Gary
Gary has had eczema most of his life but started to have particularly severe flare-ups after the age of 18. He finds it difficult to do even small daily tasks when his skin is bad because it is so sore. He enjoys walking and finds it an important way to cope with stress.
Gary has had eczema to varying degrees since he was a child. His eczema was very mild when he was younger but became a lot worse after the age of 18. This change began with eczema developing in his arm pits, spreading onto his arms and then all over his body. His skin stayed very flared-up for about 3 months. He doesn’t know what triggered this first episode, though he has thought about it a lot. He thinks that other flare-ups may have been caused by some particularly stressful situations which are beyond his control. For example, he thinks that some kinds of stress may be behind his worst cases of eczema. He finds that some foods, such as garlic, can also irritate his skin. Gary has spent a lot of time online, reading about eczema and looking for videos; it was about 2 years into looking on the internet that it really hit home that he would need to find ways to live with the condition in the absence of a cure.
Gary has tried lots of treatments, including shop-bought moisturisers, prescribed steroid creams and homeopathic tablets. He tries to use steroid creams only when his eczema is really bad as he’s worried that his skin will become too thin or that it will stop responding to treatments. Gary prefers shop-bought body lotions but finds they can be very expensive, especially because he has to keep looking for new products since they tend to stop working so well after a couple of months. Gary has seen many doctors in the different parts of the world where he has lived. Some of these climates have helped his skin; he likes to be where there is a cool breeze as otherwise his skin becomes sweaty and itchy. Gary says that GP appointments have become a log easier with time because he’s more knowledgeable about the condition. In the early appointments, he had a lot of questions to ask but he now tries to make the appointments as quick and simple as possible.
Gary describes his eczema as having 3 stages: first, he gets small, itchy red dots on his skin; next is when he scratches his skin and it becomes scabbed; and finally is the drying off phase when the skin sheds. He finds that his eczema makes him stressed which then causes the eczema to become worse. The pain and anxiety around eczema means that he can’t focus on anything else. He tries not to scratch but finds that it is very hard to sleep at night because of the itchiness. He has to change his sleeping position to lying on his back when his eczema is like this. Gary finds that his eczema restricts his mobility a lot. For example, it’s difficult when his eczema is on his neck as he cannot move his head freely. He says that this makes him move like a robot. Even doing small daily tasks can be slow and painful processes. He has had to take time off work when his eczema has prevented him from being able to move at all. Gary’s room-mates often get used to seeing him in so much discomfort. They would sometimes help him out, for example by bringing him a cup of tea when he couldn’t manage to make it himself. However, Gary doesn’t like to be pitied and he finds it hard to accept needing help. He also finds it very frustrating when people try to fix’ his skin; he doesn’t mind talking about his eczema but he doesn’t like talking about treatments or triggers, as he’s had a lot of unhelpful advice about these in the past.
Gary finds that walking really helps his emotional health; he likes to listens to music and day dream whilst out walking. Another example is that drinking a few beers in the evening can help him unwind and have a more positive outlook on life, something which he says helps calms down his eczema. Gary encourages other young people to also find their own particular ways to reduce their stress and be physically as well as emotionally healthy in order to help with their eczema.