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I live in the Philippines where the warm and humid weather is just terrible for someone with atopic dermatitis. I've had it since I was a child and remember having these terrible urges to scratch places like the creases in my arms, legs, neck, and hands. If I walked through highly polluted areas, my whole face would get covered with rashes. Vaseline lotion and mineral oil were staples in our house. If a rash got pretty bad, my mom would put ointment on it and cover the whole area and leave it on overnight. Growing up, my allergies made me self-conscious when I had to wear shorts in gym class or when my classmates would ask about it, but thankfully, the itchiness and rashes became somewhat more controllable as I grew older. I'm in my 30s now, but I still do have some of those “battle scars” left -- dry hands of a 50-year old and a “chicken-skin” neck. My two daughters have got it from me as well, unfortunately. When you have it, you just have to accept that you'll forever be buying hypoallergenic soaps, lotions, petroleum jelly, corticosteroid cream, etc. I guess it's just all about learning to identify the triggering factors for itching (hot weather, eating certain foods) and being religious with moisturizing and medicating the skin.

I suffered from atopic dermatitis since infancy, over much of my body. The creases in my arms, legs, and neck were the worst. The only thing that would control it was prednisone. I'm now 64 and thought I would never be free of oral steroids. I'm happy to report that I went on a prednisone reduction plan (slow, over a year) and now am steroid and symptom free. I truly did not think this was possible but my dermatologist says that my skin is "normal," for the first time in my life.

I am 33 years old and am experiencing my first atopic dermatitis flare-up. I work in a steel factory, which is an extremely dirty environment. Each night, at the end of my shift, I would enjoy a long, hot shower with a liquid soap that the company supplies. Generally, I apply skin moisturizer after the shower, but I ran out and did not bother buying more. I could feel my body progressively getting drier each night but ignored it. Finally, I broke out in an agonizing rash. It was so horrible. I had thoughts of cutting my skin off! I would run a scalding hot bath and slowly ease my way into it and tolerate it as long as I could and then dry off and apply excessively generous amounts of medicated Gold Bond afterward. This seemed to temporarily relieve the agony. Finally, I went to the doctor, and he put me on prednisone. I had to miss two days of work and will take much better care of my skin to try and avoid the excruciating agony that I experienced!

I'm 25 years old and was just diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. The condition started when I was 21. It started out with itching, and when I would scratch, the skin cracked. Then some of my shoes didn't help. I would where knee-high boots and the heat and moisture would make the itching even worse. After that, I started developing really dry, rough, scaly skin patches, and sometime little bumps with clear fluid in them that would itch even more. My skin would clear up when the weather would get warmer, but once fall and winter temperatures were changing, the condition would start up again. Since I saw a doctor, I was given a steroid ointment to apply on the area. I use that along with little pedicures I give my self when I see a lot of dry, scaly skin building up. I stopped using the steroid ointment. So now I use Vaseline to moisturize my foot. I also try to keep my foot dry with breathable shoes, and I change my socks at least twice a day. That's helped a lot, and I don't scratch as much as I used to.

I have lived with atopic dermatitis (eczema) for as long as I can remember. My mother told me it started when I was around 1 year old. One of my sisters suffers from it as well as my grandmother. It seems to run in the family. I have a twin sister that does not suffer from it at all. My children do not have any signs of it either. Growing up, it was over my entire body (head, mouth, hands, legs, feet) and now it seems to be more localized on my hands. My hands become so bad that I cannot bend or wet them. I go without doing my housecleaning sometimes because there is pain involved. I wear gloves to bed every night to try and stop the ripping of my skin when I'm scratching. Sometimes the flare-ups last six months. I have even had blood poising because the infections became so severe. I tried everything my doctor prescribed as well as over-the-counter medications. I have learned to live with it because I have no choice. I did hear that ultraviolet lights can help. I am thinking about going to a nail salon where they use ultraviolet nail driers to test it out.