Peace Out Eczema: Month 4

(6/1/2014 - 6/30/2014)
(Day 93- Day 122)

DAY 93

Great way to start my 4th month! These last few days have shown a LOT of improvements in my skin and overall feeling in a short period of time (Compare the improvements from day 93 pics to the 94 ). I even went to our apartment front desk and picked up a package! I really haven't been in public at ALL of the last few months. And surprisingly, I didn't get stares! Shocking!

I'm not sure if the healing is just a coincidence or not, but the last few days I have sweat a lot. Yesterday our AC went out and it was 85 in our house. I was so sweaty and itchy and uncomfortable, but I looked better on day 94 morning than I did 93. Then today, 94, I got super sweaty cleaning and tonight my skin is better than this morning. I feel like I've seen a lot of healing. In fact, this is the most healthy my skin has felt since starting this whole miserable ride. It feels like skin! Right now, my skin is calm and a little flakey. It reminds me of how I'd feel after the steroids started working, but its' my body doing the healing! Such a crazy feeling after relying on steroids for so many years.

This was when our house was 85.... I was horribly sweaty and stingy!

Lets are healing!

The last of the ooze... I can handle this much... I CAN'T handle the thick 2 inch band of sweat that was there a month ago!

Notice, chin looks very red and scaly

I can't stop picking at that stupid spot on my ear... ((eye roll))

DAY 94

I sent this to a friend and am putting it here to show the improvements from the other day when i was out. MUCH fewer flakes! But my stink in dry lips.

I HATE THIS WRIST THING. They call it "elephant skin"... right... It is THICK and ITCHY. And ugly.

This was morning on 94 but with my flash...

I'm actually starting to look not so swollen and NORMAL!?

My face has hurt too much to even THINK about plucking' them brows.

Much more solid skin!

Day 95

STRUGGLES

WRIST! The stupid wrist skin is extremely painful, itchy, and ANNOYING.
Stinging and burning only when I sweat.... which, unfortunately, is when I lay my head down on my pillow for too long. It's kind of a pain.
Body Odor I mean, it's better... but I still smell like a skunk sometimes... Literally, a SKUNK.

CELEBRATIONS

FEELING NORMAL! Energy is starting to come back and I'm starting to feel like I have just regular skin irritation as opposed to my face falling off.
Swelling My face looks much less puffy
Sleep It's somewhat normal but I still have trouble falling asleep sometimes.

For the first time in 2.5 months I went grocery shopping!! I went into public with my kids and didn't care! And didn't get second looks or stares!!! It's been a long time coming. I told my husband I was going and he nearly fell out of his chair. This is a HUGE step. I honestly didn't think I'd see the day. :)

Today's pics are going to show what I looked like before I went out... while I was out... and after I got home and was ready for bed.

Before I Went Out

Getting better neck!

Ugh... While my face is getting better, my arms are flaring a little... Super annoying.

I. Hate. This. Wrist. That is all.

WHILE I WAS OUT

TO'E UP AT THE END OF THE DAY

Flares and healing... rinse, wash, repeat.

I think I'm healing up and making progress and then BAM, another flare. Tis TSW.

The flares are hot, swollen, and itchy for a few hours or more. Then I feel exhausted and tired for at least a week while the healing takes place. It's a series of endless flares. Healing is marked by a LOT of shedding.

Day 103

The beginning of post flare healing. Very red and very flakey.

My eyebrows are a hot mess... maybe from rubbing.

Ears have kind of started to freak out.

No more cut on eyes.

No more oozing neck!

Close up of skin... It's SO FLAKEY.

Legit the skin is so thick. I peel this at least once a day.

Day 104

Dude, eyebrow...

Day 105

Actually got some sun. Felt good. Was feeling like healing was happening.

I TEAR up my neck at night.

I got these weird blisters on my ear. I lanced a little and covered with colloidal silver and they scabbed over and weren't golden after this.

Day 106

BAM!!! Another flare.

I HATE THIS WRIST.

I took this because you can see my bald spots.

So, the first few pics are RIGHT after a horribly hot shower, but I HAD to because of the itch. Day 107 started giving me horrible hives and rashes up and down my arms. Every time I would sweat, I would get welts. And I majorly flared on my face!? The hives were disconcerting. I hadn't really changed my food, so I couldn't quite figure it out... UNTIL

The day before I got a water filter for our sink, so I could stop buying water. Well, the water tasted thicker than the bottled distilled, so I didn't drink as much as I normally did. After a day of getting the welts, I kind of put two and two together and switched water right away. Well, NO MORE WELTS!? NONE. And the rashes subsided. Huh...

Regardless, I highly recommend distilled water for this process...

DAY 107

After my skin calmed down from shower. Sill very much worse than a few days ago.

DAY 108

This is typically what my face looks like after a flare.... When the skin settles, it's SO dry and flakey.

DAY 110

I went out! For a few hours with my family. I ended up having an itch attack. Of course, those are exhausting. My face didn't look great, but here was the outfit I planned for public....

DAY 112

Applied moisturizer

My Camo! My mom made this shawl for me... and I'm in LOVE with it.

Before going out... Skin a BIT more calm.

Different light after we got home

Exhausted

I HATE THIS WRIST. It is itchy. Painful. ANNOYING. I mostly hate looking at it. I want to pick it all the time!?

Other than my wrist and the obvious skin stuff, exhaustion and blood sugar regulation has been my biggest trouble. I have been SO tired. Everything takes it out of me. And I feel weak and hungry all the time.

DAY 114

GRR.

Noooot the best pic.... But this was me sitting outside with my girls. Its been worse. It's been better.

Left over from the water rash.

You can see some somewhat normal looking skin on my cheek starting to come through.

I got goosebumps right before this pic... Those pumps aren't normally there!

Cuts on the eye lids are gone... But I can't stand the pain of tweezing and the eyebrows are thinning so I look a mess.

I've almost completed 4 months and have come so far. My final post in this 4 months will be a look back and comparison. SO much progress. On day 117 I had a really quick and powerful facial flare that lasted a day and was gone the next. I put the pics I took of me completely annoyed and upset because that's how I was feeling. Like it was going to be SUCH a setback.

CELEBRATIONS:

Skin! Definitely been improving all the way around.
Been going out! I've been starting to really actually live again. I never thought I would see the day where I ran to the store or went over and had fun with my family, but it's here!
Energy It will also appear in the struggles.. but I've been feeling a bit more like myself these days.
SLEEP I'm by no means getting perfect sleep and still wake up itching when I've introduced certain foods, but it's so much better! Going to bed is no longer a production...an orchestration of "dealing" with my skin and how I'm going to sleep. I just get in bed and go to sleep. How I feel comfortable. This has been a HUGE blessing.
Emotions I've been off social media for the last week and what a refreshing break. I was getting depressed seeing all these people live life. I'm also doing a bible study that is awesome!
Healing time! I'm still getting flares, but the healing time isn't monumental like it was in months 2-3.

STRUGGLES:

Energy I still have days where I feel like I'm moving through jello.
Roller coaster The ups and downs STILL, after 4 months, make me feel disappointed and upset. I'll be making great progress then BAM (as witnessed) I'll look horrible! It makes it hard to plan anything in advance. I would say they upset me more now that I'm seeing progress. When I was in ground zero, wet, crazy, nasty phase, I expected the worst, but now that I'm starting to actually look more normal and see real progress, setbacks are upsetting.
Palpitations they've gotten actually a LOT better but they still occur and are OBNOXIOUS
Wrist pain my wrist has been a real trouble spot and I"m starting to et these arthritic type pains in my wrist joint. They are sporadic and out of nowhere, but they're painful.