PITA, 35 years of this and I am still to conquer it. Always omnipresent.

Have you tried the Dermalex Eczema cream?

Or Betnovate?

Benzoate and Dermalex yes, we are talking 80% body coverage. Grim.
I find steroids cause the nodular perigo to get infected.

Sunshine and saltwater are the very best treatment.

I mainly get it on my hands which is a pita so I really feel for you with 80% 😥

80% must be a nightmare! I’m presuming you have exhausted all the medical/dermatological specialists?

Been to a few…

I have had enough. I am 42, and eczema effects my life every day. I am absolutely sick of it. You name it, I’ve tried it. UV, endless potions, Azathioprine, hypnosis, the list is as endless as it is ineffective.

I’m currently on Methotrexate. The jury is out but it is not a cure, so it is not what I am looking for. I would love to not NEED to shower twice daily, to be able to head off camping without NEEDING to think about my skin. I’d LOVE to be able to wear anything without worrying about how the fabric will irritate my skin. I constantly shed dry skin. In no longer embarrassed, just annoyed.

And ‘kin well-meaning cretins who say “Ooh, try not to scratch it.” Really? As if it had never occurred to me.

The long and short of it is that it is genetic, so unless a treatment is a targeted therapy on the genetic level you are generally wasting time and effort addressing symptom not cause.

The only saving grace is my kids are not seemingly affected.

Have you had light treatment op?

I have suffered with bad skin on my hands all my life. I recently (last 6 months) switched to SLS-free (sodium lauryl sulfate, and other various similar detergents/surfactants) soap which has really sorted my hands out. If I start using ‘normal’ soap again I can really notice it causing my skin to be irritated.

I presume you’ve already tried that sort of thing though.

I’ve yet to find something that works. Mainly on my forehead,nose and cheeks . It’s definitely confidence? knocking. Even worse when I’m stressed. :(.

I sometimes get flare ups, I think due to the whether or stress. But it has got better, less flare ups. I’m not sure what has made the difference – maybe diet related, less stress? I used to have it really bad and once was in hospital with severe eczema. I now use betnovate when I get the odd flare up and have epiderm wax everyday

Light treatment I self regulate, get out into the sun as much as possible.
As previously stated the very best treatment is a week or two in the sun and salty sea.
It gets to a point I even consider is living in the UK really a good idea, bike service shop by the sea would be my ideal retirement.

Push for proper light therapy. Had a nasty dose of guttate psoriasis and nothing worked until proper light therapy.

Have you tried seeing if it’s anything you are eating rather than just treating the symptoms?

Stress
Lack of sleep ( both cause increase in cortisol)

And weather transitioning from hot – cold or cold- hot

sniff – message sent!

it took me many years to get mine under control (and still is).

Best thing was realising it’s not eczema, but Seb Derm. Putting all the creams on was making it worse. It wasn’t flakes of dry skin i had, but the equivalent of dandruff on the face and arms. You need to kill the fungus that causes it.

So moved away from all lotions (apart from one occasionally, which you can’t buy here). Away from shower gel. Now it’s just soap, and proper exfoliation with a flannel. Old school really. First couple of months were hard, as the skin has to get used to it’s own oil production again. But it’s worth it.

Other thing is sunlight. Or more importantly Vitamin D. So in the autumn, winter, spring I now take 50mcg a day. Seems to work.

Now obviously everyone is different. What worked for me may (probably won’t) work for you. But it may not be eczema

.

Yup, same in this house… Mrs T2S has spent weeks in hospital with it..
It’s a nightmare for sure.

Have you given any consideration to your diet?

Remove all cow dairy and replace with goat / sheep products, i.e. Milk, butter, cheese. This website may also be useful for you, rather than the not-very-clever steroidal creams and ointments.

Unable to embed link as I’m on the iPad and the text buttons and emojis are often not present…

http://Www.chucklinggoat.co.uk.

The change from cow to goat has done wonders for my psoriasis.

Pleased to report that after a week off work with plenty of sun and sea water, my Excema is nearly all clear. Hurrah! Now need to keep it this way..

Great stuff. Any update from the drs about pushing for light therapy?

I will book up drs and push it, it clearly works.

My youngest suffered.
Now he doesn’t.
Things that helped:
Going lacto free with milk and dairy, lacto free milk tastes great, and is easy to get.
Keep sugar and sweets to minimum.
No artificial sweeteners.
Minimum other chemicals, non-bio washing powder, no softeners.
Softest possible bedclothes- bamboo, we put him in some ‘posh’ ones once with a texture, I nearly had a heart attack when I saw his poor little face the next morning, I felt so bad.
I know all of these things are well known, and every case is different, he may have just grown out of it. What we do know, is if we ever ignore one of the above, he will have a flare up.

Good to hear Wally. Hope you’ve got your mojo back a bit.

Diet isolation worked for Mrs Dubs about 25 years ago, she still gets flare ups (hands and face) but it’s mostly controlled.

She is allergic to:
Tomatoes
Capsicum pepper family – so chilli, paprika all that good stuff.
Lemonade & other fizzy drinks

She’s not allergic to chocolate, which was quite the win for a 15 year old girl 🙂

Try some neem oil; seen as a magic cure for all skin problems where other treatments have failed.