Infected Eczema

Hey guys,

Thought I owed you all an update. So around the 22nd October I was given antibiotics for a bacterial infection that had started to crop up around my nose and mouth. Within a couple of days this cleared up and I finished my course of antibiotics.

Fast forward to the 27th; moving day. This was me after hours of running around, loading and unloading, carrying heavy items up to our top floor apartment. No hives. I was on top of the world.

27/10/14

However as we know this is me and my life is never simple.

Fast forward to the following Monday (3rd Nov) I could see some redness occurring on my face and such but this was the day I went to see my derm nurse and for some reason my skin always goes a bit backwards when I see medical professionals. Funny coincidence that, huh? But we shook it off as just that, Afterall the rest of my body was perfect.

The following day I woke in the early hours to a sickness bug. This carried on for the entire day and I was so weak I couldn't even drink fluids.

The day after (Wed 5th Nov) my skin was becoming a right old mess but I didn't want to ring in sick at work. So braved it and went in even though I could see the beginnings of infection returning.

5/11/14

5/11/14

After my shift I went straight to the hospital to see my derm nurse as she had previously said on Monday that she would rather me be seen there than by my GP. So off I went and was swabbed and given a longer course of antibiotics.

The next day (Thursday) I woke up feeling terrible and my skin had worsened and was visibly spreading. I decided to go to work anyway as I figured the antibiotics would soon start to kick in.

Friday I woke up and was far, far worse. My eyes were now completely affected and crusted shut together. It was now on my chest, back, backside, legs and arms. I was a mess and it hurt so bad I couldn't move.

7/11/14

This brings us to today (Saturday). It hasn't improved at all and the antibiotics don't seem to be working as quickly as usual. I am however going to wait it out until Monday for improvement but if not you can bet I'll be straight back to the doctors.

8/11/14

For some reason the redness and swelling isn't being depicted so clearly by my phone. I think it's because smart phones these days are made to give more "flattering photos" for the vain upon us, rather than depicting what is really there. But alas you can see I am suffering.

I haven't felt this horrendous since my last bout of MRSA. I also have a wisdom tooth coming through which of course isn't helping matters, especially given that I can barely open my mouth as it is due to the extreme dryness. Ho hum. Suck it up.

Fingers crossed the weeping will soon stop as that is definitely the worst thing ever with infection.

Topical Steroid Withdrawal Staph Infection

Just when I thought I was doing well I get knocked down with a horrible cold and then today I wake up to a probable staph infection. I think stress is definitely the factor in this circumstance, what with the move coming up. Grumble.

I still have some doxycycline left over from when I had MRSA, at least a full courses worth so going to start taking that and also not use moisturiser for the day. Not sure how I will fair tomorrow at work without any but this needs nipping in the bud ASAP.

26th June 2013 TSW

My skin isn't improving at all. It's weeping constantly throughout the night making sleep somewhat of a difficulty to achieve and my antihistamines are not working one little bit.

I'm currently dithering as of whether to start up the Ciclosporin again as in the back of my mind I have a feeling it may be what contributed to my recent hospitalisation. On the other hand, I don't know how much longer I can deal with the itchiness. It's that kind of itchiness that I would describe as "searing" just like searing pain that is endured when you have small scratches and when showering is magnified as you experience the pain in each and every single scratch. The searing itch to me feels on a similar scale to this as you feel each and every single scratch tingle with an acute, unrelenting itchiness. It's terrible.

As for my skin itself, Shane pointed out to me last night that I'm not bright red all over my face any more, I'm back to being blotchy which I haven't experienced for a few months. I guess it's just a form of healing. 

For me, it's really hard to gauge what is going on. I stopped using topical steroids in May even though I had been going through a tough time with recalcitrant full body "eczema". As soon as I started the Ciclosporin, by the end of the week my skin was becoming beautiful. I was really happy that the dryness was less apparent and I'd lost the redness. However the very next day obviously I ended up with my nasty infection of eczema herpeticum and a secondary infection of cellulitis, and since that time had taken antibiotics to treat the cellulitis. Skip two weeks later with the antibiotics finished and I'm back to being a mess.

Is it the lack of antibiotics? Is it the lack of Ciclosporin? Or is it just TSW?

It's just so hard for me to know what avenue to take with all this as obviously my body is at the end of it's tether. If I'm not reacting through my skin then I'm getting reoccurring infections. I say this often but I'm just becoming tired of the whole routine.

Anyway I leave you with some images. They're not brilliant in showing all the detail but they'll do. 

 A mostly white face with red blotchy patches

 A close-up. There's a lot of raw openness which you can see in the red as well as yellow and orange areas where the skin has thinned.

 Red open scratches on my neck that lead down to my chest, mostly due to the skin cracking open when weeping.

Tummy has started up again. Grr.