Not sure where to turn to.

[ijcoventry]

Hi.

I feel a bit silly speaking to people about personal problems so I'm sorry if this all sounds a bit whiny, long winded or weird.

Basically I'm a 29 year old man whos married, and have a 3 year old son and one on the way. I have had severe atopic eczema my entire life, so I'm totally used to it. I have used pretty much every steroid cream on the market alongside various moisturising creams. My skin is almost always well moisturised most of the time as I use moiturisers all over my body once or twice a day. The problem with my eczema has always been inflammation due to an unknown cause.

Basically my problem is not so much the eczema, as I said I have had it all my life and while its annoying pretty much 85% of the time (itch wise) I haven't known anything different so I assume that's why I cope pretty well with it. I have had pretty much every test to try to determine what causes the inflammation but sadly no answer has ever been forthcoming. I found a lot of my inflammation stopped when I ceased eating meat (I still eat fish, which doesn't seem to cause an inflammatory response). I eat plenty of vegetables and drink lots of fluids.

The reason I am here is because of the problem I now face; due to having used steroid creams my entire life I have extremely thin skin almost everywhere at the ripe old age of 29. I have been to see my GP and also the local dermatology nurse which basically led them to be pretty surprised and apparently horrified at how thin my skin is in certain areas of my body, mainly under my belly button and on the back of my knees, armpits, elbows etc, everywhere that moves basically. Unfortunately its spreading, its now moving up my torso and down my arms etc.

So why am I here? well, the thinning of the skin is obviously a problem potentially from a mortality viewpoint in the future which worries me, especially since in the last two years or so its become more apparent. The problem that as far as I know the options to treat eczema are limited to steroid creams (which I cannot continue using forever I fear), pro topic cream and or cyclosporin, both of which are thought to be linked to causing various types of hematological cancer or using cytotoxic drugs such as methotrexate, which again is a carcinogenic drug. So I feel a bit stuck as well as stressed as while it may sound horrid but it feels right now that I have a choice of 1) eventually degrade my skin to the point where it will be life threatening or 2) grow some sort of tumor? these really don't sound like much of a choice and its worrying me. Very much so. To the point were I think about it every day, get stressed which bring up my skin even more, which leads me to use more steroid creams which in turn gets me feeling depressed and worried even more.

In the past few years every so often I knock myself causing a skin tear due to the fragility of my skin, and its happening more often. I tore a hole in the back of my knee today for example stepping off a wooden chair and lightly catching it on the edge (was fixing curtains) just before realising I think I need some help.

I really don't know what to expect from this post. I understand there's no cure but I'm hoping somebody out there may have some other line of treatment that perhaps I can try, as the NHS basically tell me if I don't take the drugs I mentioned earlier then they cant help me. There's probably no answer but it helps some what to share your problems at times I guess.

Thanks for reading.

[artysue]

hi i have just read your story and it all makes sense to me ....i am 52 married with 2 sons in their 20s .. .and had eczema for 30 years plus and had lots of treatments none had worked so my dermatologist suggested cyclosporin which i took for a year and half and really suited me ...then he said i would have to change to a diffrent one as had been on it long enough .so i have been on methetextrate for 5 months ,,because of the change of meds i had a massive flare up which was horrid took some time to settledown ,only just taking affect .i was reluctant to take this drug but i knew if i didnt they couldnt do much else for me ....my skin is very thin and tear very easily and bruise easily if i rub or scratch to much ...i had a punch biopsy to outrule any other skin conditions and it was ok . i itch so so much some days i find the itching so unbearable at times i take antihistimines .atarax is a good one to take at night 25mg sometines i have to take 2 ..i have to moisturise am pm and constantly threw the day .everyday is a battle and i think what sort of day will i have today when i wake up ..if its a good day you feel so much better and able to cope with things. 2 years ago i was admitted into hospital with a massive flare up when it gets bad it takes over your day and you cant concentrate . .have you had any allergy tests ? i have atopic eczema .latex allergy and urticuria ashma and hayfever and the dermatologist said that for me a allergy test wouldt be any good as i have many triggers ! the whole thing is a minefield i do know this weather and the pollen has been hell for my skin coming up in weals lumps that itch like crazy : you will get lots of help info and support from this forum best wishes sue

[Marcie Mom]

Sorry to hear of the problem you face with being on long term steroid use... Steroid shouldn't become a long-term solution since it has side effects. Any chance of exploring allergy test, wet wrap, adding omega 3 or recommended foods for skin repair and non-steroidal prescription cream? I wonder also if it's seeing different doctors - from what I've gathered is if one is a subsidized/public patient, you don't get to see the same doctor, thus running the risk that each doctor gives you his/her own steroid prescription without having the time to figure out if you've tried that before or monitoring how the last cream worked for you.

Take care,
Mei