r/eczema

I would like to take additional time off after my one year of maternity leave ends to care for my LO, who has eczema.

I understand there are several options:
Unpaid parental leave – Up to 18 weeks per child, with a maximum of 4 weeks per child per year.
Carer’s leave – Up to 1 week of unpaid leave per year for qualifying long-term care needs.

However, neither of these options would be long enough. I am considering taking at least an additional 6 months, possibly even a year or two, essentially until my LO’s condition improves or I feel confident that my LO can clearly communicate when itchy or uncomfortable.

What options would be available to me? Could I take sick leave to care for my LO? I could also consider a career break, but my understanding is that this would be at my employer’s discretion.

I am not expecting to be paid during this period; I would simply like to take time off to care for my LO without losing my job.

Long-time eczema sufferer here. Dupixent / Adbry / Ebglyss / Nemluvio has genuinely been a game-changer for a lot of us, but I've been thinking about the long-term picture more lately and got curious where others are at mentally.

A few questions I'd love to hear your honest takes on:

• Are you satisfied with where you're at on Dupixent (or the other options)? Full clearance, partial, still struggling?
• Is your plan to stay on it indefinitely? If your skin stays clear, do you ever think about stopping -- or does that feel too risky to even consider?
• If you have thought about rolling off, what does that actually look like to you? Are you waiting for something better to come along, hoping to taper down, or actively working toward it?
• Are you doing anything complementary in the meantime? Chinese medicine, dietary changes, gut health stuff, natural remedies, anything like that -- and do you feel like it's actually moving the needle or just something you're doing out of hope?

No judgment here either way -- I know some people feel like Dupixent is a permanent fixture and that's completely valid. Just genuinely curious how people are thinking about this.

I am 27F and have suffered from severe eczema and seasonal allergies since I was very young.

I have moved to areas with different climates which seem to take forever for my body to adjust to.

Something I have noticed is that when I put acrylic nails on, the itching becomes less satisfying and I can’t “dig” as deep.

I have taken them off and on over the past year and my skin always gets worse when I don’t have them on. Maybe this can help others, I know it sounds a little crazy but I really think it helps me!!

You guys have probably seen my last post about me ranting about my eczema, but could you give me a list of products (shower) or just a general shower routine. There's literally eczema under my eyes now

I am crying. I work with sani water a lot, but still wear Nitrile gloves at work to avoid contact. I just woke up this morning with a massive hole in my pinky from itching in my sleep. My hands are so dry and cracked I put lotion on and it just wont stop itching it's driving me insane. I cant use steroids for more than a few days at a time and nothing ive found works to relieve it. Its so hard being mentally strong enough not to itch because it freaking ITCHESSS. Ive gone to drs and got triamcinilome but I think its too soon for me to use it again, and its slowly starting to not work anymore after going back to it multiple times in the past 4-5 years. I dont know what to do to get it to stop 😩 its driving me crazy and I just want my hands back

it’s been a few months since ive posted anything about my severe eczema, but finally after months of back and forth with multiple different dermatologists, i was approved for dupixent.

i had my loading dose of the 2 injections today and was wondering how long it took to see results? also if anyone has advice on how to make the injection less painful! i just keep telling myself the 20 seconds of pain will be worth it over dealing with my severe eczema. any advice is appreciated!

Hi there, just looking for recommendations on how my husband can cure his hand eczema. He was prescribed antibiotic cream from the GP which worked for a little while and when he stopped using it, it came back. Obviously using antibiotic cream is not a solution so just looking for alternative recommendations! Thank you ☺️

Hi everyone

This is my first time posting - I'm struggling with a pretty bad flare on my face, neck and chest after having a baby 4 months ago and am looking to see if anyone has any advice.

I've just got an infection under control but have some deep cracks/fissures under my skin that wont heal.

I'm moisturising constantly with Epiderm and am showering with Dermol. I've got some strong steroid cream but am being careful with this as used heavily in my teens.

I wondered if anyone had any experience or advice on healing these deep cracks - no matter how much I moisturise they are not healing and the itching seems to be deep itching from these cracks. The skin on the surface has healed over them and feels smooth.

Ive tried Phenergen at night for the itching but I didn't realise it shouldn't be taken with SSRIs and gave myself mild serotonin syndrome 🫠

All advice welcome! Thank you!

I need some help. Not sure what’s going on my lips have been burning for about a week now. At first Vaseline was helping but it is not any longer. They aren’t itchy necessarily, but both top and bottom lip are burning. No blisters or sores, lips feel really really tight and dry even with Vaseline on . Anybody else experience this? I have no clue what’s going on as I’ve never had an eczema flare up on my lips. I had a similar burning sensation on my face before accompanied by an eczema flare up but this is a first for my lips. It literally feels like I put hot sauce on my lips too long. Any recommendations? Only relief I feel is running them under cool water. They also feel like sandpaper in some areas when I rub them together, even with coating on.

i’m almost out of body wash (i use unscented illiyoon body wash) and i’m curious about trying a shower oil to cleanse instead of a normal body wash or soap. i have very dry skin caused by my eczema leading to lots of itching until i bleed. right now i use a body oil, then body butter, then a thin layer of aquaphor.

has anyone found extra relief with using shower oil? i imagine the extra moisture would be beneficial but i worry i wont like it or wont feel clean, or if it will be too much moisture and cause more itching (is that a thing?)

