u/Lockerus

Back in October of last year, I used Doctor Squatch's Pine Tar soap. I've used plenty of Dr Squatch soap prior to that with no adverse effect. I also had no pre-existing skin conditions. However, unbeknownst to me I had an allergy to an ingredient in the pine tine soap. The soap also had a heavy grit, so I broke my dermis and got this allergen under my skin.

I had a severe allergic reaction to this ingredient and have lived with chronic allergen dermatitis since October. This includes loss of sleep due to intense itching, inflammation, skin flaking, you name it.

My only relief has come from a 50-day prednisone taper originally prescribed in October which did not fix the issue and as of this week when I was actually able to see a specialist and they gave me some second-line medications like Betaderm and Protopic. I have used a wide array of OTC options but none of them have worked.

I live in Canada and our health care system is so borked that I had to wait from January (when the prednisone stopped) until last week to see a specialist (and not even a dermatologist, since derms no longer take new patients where I live).

The specialist said that because of the severity of the reaction and the duration, I now will have to manage chronic eczema for the rest of my life. I feel really stupid for using that soap and now I've given myself a lifelong condition to boot. The health care system here is so broken I couldn't get the help I needed quickly and had to live with this condition for over half a year. Yeah there are people out there with worse health concerns, but everybody should be able to get timely medical assistance when they need it.

What's done is done, but after being told this week I won't be "cured", I've been kicking myself about it.