Oh yeah, skin issues...

In the middle of everything else that's been going on, I've also been fighting some eczema/dermatitis. This all started back in February. My skin got dry from the cold weather and I developed a few little dots by my thumb. I've had this happen before, and normally I moisturize a whole bunch and they go away. Well this time, the dots sort of migrated to my little finger and refused to go away. And they started getting worse and worse. I fought this on my own for a few months (even using some of the cream I had to help me with the skin reactions I get with continuous glucose monitoring devices) but I was never able to clear it. Finally in May, things got really bad that I had to consult medical help. I made an appointment with my doctor, but it was so bad that I ended up getting in with a nurse practitioner first. She prescribed Protopic, which is a non-steroid cream. I was to use it for six weeks and hopefully that would deal with the problem (she told me that Protopic, being non-steroid, is safer for your skin to be using. Plus you can take a brief break from it then use it for another six weeks).

The Protopic seemed to work beautifully. By about the fourth week, the eczema seemed to be gone, and I felt silly to still be using the Protopic (but I intended to use it for the full six weeks. I happened to miss one 24 hour period while I was on vacation in June, and the eczema came back with a vengeance. So in early July, I made another appointment, this time with my doctor, to get some more help.

My doctor right away thought I had "Dyshidrotic hydrasia," a form of eczema. He knew of a compound that should work specifically for dyshidrotic hydrasia, so he gave me a prescription for that. Unfortunately the eczema just slowly got worse and worse. I went back to see him about a month later, and he recommended I use the Protopic again to clear the eczema, then use the compound to hopefully keep the eczema under control. Again, the eczema wasn't really 100% cleared, and slowly came back even under this regiment. Thankfully during that visit, my doctor also referred me to a dermatologist at that time. Unfortunately it took a few months to get in, so I've been doing my best to keep the eczema at bay in the mean time. 

I saw the dermatologist a few weeks ago, and he confirmed that I have dyshidrotic hydrasia (he also mentioned that it is caused by some sort of irritant; unfortunately I've had high stress, grief, and skin problems from continuous glucose monitoring devices, so who knows what could be causing the eczema). So he gave me a prescription for a stronger steroid (Clobetasol, which I actually used in spray form back when I was having issues with the Freestyle Libre). So I'm going to be using this for a few weeks to hopefully get the eczema under control, then switch back to the Protopic to hopefully keep it under control and finally clear it up. If that doesn't work, I'll be heading back to the dermatologist for next steps.

In terms of possible irritants, I'm doing my best to wash my hands mainly with olive oil soaps (and to wash my hands less often than I have been in the wake of Covid). I already wash dishes using gloves, so that's a good thing. I'm trying to get my stress levels better under control and hopefully build some mental resiliency back up. So the daily stretching will hopefully help (daily activity that is somewhat like yoga). Plus I was able to cut out a major stressor from work, so that was good (it's just taking me longer than I expected to destress from it!) I happen to have a few days off right now, too, so I'm going for another massage, and taking some time to read, relax, and maybe take a few things off my mental to-do list where possible (like updating this blog!)