talkhealth Blog

Hey guys

So basically this is what has happened: My skin was not getting any better from the last time I blogged, and the itching at night was becoming unbearable and because I was scratching my skin was unable to get better. After I’d finished the steroid tablet cycle-thing my skin didn’t really get any better, so that was a waste of time 🙁 but I went back to the hospital (really sick of going there now) and talked to my doctor and he decided that I needed to move onto some harsher medication. So he gave me a new cycle of tablets that lasts about 3 months and it basically stops the inflammation in my body, however, I must have blood tests fairly often to make sure my body is handling it okay (had my first blood test today, OUCH!)

And here’s the amazing bit, my mother and I think we’ve discovered why I have eczema in the first place, or at least why it’s so bad lately. It turns out that I was right; it was the bad foods I was eating that was making my skin bad. BUT, it doesn’t make sense that a little bit of chocolate should send me spiralling into the abyss of itch-and-scratch land. So, when we were reading through the booklet that came with the tablets (yes, a booklet, full of side effects, imagine how happy that made me!) we discovered that these tablets also reduce the potency of the immune system. When we read this, suddenly my mother had a realisation! The basic story is that my immune system is too strong. Yes, that’s right, my immune system is amazing at combating pretty much anything. Which makes it suck because when I eat something I’m slightly allergic to, my body FREAKS out and tries it’s hardest to warn me that I’m hurting myself. So I may be able to go my entire life without really getting ill, but I’ll be ridden with eczema. Fantastic.

However, it did make a lot of sense; I’ve never really been properly ill. I was surrounded by chicken pox as a child but never got it. If there’s a virus going around college and I pick it up, I’m ill for no longer than one day, while others are out for weeks. So yes, I may be a super-being, but I’m a super-being with the constant want to scratch my flesh off.

So I’ve been on the tablets for a week now, and they haven’t kicked in yet, so you can imagine how frustrating it is to just wait around until they do kick in. However, I’ve been thinking that, because I’m scratching like crazy in the nights, that maybe the fact that I keep scratching is stopping my skin from healing itself. So, with this realisation, I’ve gone on to try and stop myself from scratching, instead I slap my skin a bit and try and relax and focus on my breathing. This is INCREDIBLY hard, especially in the nights, but I need to keep reminding myself that one scratch can send me back to square one; all my efforts will be lost with one glide of the nails. I know what you must be thinking: “just cut your nails!” you say. However, if you met me, you’d realise that for some bizarre reason my hair and nails grow INCREDIBLY fast. I’m not kidding, my hair was about just below shoulder length this time last year, it is now past half-way down my back! So if I do cut my nails, they will return promptly within a day, maybe even less than a day, so that is not helpful at all! However, this gift is useful in case of a bad hair cut; it will grow out nice and quickly! So yes, I’m trying my hardest to not scratch. Thankfully, I manage to stay away from my face quite easily, although in the night it’s literally verging on unbearable to not scratch, I still manage. I wish I could say the same for everywhere else on my body, I’m still working on that! But I will keep you all updated 🙂

As for the diet, all is going well! I have been introducing certain teas to my diet lately, mostly white and green tea, because they have a lot of benefits, and they keep me warm in the chilly weather!

OH, and one more note. Soon I will be buying a microfibre, anti-allergy & anti-dustmite duvet. Apparently it’s a big help with eczema sufferers, and I’ve noticed that if I don’t have a fan going in my room at night I tend to over-heat pretty quickly, resulting in a scratch-fest. I will also be buying cotton bedding too, and hopefully all this will help me reduce the urge to scratch at night 🙂

Bye guys 🙂

Brooke x

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Brooke

Hey, my name is Brooke. Basically, I have this blog so I can talk about eczema. I have suffered with eczema all my life, and when I turned 13 it flared up for no apparent reason, and has remained basically the same. So on here I will hopefully be blogging everyday explaining new things I am using to try and fight eczema, and hopefully I will overcome it. Happy blogging!