How My Eczema Started, and Spread

My eczema started as a small patch on my upper triceps, on just one arm, in January 2019. I thought it was strange, so I took a picture of it, which I still have (see below).

NOTE: This post contains semi-graphic photos!

That went away, or at least I stopped noticing it. In February, we dog sat for two weeks (I’m not going to say which breed because I loved the dog dearly, and I don’t want anyone to think they shouldn’t get that breed just because of the coincidence of me having him right when my eczema started!).

I have a slight dog allergy, but it normally doesn’t bother me. At the end of the two weeks of dog-sitting, I woke up with extremely puffy, itchy eyes. This happens sometimes during allergy season, and I do sometimes randomly get hives, so I just figured it was something to do with the dog or some other environmental factor. That’s how the eczema started on my eyes, and it continued on and off for about 2 years (no idea why, but read on for the whole saga).

See photo below. I’m trying to keep this blog anonymous, hence the extremely creepy black bar over my eyes. Hopefully you get the picture..

My eye itchiness was relatively on and off, but later in February/early March of 2019, I developed a circular, red patch on my left hand. I showed it to the PA at my allergist’s office (where I was getting allergy shots for seasonal allergies that were beginning to be quite well-controlled), and she didn’t recognize it as eczema. Here’s what it looked like:

She figured I was anemic, but tests were negative. My friend who is an OT thought it might be ringworm.

Somehow I also had forgotten that eczema was a possibility since I gloriously hadn’t had it since I was a baby (which of course I don’t remember, though my parents certainly do).

I thought this was all very strange at the time, which is why I still have these pictures. It eventually spread to my knuckles and wrists, and remained pretty localized for about two years. The hand itchiness was often unbearable. After about 3 months of itching, I finally broke down and went to the allergist for steroids. My doctor was aggressive and treated me with a tapering course of Mometasone, Betamethasone (both creams), and Prednisone (in pill form). NOTE: I AM NOT A DOCTOR. THIS WAS JUST THE REGIMEN PRESCRIBED FOR ME, AND THIS IS IN NO WAY A SUGGESTION THAT YOU SHOULD TRY IT AS WELL!

The (Brief) Period of Eczema Relief

The treatment regimen was for about two weeks, but after just a couple days I was completely clear. IT WAS AMAZING. I was clear of eczema throughout the Summer until the Fall. It was a relatively stressful time (nothing crazy – just a lot of commitments). Right as the Seasons were really changing, around Mid-October, though, my eczema started again on my left hand. This was right where it left off.

I soon developed a small patch under my left eye, too, which sort of looked like blush (albeit asymmetric blush) and wasn’t so bad. The eyelid flare ups continued to come at random. I’ve since ranked the worst places to get eczema – you can see where eyelid flares rank on my list.

I stopped wearing all jewelry, makeup, hair ties on my wrists, etc. I did a series of tests and began to try new diets.

As if in response to the testing and diets, and after nearly two years of extremely itchy, extremely annoying patches on my hands, face, and occasionally eyes, things really started to take off in the wrong direction. I had no idea how good I’d had it for the past two years.

Worse, and Worse, … and Worse Eczema

First, the eczema spread to my other hand, then to both wrists, fully, and my knuckles. My eyes still flared up, often. It spread to my elbows, and then eventually nearly my entire arms, behind my knees, my shins, my thighs, my hips, my chest, my lower back, and my neck (which, if I had to rank the worst spots to get eczema, takes the cake), and occasionally my feet.

Really only my armpits (partially), the soles of my feet, and the majority of my upper back were spared. Though I now also have acne on my upper back, for the first time in my life (does all the oil from the rest of my body just go to my back now and leave every other piece of skin a desert? This is my current hypothesis). Edit: I now have eczema on my upper back, too, particularly the outer edges of my upper back. Ugh.

Here are some terrifyingly graphic photos:

I was convinced I’d be covered in scars when this finally healed. (So far, that’s been one benefit of eczema over other conditions. I haven’t noticed too many scars aside from the ones on my face from scratching at eczema with my tiny fingernails as a baby. My skin is overall far more purple and corpse-like than it should be, everywhere, though.)

This spread was over the course of about 11 months, and it made absolutely no sense. It was also quite symmetric – i.e. I had it on both thighs, both shins, behind both knees, etc.

The fact that I couldn’t figure out why the eczema started and then spread is really what drove me (the most) nuts. I had absolutely no idea what caused it. I tried what felt like everything to try to at least calm it down, but nothing worked.

Some Eczema Relief with Dupixent

I’m currently trying Dupixent. (AGAIN: I’M NOT A DOCTOR. THIS IS A FULL DISCLAIMER THAT YOU SHOULD TALK TO YOUR DOCTORS ABOUT WHAT WILL WORK BEST FOR YOU!). It’s been about four months now since I’ve started it. I currently have relatively severe patches behind my knees and in my elbows, but for the most part my face (except after exercise – I still can’t do hot yoga or run or do anything that really kicks my system up) and the majority of the rest of my body have been relatively clear – at least as clear as they were during the first two years of my eczema journey, which, at this point, I’ll take. Note: read about the end of my Dupixent journey here.

People talk about their eczema “flaring up.” Before Dupixent, I didn’t really don’t know what that was like because mine was in a constant state of worsening and worsening “flare” for over a year. I’m definitely still flared with Dupixent, but at least it’s not continuing to get worse and worse so far.

I do still shed an absurd amount of skin and my skin is still significantly more red than it naturally would be, but at least I have some hope. I was certainly reluctant to try Dupixent and truly tried just about everything else first. Other methods have seemed to help for some time before (e.g. the steroid regimen right when it first started), so the jury’s certainly still out. More to come, but frankly, I really, really hope I’m near the end of my journey because I’m effectively out of options. In fact, I hope I find a treatment that works soon so that I no longer have content to write here.

For now, as always, I just hope you gain something from my experiences.

Happy itching?