1. M. UK. London. Goon news story - stick with it!

I’ve suffered from eczema in some form all my life, born with it head to toe and until recently continued to suffer in the most common places (elbows, knees, eyes, neck, wrists, back). From late teens until mid 20’s my eczema was relatively under control (despite alcohol at university and general unhealthy life) but then it came STRONGLY back. My skin was broken… Sheets changed daily from night bleeding (elbows, neck, back, knees) and scratching through my skin while I slept. Crusty eyes (gaining the nickname “Snake Boy”) and general pain.

People don’t realize how EXHAUSTING it is to have eczema - your body is continuously fighting from within. My energy levels were low, confidence shot and life in a shadow…

I’ve always used steroids. It’s a quick fix, but it would always need to be stronger than before. Through usual medical routes I tried every topical cream under the sun, combining with steroid pills and occasionally injections. Gallons of moisturizer (natural and decent) would only help short term. I’d seen dietitians who all differed in their limiting (and quite honestly ‘unrealistic’) approaches and said results might be seen in “months”. Finally, Consultant Dermatologists we’re about to start me on a full course of immunosuppressants - shut down my immune system, then turn it back on in the hope that it’d stop ‘overreacting’ to whatever was the cause. Before I began I tried one more thing…

Every week, I had walked past a Chinese Doctor... I’m a strong believer in science and wouldn’t normally have given it more time. But I went in and straight away had a consultation with Dr Chen. His English was limited, but he discussed my energy, temperature (feeling areas of my body) and looked at my tongue and eyes. Then he said that with the right herbal medicines it could be ‘fixed’.

He sold me : Pills (3xmorning, 3xnight) Herbal tea - custom mix - (morning and night) Herbal cream and shower gel

Additionally dietary changes : No garlic No seafood No lamb No ginger No chili Less beef

And I have acupuncture with him occasionally.

My life changed within 36 hours. The broken skin healed and two weeks later all the redness had gone. I had been very good at following his diet (not a huge hardship) which he said is a good thing…

I’m two months on now and can’t stop smiling. I haven’t tried “stopping” my new medicines and there are no other changes in my lifestyle.

I know that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT so things like this might not work for you, but as it has done for me I wanted to share. Good luck to you all. Message me if you’d like to chat - for those of you who are feeling down - get in touch I’ll do what I can to help!

Stop scratching! M