Hello everyone!

08/08/2011 by Twenty12.

Hello everyone, 

This is my first time blogging for the National Eczema Society and I am very excited! Firstly to introduce myself; I am a 25 year old female and I first experienced eczema around 15 years of age where I would just get it on the inside of my elbows; something that was easily treatable with a course of topical steroid therapy and didn’t really cause me any concern and only slight discomfort. Before that I’d never experienced eczema (or any other allergy of any sort e.g, asthma) in my life and it doesn’t even run in my family, so we all just assumed it would go away after a while…  

….well it didn’t and at around 18 years of age when I started university, my skin, especially on my face and scalp, started to flare up quite a bit and it was very unpredictable. At this point my GP prescribed me topical steroids, which is the first line of treatment anyway, however now that I look back on the advise (or lack of!) I was given by my GP, I feel my lack of understanding on the way topical steroids worked led me to make my skin worse and more dependent on steroid creams. I have since learnt that using steroid creams correctly gives good results and I mustn’t listen to the entire stigma that surrounds steroid creams.

Eventually, a new GP referred me to an NHS dermatologist (after spending in the regions of thousands on various private treatments such as medical, herbal, acupuncture, chinese remedies, hypnotism and ayurvedic). Being referred to an NHS dermatologist was the best thing that happened to me as she got me into using Protopic 0.03% for my face and 0.1% for my body and also raised my awareness of eczema as a whole. This was a very big deal for me as my eczema mostly affects my face and the area around my eyes and as a result I didn’t have that constant worry of steroid side effects. She also got me into using different emollients which I found very useful in terms of controlling and comforting my eczema. Also, a blood test revealed I had abnormally low levels of IgE and I was diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. 

Now that I am 25 years old, my skin is still very unpredictable; one morning I will wake up and my face is lovely and smooth and the next it’s red, blotchy, very irritated and uncomfortable (I guess angry is a good word!). My scalp has taken a turn for the worst and I’ve lost a lot of hair due to the seabborhaeic dermatitis. Of course, all of this gets me very upset, especially when I have to be somewhere where I have to look my best, but just taking a few deep breaths and getting on with my day is what I have to do to take my mind off it.

I look forward to keeping you updated with my experiences…mental and physical, good and bad!

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