I just found out recently this year after I've settled down in KL that I have eczema. My triggers are dust, dirty particles and hot/stuffy temperatures. Talk about soi lohh... KL is just as dusty as it could ever get and just as hot =__="
For those of you who do not know what eczema is,
Eczema is a skin disorder (wahh sounds so serious). The skin gets inflamed and rashes will developed on affected or triggered areas. After that it might spread to the whole body even if it is not affected. Yes, it is itchy... >.< Eczema is not contagious. So if one day you see me scratching here and there like a monkey don't worry I can't pass it on to you. The reaction or shall I say the "acting up period" lasts about 2 to 3 weeks depending on different individuals. After that it goes away but will come back again whenever it feels like saying "HELLO I AM HERE AGAIN DID YOU MISS ME??". Not scientific enough for you? Read here and also sini.
So... how did I find out that I had eczema? Wah this story damn drama I tell you. Gave me quite a number of scares and emotional stress. I thought I was gonna have skin cancer, or maybe some major infection or maybe some bugs decided lay eggs into my bloodstream.
So I remember that day I sent my boyfriend off to the airport as he was having his sem break so he was going back to his hometown. I would not get to see him for a month so of course say bye bye till security check point lohh.
Anyway, I got home and I realized the bottom of my legs (above my feet, approximately at ankle length but higher a little) started getting itchy. I thought there was my enemy(mosquitoes) around the unit or something. The weird thing was it has tiny tiny hives forming clusters together. It wasn't all that scary at first, just a few and it wasn't really red or anything.
I disregarded it because I knew my skin was quite sensitive (I guess from beginning of time I already had eczema lohh. My skin tends to peel off easily even when I just scratched a little, after that wounds would form, then got scar) because even when insects don't bite me but just land on me, I will easily get flare ups. It usually would subside after awhile but this was not the case. I did my usual stuff and thought maybe it will be gone by tomorrow.
When I woke up the next morning I noticed the hives got redder and a few more clusters started to develop. I was thinking oh no sibeh jialat (something along the lines of oh no something seems off) did I eat something wrong that I am allergic too. I started recalling whether I ate any seafood (I am not allergic to seafood btw) for the past week or anything out of the ordinary but I had meals that consists if normal food.
Typical me gave it 2 days more to check progress. It became so itchy I had to scratch. It worsen and more popped out. So I decided to call my mom and tell her about it and went to the doctor.
This was my first scare. The doctor told me I had been bitten by ticks and they had taken over my body by laying eggs into my bloodstream wtf. He said the hives are a result of the eggs wanting to hatch out of my skin. Major WTF. Wah all that emotional turmoil. I was like BO KO LENGG!
He asked me if I went hiking or someplace dirty or if I had good personal hygiene, tidy my bed etc. Wah I damn clean one okay. I have OCD so things must be neat tidy and clean! So he said maybe I just happened to be a soi (unlucky) target.
I remember thinking nooo my life is over! How now?? I don't want to give birth to bugs!!
Eh whoever is reading this and you do not have the habit of tidying your bed when you wake up you better start now! You have a reason now to tidy up. If not ticks will hide under your blankie and might just choose you to house their eggs (CHOI!) but you know what I mean lahh. Better safe than sorry.
He asked me if I wanted an injection and I said no because I discussed it with mommy beforehand on what if the doctor wanted to administer some injection for the allergic reaction and mommy said not to take it first because we are not sure and she's not here to see how my condition really is.
I think mom and I really have trust issues especially on things related to medical stuff because mom used to work in a pharmaceutical company and she does quite have an amount of knowledge on drugs, meds and also other related stuff. Besides there are so many incompetent doctors out there with all those misdiagnosis (sorry but it's true!) so we decided not to take the risk for fear the injection might not be for what I really have and might even worsen it.
So he gave me some cream for application on the affected area. Told me the cream was to kill the eggs. I asked him how long should I give the cream to work before it completely heals so that I can see if the diagnosis was right (doctors really hate me because I tend to doubt them and always give them this skeptical look together with my unconvincing "oh is it" lines) and he said after a week I would be completely healed.
This time my doubtfulness and skepticism proved to be right! After a week + 2 days it didn't even get better. So I was in a panic state because they had started to spread onto my back, thighs and knees. I took pictures of my condition and whatsapped it to mommy. She almost fainted. She didn't think it would look so serious (I am not going to post the pictures up, I'm embarrassed). She immediately booked me a plane ticket and flew me home to consult a specialist there. So the specialist diagnosed that I have dry skin which is sensitive to things such as pollen or maybe grass so he gave me some cream to apply as well. Now the cream did work and the hives started subsiding and I was happy that I was okay already and it was nothing major.
After I flew back to KL, approximately a week later, jeng jeng jeng... it came back and this time it's worst! It spread to my hands, face and ears! So itchy till cannot sleep! I was thinking it was going to be something worst, maybe skin cancer or something. So I had to call daddy in the middle of the night and told him about my frantic situation. Because it was uh..around 1 am I almost gave my parents a heart attack because I was crying when I called. Mom said they both couldn't sleep the whole night after I called. Sorry mommy and daddy, I love you both to bits!
Daddy flew in the next morning and brought me to Gleneagles Hospital KL. We took blood samples just to make sure I don't have anything out of the ordinary or some cell mutation going on...
So the doctor told me I had eczema and it's not at the severe stage yet and have to be treated with some steroid cream. I was also advised not to have hot showers and to apply moisturizers at about 3 to 4 times daily. I also had to use sunscreen to prevent pigmentation. He also gave me some oral medication (antihistamine) to control the itch so that I can sleep at night and won't scratch. The steroid cream really worked! I tell you, it is now my best friend! But cannot use for long term, later will have a lot of side effects..drug mahh...
I have never used so many skin care products in my life at one go. Have to apply every layer of product on my skin. Some are for daytime some are for night. Really jia lat (taxing) because I cannot apply one after another. Have to give 10 mins interval so that the skin can fully absorb everything.
Now I have to wear long pants till my legs fully heal from the flare ups and also from the previous scars. Sad life. All of my pretty dresses have to stay in the wardrobe for the time being. *sniff* :(
