to cope with the constant pain and irritation of my eczema. 

I get it all over my arms, armpits, neck, chest, the back of my legs and my wrists. Its scabby, sore and irresistable to scratch at. I have on too many ocasions scratched it until i bleed but i really cant help it. I have had severe eczema all my life but in the past two years, it has really started to get me down. I have applied prescribed steroid creams, Hydrocortisone, E45, Doublebase.. showered and bathed in prescribed shower and bath gels and swallowed countless anti-histamine tablets in the hope of them taking away the itch and the urge to scratch.

I'm writing this as i am so fed up, just like the millions of others suffering from eczema out there, and hope that one of you out there can help me, or atleast give me some tips to reduce the irritation.

Currently i am applying Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturising Lotion after i shower. It does reduce the itch and calm my skin, but the redness and dryness returns when the cream is absorbed or whenever i start to sweat. I cant partake in exercise or sporting activities as i am scared, actuall fear, of how itchy and sore my whole body becomes.

As i sit here repeatedly itching up and down my arms im hoping there is someone out there who can give me some advice, i've had enough of being embarrassed and fed up of my skin.

Regards. 

Tom

1 like, 49 replies

49 Replies

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  • patty42971
    patty42971 tomtennant11

    Posted

    Dear Tom.  I can feel your frustration!  Look into Histamine Intolerance.  Seriously, I am taking supplements and altering my diet and having success.  Histamine Intolerance is often overlooked, but I when I mentioned it to my Integrative Medicine MD, she thought it made perfect sense.  She prescribed very high doses of Vitamin C, a product call D-Hist, and Aller-Res-Q.  I've been following that program, as well as an anti-inflammation diet, and am having success.  I hope this helps you.
  • jean52798
    jean52798 tomtennant11

    Posted

    Hi Tom 

    i can sympathise with you, I was having PUVA treatment but after each of the 12 sessions, I would start with the itch and it was non-stop I gave up the treatments, the doctor gave me  steroid ointment, but I think they make you worse. I have tried everything even looked into my diet. I can't find a trigger that sets it off. I am thinking of trying acupuncture .  I have eczema on my hands and feet like you I scratch and bleed. Mine didn't appear until I was in my 50's . I have used bath oils, hand washes etc but to no avail.   I do hope you improve.

    jean

  • d4v3mcc
    d4v3mcc tomtennant11

    Posted

    Hi Tom,

    First off I feel your pain, I'm 25 and have suffered from the getgo, I have eczema everywhere.. I was also a student at university and I know how hard it is, especially with going out. 

    For shower use I use simple with aloe vera, simples a good brand to use as it contains absolutely no perfumes and irritants. For moisturiser I use Diprobase, it's what i've used from my teens and I find that it's the moisturiser that's agreed most with me. 

    The biggest thing that affects my eczema is diet, I know a lot of doctors say that eczema isn't diet related, but they haven't suffered from it and haven't went through the trial and error that we all have to find our triggers. For example I have a lot of triggers that I stay away from, these include, ALL dairy, chicken, beef, pasta, coffee anything that's high in wheat and glujten, the list goes on really, I have a VERY limited diet, but after eliminating all of my triggers my skin is pretty much completely clear, the only thing that breaks it out the odd time is stress from my job, and if I decide on a very rare occasion to treat myself to a pizza or other food that I can't eat, because after all we're only human. 

    I also take a daily antihistimine, multi-vitamin, zinc, vitamin D, and i've ordered a probiotic suppliment, as after doing a lot of research recently it seems like they can do alot of good. Green tea or oolong tea can also be a good substitute for caffeine. 

    For me, and from being active on a lot of forums I'm not the only one that has ALOT of restrictions, being diet and otherwise. Just know that the condition can be controlled. The diet is the hardest part of it all, but at the end of the day i'd rather cut out the foods I like and have clear skin, be pain free and feel better about myself.

    Hope any of this helps you out. 

    Dave.

    • Dhall75
      Dhall75 d4v3mcc

      Posted

      Hi Dave, Im 18 and for my whole life i have suffered from eczema, but just this past year it has become severe and is affecting my day to life. Im interested in trying a diet, but im just curious how on earth did u cut all of that out of your diet?? It seems impossible
    • james27322
      james27322 Dhall75

      Posted

      I had the same problem all through my school years and after. Then my cat died and it all disappeared, I would seriously reccomend having some allergy testing because the that would have shown me the trigger. And it could have been sorted out all along. Have you just got a new pet?
    • kathie55505
      kathie55505 d4v3mcc

      Posted

      Hi, Dave.  I'm interested in knowing what limited diet you're following.  Would you be willing to share?  I'm in the process of trying to figure out what foods I'm allergic to as my dermatoligist thinks that my eczema is caused by something I'm eating.  Thanks so much.  
    • muchacha21
      muchacha21 d4v3mcc

      Posted

      Hi Dave,

      I wa just curious of you were tested for gluten allergy? My next step is to drastically change my diet because I have tried everything else. I notice I have major ecza flares after drinking beer so my thought was to start with cutting gluten.

