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Atopic dermatitis life hacks

03/07/2020 by Ruth Holroyd Leave a Comment

I am so thrilled to have been involved with this brilliant initiative to raise awareness of atopic dermatitis, what it’s like living with AD, and our life hacks for coping.

This photo was actually taken in October 2018, nearly two years ago…

Left to right: Aramide, Steph, Zainab, Amara and me!

It’s a lovely memory of the day I met four lovely ladies who I have remained friends with to this day and I am so proud to call them that. We’ve met up since at various at TSW meetups and keep connected on social media.

Eczema and atopic dermatitis are life limiting conditions and all five of us have been through a lot with our skin journeys.

  • Aramide is still going through topical steroid withdrawal but is definitely through the worst. She is looking amazing and working on healing her skin from the inside with healthy food and supplements. She still gets mild flares and flakeoffs but is pleased with her progress. I really connected with Ram and we chat regularly, she is my #TSWWIFE
  • Steph is now doing really well after going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal. She is also now taking Methotrexate and this is working well for her.
  • Zainab has also gone through topical steroid withdrawal and whilst she’s not completely healed, her quality of life his so much better.
  • Amara has healed almost completely from her eczema after starting to take Methotrexate this year. She hopes to stay on the drug for a year or two and then taper off use with the view to being drug free.
  • Me? I’m doing OK. In the photo above, I was using topical steroids and protopic on my face. I’m now one year and five months topical steroid free and most of my body is now completely healed. I hardly need to moisturise my back, torso, chest, legs or arms. I have some problem areas; my face, neck, the elbow crease on my arms and the backs of my knees but it’s all healing every day.

What’s most important to me, reading back over our progress above and watching the videos from the day we all met to chat all things AD, is that none of us are using topical steroids now. This is amazing and I’m so proud of all our bravery and progress.

Here are our life hacks

During the focus group we talked about how living with eczema affected out lives. It was an emotional session and really great to spend time with people who really GOT it. Each of us shared our life hacks…

Amara Howe

Aramide AKA My Atopic Skin

Steph AKA TSWsteph

Ruth Holroyd – ME!

My own life hack! and with a bit of hair sticking out at the back #standard

Zainab AKA tsw_beezeebuzz

Having AD, eczema and really any life limiting skin condition can have serious and long lasting effects on quality of life, emotional stability, mental health, self esteem, shame, guilt, you name it… Let’s talk about it. Let’s break down that stigma over skin conditions.

Please also watch the video at the bottom of the #changeAD page (link below), it really hits home how much eczema affects those who have it. And we have only really started to scratch beneath the surface… it goes so deep, bone deep. Deep into our hearts and our souls. The shame we all carry with us. But now, for me, there is also hope that one day I will live without pain and the constraints of this terrible skin condition.

The campaign seeks to change how AD is viewed, hence the hashtag #ChangeAD

You can read the full article and watch a very poignant video where a number of women discuss how living with eczema has affected their lives here: Living with atopic dermatitis

If you have eczema, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis or are going through topical steroid withdrawal I would love to hear from you. How are you getting on? What are you AD life hacks?

Related posts:

TSW skinTSW Update – 23 months steroid free! My Top 20 TSW survival tips Silipos gel gloves for healing hand eczemaCan gel gloves help heal hand eczema?

Filed Under: Eczema, Skin care, Topical Steroid Withdrawal Tagged With: atopic dermatitis, atopic dermatitis life hacks, atopic eczema, eczema life hacks, living with atopic dermatitis, living with eczema, topical steroid withdrawal

About Ruth Holroyd

Author of 'Anaphylaxis: The Essential Guide: An Action Plan For Living With Life-Threatening Allergies' and 'The Shape of Skin, both available as paperback or Kindle on Amazon. Ruth is a Writer, Blogger and Patient Expert in allergies, asthma, anaphylaxis, eczema and topical steroid withdrawal.

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Hi I'm Ruth. I've grown up with eczema and multiple life-threatening allergies and collected more as I've got older.  It started with a peanut allergy and now I'm allergic to milk, wheat, soya and many more. In this blog I share tips, advice and things I've learnt living with allergies, asthma and eczema with a focus on topical steroid withdrawal. You can buy my books, which are brilliant by the way! The first is Anaphylaxis: The essential guide and the second, The Shape of Skin, healing poems for eczema and sensitive skin. The reviews speak for themselves. If you want to chat you can find me on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn (links below). Do get in touch. And please comment on blogs, it makes a humble blogger do a little happy dance!

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