So, yeah, I have eczema. I'm 13 and I've had it since I was 3, so, it's been a decade. Mine can be red, flaky and swollen if I don't apply creams, but when I drink some antihistamines, put some steroid creams, and when it's only flaky I put moisturizer, I have minimal scarring, more like minor pigmentation. And no flakes, weirdly enough. Only side effect is acne similar to rosacea since they don't look yellow with pus, but maybe that's cus I'm 13. I got a blood test, and my mom told me the doc said I have an allergy to dust and cat fur, which happened a year ago, in Malaysia at Christmas, in one cafe, they had one fat cat, and when I was petting and rubbing, my eye swelled up in the hotel and I started feeling bad. That allergy came out of nowhere! And because I'm somehow way more analytical than my age (I wish I had the same amount as anyone else), I realized the atopic triad exists, and it's all lining up. I've had eczema since I was 3, and now I got cat allergy since last December. Only a mere year back! Asthma's next! It all makes sense because of the triad, and since my grandma (maternal) has asthma herself. So far my tonsils are apparently sensitive according to my orthodontist, and I often get tonsil stones every month. They're small, and appear less than last year, but I have huge crypts.

My doctor actually suggested biologics, because she noticed I use creams, before my mom declined and she suggested oral stuff, so I drank the fake-medicinal-cherry Predo and some other antihistamine, and I don't feel anything weird, besides them tasting gross. But I was panicking when I realized biologics meant NEEDLES IN THE STOMACH, because one lady put it in her belly like it was nothing, and months before, her skin was like an elephant's with scabs (no offense to her, but it looked really painful)! And I'm here like, "Great, now I'm gonna soon have my eczema-equivalent of insulin shots? What else is next, an inhaler!?" Great, I'm fragile. I have acne which my dad thinks is from dirt, eczema, allergies with swelling, and what else is next? Anaphylactic reactions? Asthma!? Man, I'm a china doll! I was even panicking about the asthma for a month. I even cried a few times, because I know of no one besides my grandma with asthma, and I've heard once you get it, it's lifelong, it can be bad, you can't do normal human stuff like wear wooly sweaters, or own fluffy animals, or go out and run without feeling horrible. And the inhaler felt like a CPAP, meant for people with bad illnesses. It just felt like a sign of weakness. I even came up with a full plan to eat so much sugary food, like think animal-style fries with jug chocolate milkshakes with ice cream sundaes, strawberry vape, and just give up! I'm fine now, but I thought about it then! Now I'm like, "Why? Why did I think that?"

It's just, it seems scary. Just, it may do it. It may have skipped a generation for mom, and 2 generations for dad (his grandma had eczema), but it may get me soon. I already got eczema. Asthma may come next, and I may live for about 70 years. My grandma being alive at 64 is somehow there. I may get it. I didn't get symptoms for cat allergies until December, and it's been happening ever since! Most recently, I pet a cat near a college, and my eye got swollen, my rash got worse, and I started sneezing. Just, even with the pet bit, I wanna have a cat, but now about the fur, I feel bad. And with lizards or reptiles, they don't have that sort of love hormone in them, so they're just seeing you in infrared and only see you as "Feed me, human". But hey, people make sacrifices, maybe this is one of them. Like, if you can't get a villa, get an apartment. But yeah, I'm doing better now, mentally, so please, don't panic about that bit. When I saw a Dupixent ad, it felt...interesting. They said the usual, Dupixent helps clear severe eczema in a few months with long-lasting effects, yada yada, but it also showed stuff like a girl playing some football, and a couple together, and they said stuff like, "Touch can show teamwork, touch can show love. We wanna make sure that touch feels like you and true." Welp, they are right that people will worry if I'm okay if I flare up. Who wouldn't? Last time I got rash on my eyelids, one dude in the pool asked me why they're red. He didn't inquire further, but still.

Like, one girl has perioral eczema, but she manages it well enough where I can't see it, but her lips are kinda dark with pink spots. One girl gets really bad reactions during peak summer. Meanwhile if I don't put cream, I get flaky-ah rash, if I put cream, I get acne on my cheeks, like small pustules, some are the red ones, some are blackheads. The doc suggested I take Dupixent, or actually biologics, but my mom doesn't trust her for some reason. Dupixent is a cure as much as Accutane is a cure. It's trendy, it's new, it's great. So why is mom saying we need to verify this with more doctors and not just one? It's not like vaccines where I could die, right? Why is she telling me to check with more doctors? Everyone with eczema uses it, right? I mean, come on, that lady had a huge glow-up! I bet she was able to sleep easier at night because she's not itching like heck at bed! So why is she asking for a second opinion? It's meant to be a long-term help for years, not a few months. While my eczema may not be as bad, it'll be cured by the needle. So please, whoever has eczema here, is mom being stupid or is she being smart? And tell me your experiences with finding treatment and living with it, I really wanna know. I feel isolated anyways with inherited atopic dermatitis.

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