ezcema and miserable, please help if possible :(

[tonyafaye]

My fiance has had a major flare up of eczema in the past 2 1/2 months, or that's what every doctor has said, anyway. The first time it was real bad, the soonest we could get him an appointment with the dermatologist was weeks later, so he went to MedEx (and he needed a referral); the doctor there prescribed him 2 oral medications and 2 creams, which he could not afford (due to having poor college health insurance). The school nurse at the high school where he worked at the time has children with eczema and gave him advice on which to base which medicines he should spend his money wisely on (Progesterone and Elidel). When I visited the dermatologist, she told me of Cerave (which she recommends for any type of eczema). Progesterone is a steroid, which makes his skin issues disappear periodically, we have found. So when he made it to the dermatologist appointment, the eczema was just beginning to come back and she didn't see how bad it really got; she put him back on the Progesterone(I'm not sure if that's how you really spell it) and told him to contact an allergy doctor for an allergy test. He called the doctor recommended and they said they could not do an allergy test if his skin on his arms and back was broken out and also that it would be about $1800 (which 80-90% could be covered by the insurance). The Progesterone ran out again at the beginning of the month and the dermatologist refused to renew the prescription due to major side effects that could result. So he made another appointment which is this Wednesday.
I am sorry this is so long, but he's been through a lot and I want to make sure you know enough to help if at all possible...
The syptoms got bad enough for me to drive him to the emergency room, where they saw that he was truly miserable. He got another prescription of Progesterone and some Ultram for the couple days before the appointment when he does not have the miracle pill. These are those couple days, and he is completely miserable; and mostly is really scared that there is something seriously wrong with him and due to medical expenses and the fact that he just can't work when he's in such a condition, won't get to marry me before I graduate (which is 2 1/2 years away) and get a permanent job with which to support us both. He's no longer working at the high school (he quit in the middle of the month), due to trying to control stress, because he's a grad student and it was too much for him to handle with school and these health problems...
Anyway, I should probably tell you what's wrong, huh?...I know I'm a chatterbox and I'm sorry, and thank you for taking the time to read and reply to this...
Red, dry, extremely flaky skin (so bad that when he wakes up from a nap on the floor, the blanket he was lying on is white and yellowish with flakes, and his skin is still caked with them); when he sleeps his skin seeps a yellowish liquid and sometimes bleeds from the cracks of his skin on his neck, shoulders, inside of the elbows, face, and the back of his knees (which makes it extremely hard and painful to walk due to the skin not stretching like it should); the couple days before I took him to the emergency room, his ankles started swelling (and that night, they were two to three times what they should have been in diameter; I told him to put them up for a while to help the swelling, but the back of his legs hurt so back that he could not "put his feet up" without being greatly distressed); this dryness, redness, and flaking is everywhere on him (face, wrists, back, legs, feet, neck, chest...everywhere except the bottoms of his feet and the palms of his hands) and half the time he can barely move without screaming (bc the skin refuses to stretch)...
After showers, which are as mild as possible, and in which he uses Dove sensitive skin (no fragrance) body wash, I help him apply first the Cerave and then Aquafor, which a doctor we know tried to help by suggesting, (this remedy helps him feel the least bit better for just a short amount of time). It is very hard to even apply these anymore, due to the seeping that starts nearly immediately after he pats his skin dry after a shower and coats his skin (oh, and did I mention the stench?)...and I wash and wipe my hands when I apply these lotions frequently so that I may not spread to a possible spot that this disease has missed, or possibly making it all worse-- I don't know.
We're doing everything we can to help this get better -- I've done so much research to try and help him, but most things on eczema are for parents with children with it (my fiance is 23) and don't help me much...and he gets worse daily: last night the seeping soaked through two shirts and the pillow he was using (every which way he turned it).

Please help if at all possible...

[tonyafaye]

among the issues that have been discovered by the allergist with my fiance include that of an extreme allergy to dust mites (or their poop), which, if you look at the dust mite wikipedia page, you'll find it explains the issue in a clear manner... wiki's pretty cool about that

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
The symptoms are definitely suggestive of eczema. Eczema is term for a group of medical conditions that cause the skin to become inflamed or irritated.
In most cases of eczema no one treatment will be effective. There should be a combination of therapies to combat the eczema. The type of medication prescribed will depend on many factors, including the type of eczema, past treatment, and the patient’s preference. Topical (applied to the skin) medication like mild steroids(hydrocortisone)to higher-potency steroid (e.g. clobetasol propionate, fluocinonide) are commonly prescribed. If the eczema is more severe, phototherapy (a type of treatment that uses light therapy) or systemic (circulates throughout the body) medication like oral steroids may be prescribed. You can discuss these treatment option with your dermatologist. Eczema can be exacerbated by dryness of the skin. Use good quality moisturizers to prevent moisture loss from the skin.

It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your dermatologist. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.

[lbickley]

This might sound like a long shot but have you all considered that your fiance might need to go off of wheat? Look at celiac.com and other sites on gluten intolerance. Eczema is a related symptom. Please don't disregard this remark. We've found it runs in our family and many health symptoms are going away because of it. It is usually difficult to discover because symptoms at times actually don't manifest in the stomach/gut. All the best.