Goldie Abrin's Eczema story
Read these other fellow eczema sufferers stories
When i was little i would sometimes get these rashes on my stomach that burned a lot. I didn't get them very often so i didn't make a big deal about it. As i got older my skin was always very dry and would get red. My aunt would buy me lotions from the drug store that were thick and smelly. I would go through them really quickly because I would wake up with extra dry skin every day. I always just thought it was just dry skin. Then in High school my scalp started to itch a lot and whenIwould scratch itI would have blood on my fingers. I was embarrassed and didn't tell anyone about it. Then when I was 18 I got this red spot on my upper back. I had no idea what it was. I would put vaseline on it and Neosporin but it just didn't go away. After dealing with a summer of not wearing tank tops and making excuses why i couldn't go to the pool with my friend I went to the drug store to talk to a pharmacist. He gave me hydrocortisone and told me it may be skin cancer and then i freaked out. I didn't have insurance so i had no idea what I was going to do. We found a dermatologist who would see me for free and I was so thankful. Right when she looked at it she knew it was eczema. She gave me a huge bag of samples which I now know was worth hundreds of dollars. The strangest thing is once I knew what it was i started getting more spots on me. I got one on my elbow and more on my back. One of the samples she gave me was called Clobex. It is really strong and it helped a lot. Clobex has become a house hold name for those around me. The problem is how expensive it is. I am on a prescription plan now thank God. Once i had to pay 375 dollars to get a 8 oz. bottle of it. That was at my worst break out. It is the only time i have ever cried when looking at my eczema. My family was in town and we were arguing and stress makes my eczema flare up. It was awful.
I feel lucky in a way because i get eczema in spots that are easily covered. Sometimes I only have it on my scalp. I go to the same hair dresser because she is used to my scalp. One lady I went to freaked out and acted like i had Ebola and didn't want to cut my hair. I was mortified. Now i am more confident. i know that it isn't my fault and that i can't control it. My dermatologist told me my scalp is incurable and that i can only treat it. I never used to talk about it. But i met a few other people who had it and it helped me feel better. I also have a friend with psoriases that i talk to about the looks we people give you. We started to joke about all the medications we put on our skin and even though we have been friends a long time we are a lot closer now. I still complain about my eczema. There are days when i feel gross and cover from myself head to toe. Sometimes i hate having to put on so many creams,sprays,shampoos,and lotions. But what really helps me is talking to people who go through what i go through. Thank you for listening. I wish you all the best of health and healthy skin.