Hi all,

*very long post ahead*

I've been an eczema sufferer 27 years, with the last 2 years being a constant full body flare up, exfoliation, sleepless nights and pain to the point I can't even lay in bed or wear clothes (and at some point TCW due to topical treatments)

I've been on dupixent for more than a year now, with most of the time not having a successful control of my eczema, but other times it just feels like I have less inflammation but my skin will still peel of and itch as always and even at new places.

I've been advised by my derm to look into other options (other antibody or jak inhibitors) but instead I've started a journey to find out what works for me. I ditched corticosteroids, except from very rare flare ups that I only get oral medrol, which is easier to control the dosage of. I've been using protopic a couple of times per week but the pain was unbearable so I had to ditch that too.

My eczema seems to be changing over the years, I always had on my arms, then it went away and was on the neck, then again only on the face. The last two years was/is all over my neck (back and front), upper and then all over my back and shoulders, and recently expanded to all over my arms. I had flare ups every week, with my skin being inflamed just before it fully recovered from the previous one. I thought I was hopeless as whatever was helping me all these years has stopped working. So I took some time off and focused on how to make it better. I now only take antihistamines when needed, but no other medication so far. If I managed to get better without medication, then there is hope for everyone.

My routine (I have the dry eczema type):

1.I started using coconut oil all over my body and then top it with a layer of hydromol ointment. I do that even more than 10 times per day when needed.

2.Regular cold showers using fragrance free shower oil by Uriage Xemose C8+ and then with an antibacterial soap Dermol500 at the parts where I have eczema(I've been struggling with showering full body as it is very painful, but started doing it more often- I obviously clean certain parts everyday but as I don't sweat Ive been avoiding a full body shower.I started it again as I get a lot of build up of all the moisturizer and it seems to also help retain moisture if I apply both moisturizers after showering.

3.I found fabrics that work for my skin, modal and viscose are usually very soft and seem to work better than cotton as they don't overheat me.

4.Wrote down all my thoughts,did a lot of journaling to find the root cause of certain stresses. I'm doing a PhD so ultimately I decided that if it doesn't work out I'll just quit. I established healthy boundaries with how I allow certain things or people to affect me, how much space and energy I allocate to them. If I'm not feeling well, I'm not going to the lab, and if things are not getting better I'll take a step back and find something else. I know that comes from a privileged position, as not everyone has the capacity to just quit, but in case this adds extra stress to you, maybe you need to establish your boundaries with your work.

I also isolated from toxic people and I no longer go out when I don't feel like it. I listen to my body and needs.

5.I accepted that my eczema had developed from a minor annoyance to a disability. That was a hard pill to swallow. I could no longer enjoy things, even when on vacation, I had and still have very low days, unbearable pain and completely unstructured sleep routine and complete inability to commit to my responsibilities. I used to keep that in, and to wear a mask outside, but I have now stopped. When I'm low, people know, they seem to be kinder and understanding. I'm no longer afraid to say that I can't do something, say no to people or hide the fact that I'm in pain or that I haven't slept at all (obviously people can tell when you have a flare up but being kinder with yourself and being ok with what you can do on a low day is a game changer).And it's obviously a work in progress.

6. Diet changes

I've always been told that diet doesn't matter in eczema so I've been believing that for years. It's been a hard thing as I've recently developed food allergies or triggers (first beer, then all alcohol, probably raw tomatoes, nuts and shellfish, sometimes coffee), so I've been avoiding lots of foods just in case and try to reintroduce them to my diet gradually.I now write everything I eat down and see how it affects me to make a list of safe foods. I cook everything from scratch as it's the only way to know if something triggers me.

Some things that I found helpful are:

1. A shot of cranberry juice a few times per week (I use 100% cranberry juice and dilute it in water or in a smoothie).just make sure it doesn't interact with your medication (protopic) or other health conditions.
2. Kefir, just a sip every other day, along with cranberry helps the microbiome, which is very important in eczema (there is a link with S.aureus taking over in your body, so these things keep it at bay)
3. Chia seeds in yogurt, fresh fruits and veggies as much as possible just for the fiber, because I tend to not get enough. Sometimes I just go to the groceries store and fill the cart only with those and eat them as snacks. I know there is nothing groundbreaking in this advice but sometimes you forget what your body needs.
4. I really struggle drinking water, but I seem to be ok with drinking multiple cups of tea per day, so if that's also your problem, maybe tea is a solution

I really hope at least one person will benefit from this list. Eczema is a journey, and it's so hard to navigate especially when your condition changes and things don't work anymore. And most people can't understand what you are going through every day, so that can be isolating.

Everyone's condition is different and I don't think this will be the ultimate "cure" for me either, but this post will also help me the next time I get a low day. Remember you are not alone in this, be open to your friends and family and listen to your body.

Take care of yourselves, guys ❤️

back in 2023 i had a dry patch under my left eyebrow completely out of the blue and my family doctor said its just eczema and gave me elidel, it did absolutely nothing. then months goes by and then my ears have dry patches?? fast forward to now and my unibrow area and along the side of my right nose area is dry now too.

got environmental allergy testing done and nothing, he prescribed me eucrisa which also didn’t help, and i have mometasone as well.

i’m getting married in a couple months and i just want to get rid of this😭😭 any tips??

NOT ASKING FOR MEDICAL ADVICE!! Just any tips that may help, i’m a nurse but im stuck.