im feeling you really i have my skin eatign away at me all the time it never gets "better"mines been here since birth no eczema creams or pills work for me....
well look at it this way atleast your skin does go away sometimes imagine never having a break.
i do wanna say it will all go away but who knows i do hope you can find a way to keep your skin down and good luck you cant let it get to you so much

It's nice to know that people actually understand what I'm going through, I'm sorry to hear that your skin isn't going so well, it can be very frustrating.

Sorry that your excema is affecting you so badly. I have had excema since birth, occasionaly it eases but I almost always have some. it can be very depressing depending on where it is on the body. My hands, face & neck are the most obvious even though I have it on the legs & arms too. There is no easy answer.
Please avoid the suicidal thoughts as that wont help & would probably will cause your excema to get worse.
The best thing you can do is whatever you enjoy/s you. I put on a good dvd or cd to listen/watch & that relaxes me & takes my mind off the excema. I plaster myself in a cooling ointment & wrap bits that can be to soothe the excema. If I still find myself scratching either start doing handwork that you like or at worst put mittens on, hard to scratch then!
Take care of yourself.
hugs

I have eczema and depression too. To deal with embarrassing scars on my face, I try something called "mindfullness." The idea is not to focus on what other people think about our eczema by focusing on ourselves, our breathing, how our emotions are affecting us physically, etc. There are tons of books on this. Right noe I'm reading "The Mindful Way Through Depression" by Mark Williams and others. Ask yourself why am I putting so much importance on what strangers think? You have one life, and just because you have a disease, you feel you deserve less than everyone else? Wrong. Try to love yourself more. Admire yourself for dealing with your challenges in a healthy way. You can do this. It just takes some work, like everything else. Let me know if I can help in any way.

I've had it for about 5 years aswell i also hate it and i am also self conscious when it comes to showing my skin. When i get flare ups it freaking sucks, i usually wear long sleaves to hide my arms which causes the low self esteem b/c im always looking out to see if my stupid eczema is showing... i've never had suicidal thoughts about it b/c i think in the end it's just your skin right, and most people who really matter in life or should matter in life can see past skin problems and see the amazing person you really are. I get depressed too sometimes but then i smoke some weed and stop caring so... we all have our ways of coping but suicide is not the answer. Anyways the thing that i found sorta helped me was uv light therapy it's kinda like tanning and it helps the eczema as well as gives you a tan which helps the self esteem :)

hi everyone, I'm a new poster.

NicoleO, I really feel as I know what you're going through and it's kind of scary how a lot of the things you said are true for me too. I'm a really happy, cheery person who people always describe as "bubbly", but my eczema is so bad nowadays that I feel like I'm a butterfly that's gone back into it's cocoon. I won't spill the life story but right now currently I really feel like I have depression. I really don't think I actually have depression but rather a more temporary kind of depression such as the act of BEING depressed, due to all the pain I'm in. I get so tired of it and as time goes on I start becoming bitter at people who don't feel pain every day like I do. I hate those kinds of feelings, they are really ugly and I don't want them in my heart, but it's just so hard when you feel alone and hopeless because nobody understands or the people who do are so far away. that's not to say I wish someone would understand because I don't wish this upon my worse enemy, and it's really hard for me because I don't like seeking attention or people who do that so I just keep my mouth shut. I'm slowly trying to teach myself that it's OK to be vulnerable and talk to people. I have been trying to talk to more of my friends about my condition and it's going a little shaky. that's really all I can recommend you try to do, but it's not something that can be taught or achieved in a short period of time. I try to always remember to take it easy on myself, give myself a break. I start coming down on myself for not completing some task or this and that and I have to remind myself that I do have this "condition" and I can only push myself so far. I do hope the best for you and if you ever need someone to talk to feel free to send me a message. good luck stopping the itch!

~BRe

Hi Nicole, I just joined this today, partly I joined up so I could answer you. I know how lonely it can be when you have a flare up - you feel like crap, you think you look like crap, and no-one else seems to know how it feels (though that doesn't stop them telling you to "stop scratching"). I hope your skin has cleared up since you posted that message. I really wish I had something wise and transforming to tell you to make it better, or easier. Hang in there girl, don't let that black dog stalk you. Do you have a bath at your house? A bath is my saviour, everything feels normal in the warm water, nothing itches or hurts. Try soaking oats in boiling water for about 10 minutes then strain the oat soak water into the bath water (not the oats though) It can be very soothing. Add a little olive oil, take a book in there , or your ipod or something to entertain you and just soak. I can stay there for an hour or tow when it's bad, it is bliss. And your skin will be much softer and more hydrated after it. Bugger the drought (if you are in Australia) this is a medicinal requirement. And if you don't have a bath, go to a friend's house. Good Luck.

