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[ACS2010]

Thank you Orrla, your supportive message is really appreciated ❤️.  I’m a huge worrier by nature so knowing there are others out there who can support is invaluable. I anticipate the dermatologist wait to be long but in the meantime hoping the GP can help with the HRT a little bit faster. The sooner I start healing the better, I have a 78 year old Dad and a 14 year old son I need to be there for, and right now I’m no good to either of them. I know there are lots of ladies on here feeling like they’re under water so hopefully we can all support each other as we go through this rubbish.

[Katherine]

I hope you get sorted soon. The creams I mentioned were the only thing that worked for me despite trying every other cream like e45. When they are on offer they are just as cheap if not cheaper than ones in Boots. If you are registered for the Patient Access newsletter the latest one lists several natural remedies for eczema with coconut oil being at the top. You can get a big jar of extra virgin from Aldi cheaply. Also it mentions colloidal oatmeal. You can get a really big pump bottle from botanica Health for about £14. The trouble is the NHS prescribes emollients based on liquid paraffin which can be inflammatory whereas coconut oil is anti inflammatory.

[ACS2010]

Thanks Katherine, I appreciate it. Seems nuts that they prescribe something with an ingredient that’s inflammatory to try and help an inflammatory condition!  Though it might explain why Cetreben just made it worse, not better, my cheeks seemed to flare up bright pink and get drier when I was using this, even though they aren’t really involved in my current problems. Hence it chucked that one into the “no” pile quite quickly!

[Katherine]

I think most mainstream lotions and creams in the shops are based on liquid paraffin now. I get my weleda white mallow cream and lotion from Holland and Barrett and it cost £36 for 6 tubes of cream and a little goes a long way. They were 3 for 2. The faith in nature fragrance free lotion was good, but being a lotion I needed two layers of it. If you do try them let me know how you get on. I found the key is removing your own skin oils as little as possible and keeping cream on all the time. It said in the Patient Access newsletter you can buy colloidal oatmeal powder and put it in your bath water to soothe the skin. Good luck x

[ACS2010]

UPDATE

So I spoke to the GP, made the most of my appointment and took half an hour of her time. She has agreed to prescribe Estriol cream for down below as well as HRT using Oestrogen gel and progesterone tablets, so yay!🤞🏻
With the eczema issue though she says she won’t refer me to dermatology yet as she wants to see if the HRT makes a difference first and to continue with whatever moisturiser I’m happy with and steroid cream to manage flares 😭. Not happy with that, but in the interim I made a private dermatologist appointment for 13 May (first one I could get, they are busy people!) so there is light at the end of the tunnel. I stopped my last round of steroid cream 2 days ago and I can already see the redness beginning to descend on my eye 😩. At least I have something to hang onto now and feel like I can move forward.
The GP said I was very well informed though. That’s thanks to this forum, I have had a good read around and have leaned a lot about Menopause and HRT!
Onwards and upwards, will update as and when I have more to add. Stay well everyone 💕

[Gracie65]

hi there,

I feel your pain re eczema. I had eczema as a teenager in the 1970's and am 58 now. I now realise I was lucky to get over 40 years eczema free, but it has returned! I have it on my face where it started on my lips (thought it was a fungal infection) and eyes. My doctor was absolutely hopeless and although I have Bupa it was still 4 month wait. I am in Scotland and it can be 18 months for dermatology appt in the NHS. My dentist recommended a private GP in my area that specialised in dermatology. She started me with betnovate and like you it healed beautifully, but came right back after 5 days. I am now using Protopic in the children dose of 0.03% twice a week as maintenance does and so far so good. I also had the eczema on my nipples which was so unbelievably itchy. I was just so shocked that after 40 years since I had eczema very little has changed treatment wise. Proptopic is an immunosuppressant and not steroids. Ultimately nothing is ideal, but I think lesser of the two evils. I have bought every lotion and potion on line saying miracle cure and I would say they are all snake oil sadly. I think if it seems too good to be true it probably is. Hopefully if you can balance your hormones out it will help as I'm guessing my eczema stopped when my periods started. Feel free to message me if you need any help

[orrla]

I am glad to read this, ASC2010!

I think I had every possible dermatological condition under sun and I can certify that dermatology is like black magic! These conditions are very slow to clear so one needs to be very patient.

In my twenties had my whole face covered in rash, knew every dermatologist in town, and only after ca 5 years found one who knew what it was. It took two years to clear, and it turned out to be digestive issue caused by stress, treatment included tranquilizers.

From that experience I learnt that less is more, meaning that creams should be very simple (used Nivea on face for years after that, until meno), and I wished I knew of eczema moisturizers much earlier.

Boots, as well as Superdrugs, have separate shelves with them, where medicines are. Have a good look there..and check prices on Amazon!

Best wishes!

[ACS2010]

Thank you Gracie65, your reply is much appreciated. I feel lucky to get a private appointment so quickly given everything I’ve come across. I’ve heard of Protopic cream, and hopefully if there is no other answer the private dermatologist can prescribe that or something less risky. The GP was contradicting herself a bit by agreeing with me on one hand about steroids around eyes/face but then said to use it for flaring skin on the other 😐.
Hopefully the HRT will help too. 
May I ask if you’re in meno now, and if so has this affected your skin differently to beforehand?
Thanks again

[ACS2010]

Thank you Orrla. It does seem that the right emollient is very important here, I appreciate I’lll have to experiment a bit but will have a good look and see what I can find. Uggh, this is draining isn’t it.
Thanks for your support, wishing you well. 

[Gracie65]

Yes, I am in meno and have been taking estrogel and Utrogeston for 7 years. I’m hoping better weather will improve my skin as it is such a damp climate here in west of Scotland which  isn’t eczema’s friend. At the minute I shower with cetaphil and use epaderm to cleanse with and also moisturise. I keep my routine very simple now as others have said. I also use cetaphil tinted sun block as a replacement for my foundation to give a little colour and my skin so far seems to like it.
I’m hoping to gradually taper protopic to once a week and try and come off in 4 months to see what happens.

[Alex 2024]

Hi Alex2024
Just did a bit of reading and it seems Abido could contain some Clobetasol Propionate which is a steroid, hence why it works wonders. See this website https://www.naturaljem.com/product/abido-cream/

EEK!! Thank you!! I didn't know that. I'm stopping it right now!! tbh it has worked really really well for me when Cetraban (which usually works) and eumovate or any other steroid creams just didn't this time.

I've only been using it for around two weeks so even if it did have a tiny bit of Clobetasol Propionate in it I'm sure it will be fine. I had quite bad excema as a child put quite a lot of steroid creams on for a few years  which means I'm not as worried as some people might be with using steroid creams as I've never suffered from skin thinning or hair loss.

Happy to report my face excema has now gone so I'm going to test going back to my usual very dull and cheap face moisturiser, so I should be able to switch back now without problems.  Mine was definitely a case of stress excema and I'm feeling more relaxed now so it makes sense that it has abated.

Best of luck with your excema and other conditions x