Eczema- what can relieve the pain?

[sunflowersanddaisys]

I’ve been on immunosuppressant treatment for a number of years now and it generally works quite well however due to a period of stress I’ve had quite a large flare up of eczema on the back of both my thighs. The itchiness I can deal with but the pain is awful, the skin is blistered, cracked and bleeding and is so sore I can’t wear trousers or sit down and I’m struggling to get any sleep at night.

Steroid creams/emollients aren’t helping and the soonest my dermatologist can see me is the 28th July.

Has anyone got any tips or tricks to deal with the pain? Even when my skin was bad before I started immunosuppressants it was never this painful (or in such problematic areas!) so I’m at a loss of what to try 😞

So sorry. I have mild eczema and that drives me mad enough.

I hope someone comes along with some tips and you can get some relief.

Have you thought of going private to see someone sooner?

I couldn’t afford to go private unfortunately. I’m on the waiting list for a cancellation for the NHS though so fingers crossed someone cancels before the 28th

I had dreadful eczema as a child so you have my sympathies. Nothing useful to add I don't think. What are the steroid creams you're on? Just out of interest. Are they the very potent ones like Betnovate, Dermovate, etc?

This doesn't help the skin at all, but in relation to the pain, would it help to take painkillers?

Hi @sunflowersanddaisys i suffered from really bad eczema on my hands for about 15 years, it was bad. I started drinking more water and omg i got to the point i stopped using steroid creams and even just normal moisturiser.
Prior to this i had tried eeeeeeverything and nothing worked except steroid creams.
Hope yours gets better soon xx

For me, getting serious about emollients was what helped me turn a corner with my eczema (I had been on oral steroids). It was hard at first because my skin was so inflamed that I even reacted to the emollients, but that did ease. Have you read all the info on national eczema society etc? Regular application of emollients, correct application of steroids, and wearing the right materials made the most difference for me.

Huge sympathies and I hope you get some relief.

Have you tried to see whether there is a correlation with foods that you're eating? If not I would start with the top 9 allergens and monitor to see if any of them are making it worse.

Try Vagisil as a temporary relief - helps me get to sleep at night when my pomphlox eczema is at the burn/itch stage and I feel like I want to flay my hands

It might tingle initially but then the lidocaine kicks in for temporary relief

Have you tried taking a painkiller before you go to sleep? Paracetamol? It should help dull the pain. You might not want to take them round the clock for a whole month, but once a day before bed might help you get more sleep.

I have had eczema all my life. During my teens I started getting awful, itchy, big sore patches behind my knees.

It wasn’t so much painful but the itchiness kept me awake.
what helped me was using those stretchy tube bandages, I would soak it in cold water, slather as much emollient as I could on my skin and put the bandage on top. I’d wake up in the night and reapply/re wet bandage. It really helped me and the relief was quite quick. Obviously be careful to use new bandages especially as you’ve got very broken skin. Manuka honey is also very healing and helps skin to hold in moisture, but it isn’t cheap unfortunately.

Have you tried Aveeno emollient cream? I've used it on my babies eczema patch & it's so good.

Antihistamines can help relieve some of the itchiness, have you tried taking some? Really sorry this sounds awful.

I’ve got dermovate which I’m using at the moment, ordinarily it works quite quickly on a flare up but just isn’t doing anything this time around.

Tried taking paracetamol and ibuprofen but again, not really helping although I’ve not been taking it consistently. I’ll take some more paracetamol before bed and see how I get on.

I don’t think it’s anything dietary, I think it’s stress related (currently in the aftermath of a break up) although I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to cut out dairy and see if that helps at all. I know my dermatologist has said in the past that can help.

I’ll give the info on the national eczema society a read up, It’s usually so well controlled with immunosuppressants I’m a bit out of touch with dealing with flare ups!

Will also give vagisil and wet bandages a go 🤞

Emollient wise I’ve mainly been using hydromol but just found some dermacool in my bathroom cupboard so might try that too- never tried aveeno before but I’ll pick some up tomorrow!

Got fexofenadine for the itch which I’m plodding on with. I don’t know how I can want to scratch it so much when it’s this painful. Eczema really is a rollercoaster 😂

thanks so much for all the suggestions ☺️

@sunflowersanddaisys bless you.
This is what I have been using on my baby, it's £5 in Asda. Aveeno do audit ranges too tho.
I did l

Oh my goodness so sorry, pressed post by accident. Let me start again!

Anyway, this is what I have been using on my baby, it's £5 in Asda. Aveeno do adult ranges too. I did look on Amazon first tho to read reviews, to see which Aveeno product to try.
So I'd look on there first at reviews.
I did happen to stumble upon 'eczema therapy' cream tubs on Amazon tho as-well.

I have eczema in various places ( not thighs though ) I find slathering emoillient on at night helpful. I'm currently using QV ointment for my hands and wear cotton gloves to bed. Could you do the same with cotton leggings / pj bottoms ?
Take extreme care as many emollients are highly flammable .

You have my sympathy. I recently finished immunosuppressants foot my eczema. I’m one of the lucky ones, it’s under control now.

Have you tried these? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ichthopaste-Bandage-7-5cm-x-6m/dp/B005TFG1EA

cover skin with it, the slather on something like 50:50 and then cover with a bandage. Really helped me.

Bicarbonate soda in a cool bath helped.

I wish you luck. People don’t understand how hideous it is.

Pb7 bandages are lovely when the itching is too much. I put fucibet on and then bandage when my hands get bad

I use the aveeno baby poster showed above, its super. I'd soak my legs twice a day and moisturise straight after on and steroid straight after the other. Works much better on soaked skin.

I know.you said trousers hurt but I wouldn't sit down on anything without soft trousers in, esp leather or plastic chairs.

This is what I use https://www.amazon.co.uk/Viscopaste-PB7-Bandage-7-5CM-6M/dp/B007AZ5GPC/ref=pd_aw_fbt_img_sccl_1/262-3986724-4572053?pd_rd_w=JJMjN&content-id=amzn1.sym.74b36ee3-5024-453d-8d6a-4b5dad40302c&pf_rd_p=74b36ee3-5024-453d-8d6a-4b5dad40302c&pf_rd_r=C6D7PB2SCCVJNHCFZ8J0&pd_rd_wg=JuY3u&pd_rd_r=557b7e8f-9ff9-4a6a-bf25-0e56772e911d&pd_rd_i=B007AZ5GPC&psc=1 not sure what the difference is between these and the ones posted above though but they definitely work for me

That should say moisturise after one bath and steroid after the other bath, don't use both together

Can't recommend Aveeno Dermexa enough for eczema