Lu

I know exactly how you feel and i'm really sorry to hear about it. I've had eczema since birth but about five years ago i had a really bad flare up that cobvered almost every inch of my body, kept getting infected in parts and was just unbearable overall. Sleeping was so difficult, showering and wearing any other materiual aside from cotton was not an option. It cleared up mostly from long term treatment but i still have parts of my body where it never clears.

At the time that i mentioned(the two-year flare-up) i too had scary, suicidal thoughts and i felt like my family just didn't care or understand. I don't blame them for it but nobody understands until they go through it themselves. It can be especially difficult for young women who feel they are "supposed" to look beautiful and want to wear all the latest fashionable clothes.
It is important to feel loved and i think that maybe you should try to explain to a family member how this makes you feel and how hurtful it is when nobody seems to care. I know that i went about it all the wrong way, screaming and crying at everyone all the time. Maybe if i had just sat down with somebody and explained clearly what was wrong, things could have been different.

I wish you all the best Nicole

I've been having a lot of problems with mine lately, as well. I don't have it on my arms, but I do have it horribly on my scalp. Which means I constantly have scales floating around in my hair, greasy-looking hair, weepy scalp, and my hair is falling out in big chunks. It covers my neck, chest & stomach too. To top it all off, i'm in high school - the people there are cruel and ignorant. I'm feeling very defeated lately.

Hi everyone, I am new to the site!
NicoleO, I know exactly how you feel. I have had my first flare up of the year and I am definitely down in the dumps. I have never had a flare up on my face,and this time I do so there really isn't anyway to cover it up.
I hope that you feel better and like others have suggested, read some good books, watch movies, anything to take your mind off of it.

Hi, I don't know if you have heard of kangen water or not. If you have not, please go to www.thehealingwater.com, watch the videos and you will see how this miracle water cures eczema and a lot of other diseases.

What helps me is helping others - volunteering is a great way to a) get out of the house and b) remind yourself that even though you are in pain your life is meaningful. Surprising to anyone that has suffered with severe chronic eczema - I actually work now as a massage therapist. It keeps me up to my elbows in oil, it keeps my brain and hands too busy for scratching, and it's a great, relaxed job for anyone who is not able to work long hours. I wear scrubs and do absolutely nothing to hide my skin - no one has ever had a problem with it, though occasionally people ask if I'm a burn victim. Mostly it seems like my having a huge visible flaw sets people at ease. If my arms and face are splotchy then the last thing my client needs to do is feel self-conscious or worry about being judged for having acne or stubbly legs or cracked heels.

Im new to this site and i happy that i can finally relate my problems with someone else. I also had suicidal thoughts because i felt that nothing was going right in this world. That i never got what i wanted. I always had to deal with my parents alcoholic problems. I hate how i wake up everyday at 3 in the morning scratching my legs and my hair and feeling like shit knowing that i have to go through another day at school looking at the girl i like and having the feeling that why would she want to go out with a creep like me. I really hate that im the only one at my school with eczema. There was even a time where my teacher brought me out of class and asked me do you do drugs. Thats when i finnaly figured out why everybody kept staring at me in korean class.

i feel the same way at times..i feel that my family doesn't really even care..nobody really cares..your friends act like they do..but really they could care less...because its an unknown disease..nobody knows about it ..nobody understands it..nobody knows how we feel. thats why i came on here.

Unfortunately, depression and stress are also eczema triggers, so it is a vicious cycle. My daughter and I suffered from eczema too, so I feel your pain. You really should try Keys Tortuga Super Emollient Lotion (at http://www.hibiscusnaturals.com/Keys-Tortuga-Lotion-p/ktortuga.htm). It really gets rid of the itch and rash. I have tried everything, including steroids, and this is the first treatment that I can say really works and prevents it from coming back. It is also rated extremely safe to use by EWG Cosmetic Safety Database, so it is VERY safe to use. Switching to products that do NOT contain sodium lauryl sulfate (a very harmful, irritating detergent in many foaming products) will also help a lot. Avoid anything containing fragrance too. You may also want to try modifying your diet as well. Wheat, corn and dairy are common triggers for eczema and cutting them out may eliminate your condition all together. Hope this helps! Good luck to you!