Hey out there to all my unfortunate cousins in suffering with this terrible illness. Just looking to hear about experiences people have had regarding being prescribed dupixent/biological and the time they had to wait.

I’m 22 and have been suffering a big flareup for nearly 2 years. I was on methotrexate as a teen after my first flareup but was forced to quit cold turkey after it started making me unbearably nauseous. The eczema rebounded and I have been in hell ever since.

I am chronically itchy and my body appears to have problems with systemic dehydration. I am a big flaker and my skin barrier appears weak, struggling to retain moisture and utterly devastated by water in showers and pools etc if not moisturised quickly. I have a permanently red hand with a swollen inflamed finger that doesn’t respond to steroids. I am frequently covered in flakes, scratches and scabs and no part of my body is safe.

As you can imagine the impact on my life has been traumatic. After a long wait, I was finally prescribed cyclosplorine this time last year. It worked ok for a little while and made life more liveable but didn’t solve the bigger problem. All the issues were still present just less drastic. Eventually despite dose increases the effectiveness tapered off and the derm pulled me off them at short notice citing concerns for my kidneys.

I was then offered the choice between biologic injections or returning to methotrexate, with the derm pushing for biologics. I chose biologics and am now 2 months into the wait for an appointment in mid-November.

So my question is, what might the future look like? Having looked at others’ experiences, it appears I have fulfilled the primary condition for being prescribed biologics which is that immunosuppressants have failed. I also infer that the biologic in question may be Dupixent. I have heard that there may be an approval process as biologics are expensive so decisionmakers need to approve funding. I am worried about the wait as without any treatment my life has completely came apart during this waiting period and I’m struggling to cope. I am dreading the thought of another long wait as my case gets tied down in the system, but I would still rather know anyway. Additionally, some other questions: what is the injection process like? How often do you need to do it? Any side effects?

Many thanks.

what are yalls thoughts on using fluocinonide 0.05% lotion type since my derma prescribed me this. i searched it after the consultation and it somewhat scares me to use it, esp since my derma told me to use it for 4 weeks and stop right after and im afraid to have TSW !! 😓

My skin has flared up all of sudden in my inner arms and wrists. Nothing has changed so don't know what caused it. Have asked my GP for advice but have a feeling they will suggest steroid creams. I know about TSW and my skin is already thinning already so worried about applying more or a stronger one.

Should I change my diet?

Should I wear only cotton?

Should I change my laundry detergent to an eczema friendly one?

The only reason I mention the above as my skin was fine before but now I'm worried that everything caused it.

HELP!!!!!

these white dots appeared on face, face feels itchy, not dry and the white spots will disperse let liquid out

I’ve had this graze like thing on my leg for a few weeks now
Initially thought i had somehow grazed it as it feels slightly raised and looks similar to a graze but after noticing it no healing i thought it could be something different ?! I’ve never had eczema before I’m 33 years old no history at all
Any thoughts and recommendations ?

Quick update for anyone who saw my earlier post about SkinFam, the eczema diary I built because I’ve had eczema since I was little and still struggle with it a lot.

It was iPhone only back then. It's on Android now too.

Still free, no ads, no subscription, and everything stays on your phone.

Nothing is uploaded or sold.

Thank you to everyone who replied last time, it genuinely helped!

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/id6786998215

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skinfam.app

hi!! i've suffered from eczema my whole life, but it really got worse since 17.

this summer i had the worst staph infection of my life to the point where i was shivering in 90° F weather. it wasn’t the first time my skin made it hard to function, and i’m honestly tired of how much of my life it's affected - i hesitate to exercise, go to the beach, walk in the sun, party with my friends (i'm 23 lol)

over the past year, i’ve been writing journal entries, taking pictures of my skin, and dropping them into claude/chatgpt to help me reflect and look for possible patterns. interestingly, doing so has really helped me reduce my stress and stabilize my skin. food has also been a massive help.

SO i've kind of become incredibly (selfishly) passionate about nipping this shit in the bud. there are so many times i've noticed patterns doctors have ignored -eg. regarding the infection over the summer, it would have been dealt with a lot faster if the first 3 doctors (i'm not making this up) actually listened to me when i told them i was infected - never before have i felt so helpless but that's another story..

i'm building an app that find patterns between your triggers and your flares based on daily logs - take a pic, yap and you're done. it's basically an easier version of what i had been doing for myself till now to find my triggers.

i kinda need this app now that my skin is stable and journalling is too much effort when you're doing kind of okay lol, but i can't stand the fact that when it gets too hot, dusty or I get stressed, I still feel that prickly, heaty eczema flare up that makes my life hell.

i know what i want from it, but everyone’s experience with eczema is different. what would make something like this actually useful to you? if you’ve tried tracking before and stopped, i’d love to hear why too.

TLDR - making an app to help people like me cope with eczema and the physical + mental fallout from it. would super duper appreciate if you had any insights to give as to what wouuld be important for your own life. i have a version ready for private testing if you're interested. i’m not asking anyone to pay - just looking for feedback

P.S if you have any questions (eg. why even bother to track?), i'm all game. if you wanna dm or hop on a call to yap, i'd fucking love to. i just want to make eczema make sense cus, well, this shit sucks.

I have 3 more sessions of phototherapy left and I’m scared. It has helped calm my skin so much. Not fully get rid of my eczema.

I’m sat here with my neck eczema starting to flare badly again. I’m crying and scared. What is next? Will I always be itchy mess ?? How bad are immunosuppressant? Will the hospital just dismiss me?

What is next on the NHS ladder of treatment?

Hi. I have eczema since baby. It’s always been in my feet and hands. For some reason (I think heat?) this summer I started to have flare ups in my underarms. I have yet to see my derm. But any tips to deal with it? What to do with deodorant situation? I find it waaay itchier than in my feet😭