Almost cured using Tacrolimus 0.03%
Hello,
I wanted to share my experience with EC because I know how exasperating it can be and hopefully my solution will help someone. Let me start by saying that when I commented in other posts that I cured my EC using Tacrolimus 0.03% (specifically Protopic 0.03%) some people mentioned that mine "wasn't real EC" because they tried and didn't work for them. In any case, in my research I figured out there's different types of EC and severities but all of them share a cyclical peeling of the lip/s and skin buildup. I will share my story and pictures of how my lips looked so maybe others with similar looking EC and characteristics can heal using my method.
It all started last year around April. I got lip herpes on the right side of my lower lip supposedly from some water glass in an Airbnb. Never had lip herpes before. I visited a dermatologist and healed it using herpes creme but after that I saw that the area were the herpes had been continued peeling. This went on for 1 or 2 weeks. Then the peeling extended to the whole lower lip. From then on, hell started.
I went to a new dermatologist and she recommended using Aquaphor, and I tried it for months. It didn't work. Then I left my lip alone for maybe 1 or 2 more months, it also didn't work. I visited 2 or 3 more dermatologists. Some recommended continue using Aquaphor, and after a while, they recommended using Cicaplast. I used both (separately) for many months and they didn't work at all for me. One time a dermatologist told me to try Clotrimazol (an antifungal If I remember correctly), but it also didn't work.
My peeling cycle was like this: I would start getting skin (keratin?) build up on my lower lip for 2 days or so, then the lip would start to feel tight and peel or crack. Sometimes the cracks would bleed. Then the lips would peel for 2 or so more days. Then after complete peeling my lips would look fine (but red/inflamed) for 1 or 2 more days. Then the skin buildup would start again. Repeat forever. In my worst times the cycle would happen 2 or 3 times per week.
Around beginning of May this year I went again to one of the dermatologists. This was around the time my upper lip started peeling in a spot (you can see in some pictures). Kinda like EC had extended to my upper lip. We decided to try a steroid creme. I tried it for 2 weeks but didn't work for me. She then told me it might be time to take a biopsy. However I asked if we could finally try Tacrolimus which I read worked for many people. She agreed and prescribed it to me.
So, 1 month ago I started using Tacrolimus twice x day for 2 weeks. Around 2 days in, my lips looked already completely fine (no peeling, no inflamation). These last 2 weeks I have been using it once per day. Some of the last days I even forgot. My lips are almost completely healed I think.
I think it still might be a bit early to state that my lips are completely cured because I still apply Tacrolimus regularly once per day (when I don't forget), but for sure I am almost completely healed. I don't know if this will continue like this even after I completely stop using Tacrolimus, but what for sure I can say is that this worked for me.
In the next days I plan on stopping its use completely and see what happens.
Here you can see pictures of my lips with EC and a picture I took 5 minutes ago with the name Tacrolimus: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_98X-0zDSnn087NKaCPAUKDvhpClqDFY?usp=drive_link