Hey guys
Today was not a good day. I woke up and put my creams on and my skin flared up really badly. I forced myself to get ready and spent a while in front of a fan to cool down because my face felt like it was on fire. When I was walking for my bus I actually started crying at the thought of facing college students and them seeing how tomato-red by skin was, so I stopped, called my mum to phone college and had the day off. It’s crazy that this condition can make us feel so bad about ourselves that we can’t even go ahead with our daily lives. So I spent hours in front of the fan, distracting myself with tv and trying to not think about my skin. It got to a point where my skin was a bit pink but no where near as red and boiling as it was this morning, so to cheer myself up I went shopping with my best friend.
At the moment my skin is okay, still a bit pink but manageable. There is a heat wave here at the moment, plus yesterday I was trying out new snacks that I thought were okay, but apparently the two combined made my skin freak out, so I won’t be trying new things again for a while unless I’m 100% sure it’s okay. Also, at one point today I was starving and found myself with no food on me, and the only thing I could find to eat that didn’t need cooking was BBQ chicken, so I don’t know how my skin will react to that, but I’m hoping it won’t. But I’m going to eat a lot of raw salad and drink plenty of water so my body can heal itself. I was so upset this morning, to the point of crying my eyes out on the phone to my mum and best friend, but I know that this is going to be a tough ride, and I guess I can’t expect my eczema to just waltz from my body sliently; it has to put on a show.
Hope everybody is well,
bye guys
Brooke x
Hi Brooke,
on September 29, 2011 at 4:30 pm HeidiI’m so sorry you felt like this and i do truly understand what your saying about conditons affecting your everyday life !! My 2yr old has Eczema, Dermographism/Urticaria. Basically his skin can react to anything !! at any time. Even for EG: warm/cold air blowing on his face will cause him to react/flare up. Just laying down for a nap his face will become bright red & take hours to calm down. When he was at his worst he had severe eczema all over his face !! & the looks we used to get off people when we were out was awful & at one point i didnt go out as much with him. We would stayed in on a lovely day, as i was new to Eczema then and didnt like the looks etc we got when we went out. I am so disapointed in myself that i let what others thought stop me from taking my baby out. One day it just dawned on me that i was keeping my baby in and not doing things as a family because of what total strangers thought/looked/comments etc. & thought they are going to be gone in a few minuites & we’ve got to live our lives like this and my son !! are we going to lock ourselves away for ever !!! & if i bring him up being ashamed/embarrased of how he looks he will have no self confidance, no enjoyment in life because of others who dont know him !!! Please , Please dont ever stop doing or preventing youself from learning and aiming for better things because of others. There is a heart beyond the look hun & people that really matter to you , friends etc will know this already. People that dont know that dont really matter do they !!! Dont let anyone or anything stop you hun !!!!! Life is way too short , i had a brain heamorrage when i was pregnant & both myself & my baby may not have made it so HOLD YOUR HEAD UP HIGH & AIM FOR THE STARS !!!! x
Hey Heidi
on September 29, 2011 at 5:02 pm BrookeI’m so sorry that your son has to deal with this, I can’t even imagine how horrible it would be if my skin was that sensitive. I know I shouldn’t hide and I should just forget other people’s opinions, but all the way through comprehensive school I was bullied because my eczema started getting bad, I had two red circles of it around my eyes and people would call me panda, I hated myself so much that I shocked myself. That’s why it’s so hard to just dismiss other people’s opinions, they can be so hurtful and it’s hard to ignore. And it’s not only what they say, it’s the looks as you said, when they look at me like I’m an alien I can’t help but stress over what they think. Maybe one day I can deal with it, or hopefully the diet will work so I can move on and be happy. I guess I won’t know until I’ve lived through it
Thank you for the words of inspiration for me to aim for the stars, and I will try, especially if my skin recovers.
Brooke x
Hi Brooke,
on September 29, 2011 at 6:38 pm HeidiYeh i totally understand and it makes me feel sad that you’ve had to go through this. This is exactly why there needs to be even more Eczema Awareness out there, so people can understand more & how it affects people who suffer with it. (have you ever seen a Eczema Advert on Tv, i know i havent). So hopefully one day there will be less people with Eczema that have to go through what you’ve been through at school. I do feel that these type of people that bullied you probably bullied others aswell for a whole list of different reasons & who didnt have Eczema. Sad but there are people out there like that & it’s so wrong & shouldnt happen but sadly it does.
Would really like to thankyou for doing this post on your blog, as think it will ring bells with alot of others too !! Who have felt the same way in one way or another. Wish you all the best Brooke & will look forward to reading your future blogs xx
I know how you feel. I was a recluse for years because of my eczema. I would feel like crying in school all the time. I was mortified when people asked me about it and what it was. What are you doing to treat it? What finally got mine under control was Hydrocortisone cream (you can find it at any pharmacy) after a shower and in the morning, Aquaphor before bed, and a hazelwood and amber bracelet (sounds weird but it helped a LOT, I was a skeptic and now I will swear by it, I got it at hazelaid.com). Since I started with those 3 things, I have been completely cleared after 2 weeks, and stayed clear for around 4 months now. I have a small breakout on the inside of my elbows when I sweat but other than that, clear for the first time in years, and it’s amazing!! Good luck, I hope you get cleared up soon!!!!! <3
on October 1, 2011 at 4:08 am CamilleHi Camille,
on October 3, 2011 at 6:12 pm BrookeYeah when people talk about it I feel incredibly self-conscious. I originally began with hydrocortisone 4 years ago, it kept it under control for 2 years then my skin got used to it and it no longer worked. Then I was given a stronger version of it, and now I’m on a REALLY strong version of it, that shouldn’t really be used on the face but doctors don’t know what to do (they suck with stuff involving eczema) and I moisturize all the time.
But the thing is, I don’t want to use those creams anymore because they thin the skin over time, I’ve experienced this around my eyes, and the skin bruises and tears easily, not nice. So using the cream you do is actually really bad for your skin. I didn’t know this, the doctors didn’t mention it until recently, I had to find out myself through research.
Thank you for the luck 🙂
Brooke x