      Thanks-Melissa

  • tomtennant11
    tomtennant11

    Posted

    Thank you very much for your responses Dave, Jean and Patty! Lasn night i went to the pharmacy, picked up my usual Aveeno Skin Relief mosturiser as well as some Diprobase and some anti-histamines. 

    After my shower i applied all and took a tablet only to spend the next twenty minutes nearly crying with pain as my eczema was raw before i applied it. Luckily today i have woken up, missed uni oops, but spent the day moisturising and im feeling good to be fair. Long road ahead but atleast my skin doesnt feel like its crawling for the first time in a while. 

    My next step is to try partaking in some exercise again soon, hope the sweat doesnt ruin my skin though. 

    Regards.

    Tom

    • shay0708
      shay0708 tomtennant11

      Posted

      Hi everyone,

      My boy starting a massive flare up last November, and was put on hydrocortisone 2.5%. For months he had no or little result. The poor boy, 16 yo, went thru hell and back for months. I insisted on blood allergy test, having an uphill battle with all doctors from the pediatrician, to the dermatologist. He would use the ointment and see some improvement, but then he would have new ones pop. It was like the inflamation had to come out from somewhere, if it wasn't from the old spots, it would show somewhere else. It kept traveling up to upper body, face, and inside eyelids. I won the battle and they ordered a immunocap allergy blood test. A week later the results came back. No allergies to gluten, wheat, nuts, but severe allergy to shell fish, and dust mites, and carpet. One coworker said that she had the same thing, and she was almost immediately rid of the whole eczema symptoms as soon as she had the carpet removed and had wood floor installed. Please look into everything. Meds, acupuncture, herbs, homeopathic stuff are all temporary bandaid. You need to find out what the cause is, or you are going to go in circles for years. 

      On another note, the dermatologist had already said that the hydrocortisone was not strong enough to help him. She put him on betametazone. Within a few days he had relief. So far, he's doing so well, he is tapering it down. I plan on changing the carpet to see if we will see complete results. I will post again in a couple months. I thought I should share the test and the results to shed some light. I hope this helps at least some of you. Don't give up and explore different things to find the cause, and not just triggers. Good luck!

  • ADman
    ADman tomtennant11

    Posted

    Hi Tom,

    Please try and see a specialist Dermatologist.

    I am very aware of the damage long term use of steroid creams can do.

    My skin stopped responding last year after 25 years of use of steroids and I have been in a mess since.

    My Doc is getting me off the steriods with other treatments to dampen my immune response - I have allergic (Atopic) eczema.

    A lot of the creams such as E45 make me worse, the only thing I can use is Cetraben

    You might be reacting too - see if your GP can get you an appointment

    I don't want you to go through what I, and many other steriod users have.

    Good luck

  • catherine28583
    catherine28583 tomtennant11

    Posted

    My daughter is trying "light therapy" ie short blasts of UV rays. Comments welcome.
    • jean52798
      jean52798 catherine28583

      Posted

      Hi

      i do hope your daughter gets relief with the light therapy, anything is worth a try. 

      Jean

       

    • Dhall75
      Dhall75 catherine28583

      Posted

      I am also trying lighr therapy only on the 4th treatment so far no success
  • nataliem1992
    nataliem1992 tomtennant11

    Posted

    I'm 21 and have been dealing with ezcema all my life. The past few years it hadn't been an issue at all, but the last 4/5 months its been horrible, mine keeps flaring up due to stress and anxiety.

    I used a variety of things, i used shower oil in the bath instead of shower gels and creams, and the shower oils have been better for my skin. I use 2 moistirusers, palmers cocoa butter (no fragence) and also E45 for very dry and itchy skin, aswell as my normal ezcema cream that my doctor prescribes for me. I also take anti histamines everyday.

    Also, what is your diet like? As I've been drinking more water lately instead of fizzy no calorie drinks and my skin is clearly up a little.

    Hope any of that helps at all! smile 

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