Hi everyone! Last year during may, I started feeling itchy, with no rashes. I fixed that with moisturiser and it went away for a while. By the end of September, I started getting really bad rashes all over my legs, arms, back and chest. I eventually got diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. At one point, I got a really bad flare up that left me crying in pain. I ended up getting three shots in three days of Methylprednisolone, which was able to clear my flare up eventually. Now, the big patches of eczema are gone but I still get a few here and there.

My most problematic areas are my wrists, the sides of my boobs, my back (around my bra strap) and my lower legs. If one patch heals, I’ll get another somewhere else the next day. I am using a lotion that I got prescribed by my dermatologist - it helps with the itching and pain, but it doesn’t really prevent flare ups.

I am on allergy medication to help with the itching (I only take it if the itching gets bad).

I am looking for advice on how to approach my diagnosis. I cannot seem to figure out what caused my eczema to appear, and there doesn’t seem to be anything that makes it worse? I made sure to use gentle soap immediately, and I cut out laundry softener.

Is it possible that I don’t really have a trigger? Or have I just not found one? I’ve heard dairy can be one - I eat dairy basically daily (I’m a huge cheese fan haha), is that something I should look into?

I should also say that I’ve never had any skin problems before, besides acne. Never had eczema as a kid.

Thank you for any comment and please bear with me, this is extremely new to me and I’m still dealing with the mental health side of all of this.