Managing eczema as an adult !

[willlow23]

I had terrible eczema from birth - had to be put on an exclusion diet for a couple of years to determine a dairy allergy , wore socks on my hands as a child to try and prevent night time scratching etc. mum was always Bob careful with my diet . As I became older I've felt it has got better - have always had to be careful with skin products (got flare ups from some face creams and make up til I found ones that didn't irritate ) and always moisturizing after showers and baths, use non bio washing detergent etc etc.
For most of my adulthood irs been really manageable and I haven't had to cut out any dairy or amend lifestyle particularly- occasional flare up when under the weather in specific areas managed by spot use of steroid creams didn't really affect my life.
I've just come back from a weekend away having the worst flare up I can remember having.
Usually I get it on the backs of my knees and in my elbows - right now irs all over my arms and legs and chest and red and angry and itchy along with some ugly scabs where I seem to have raked with my nails in the night (despite keeping them cut v short)

So it's obvious I need to go back and do something about it but I'm at a loss - as a child mum did all the research and suggestions and I suppose as an adult I have not had to really do much other than use creams and detergents etc.

Some things that could be a factor

• live in a hot country and sweating often
• don't watch my diet or exclude any particular thing such as dairy although I don't have much milk - black coffee always and no cereals etc
• have been stressed with work and on the go
• have had several late nights/ lots of alcohol recently with various events (though in the past I might have got an isolated break out from this kind of thing)
• I'm 44 and possibly peri menopausal (not sure if this is relevant)

So can anyone out there help me suggest some things I can do to a) manage this breakout which is making me miserable and B) manage my lifestyle and diet to prevent it happening ?

Other than dairy products what could be in my diet causing this ?

Could it be that the sheets in the hotel weren't washed with the usual non bio??

Have you taken an antihistamine??

Yes diet could cause it for sure, did you eat differently?

Alcohol is a huge trigger for eczema, as it raises histamine levels.

I have awful dyshidrotic eczema on my hands and it's almost always worsened by stress. I take an antihistamine every day to relieve the itching a bit, and wear cotton gloves at night. There's bugger-all else I can do apart from steroid cream!

I really do sympathise. Is there any way you could pay to see a dermatologist, privately?

@coxesorangepippin it started up earlier last week when I travelled to a city for work , staying in an aprtment with forced air heat / AC - it has happened before and I put it down to the dry air inside - and yes I could smell the (lovely) detergent they had used on those sheets - then the weekend in the hotel has made it worse. Honestly can't remember it being so bad for years and years - self conscious and uncomfortable!!

@BeautyGoesToBenidorm I take antihistamines occasionally as sometimes suffer from hay fever type reactions (more eyes and nose than skin) and hadn't thought to take it for excema but read something today and have done so
Different kinds of antihistamines would you recommend one over the other ?

Yes agree re the alcohol- I've always had flare ups when run down, tired so it makes sense
It's just that this time is SO much worse and I know it's probably a combination of factors

Also the OTC 1% cream is useless- the prescription betnovate works pretty much right away but this is such a large area id prob use more than half a tube!

To also add for context - since moving to a hot country a few years ago I've felt more itchy more often - likely due to the heat and possibly new environmental things - eg when it's the season for a particular local fruit my hay fever goes off the chart and possibly my skin too