Skin Woes: Part 2
All of the tests, the creams, the shampoo and yet, no complete resolve. The skin on my hands and arms improved some, but the eczema on my scalp refuses to take the hint. It remains flaky, irritated and downright embarrassing. The shampoo my dermatologist prescribed just isn’t doing the job, even though I've been using it for months now. The overall mood seems to be…this is your life now. But how can that be? I’ve never had eczema on my scalp. A bit of a dry scalp, sure, but nothing requiring headbands to cover up flakes and shame. Headbands, mind you, that make everything worse by the time I get home because the skin they’re hiding is suffocating in the process. Ergo, it’s all even worse by nightfall. I remind you, again, that I have very curly hair, so washing it every other day with medicated shampoo that isn’t really working is just making my curls dull and I’m getting the feeling it’s also thinning my hair out slightly. Literal nightmare.
Cut to a few weeks later- I’ve been experiencing nausea and dizziness, again. This happened last year and my primary care at that time couldn’t find anything awry in my bloodwork she prescribed anti-nausea pills and sent me on my way. This year when I made a “sick visit” appointment, I was surprised to be informed that my primary care doctor had completely left the practice and now I had to sign-on with a new one. However, a sick visit is scheduled for a 15-minute slot but to establish care with someone new, well that’s a 30-minute slot. My appointment for constant nausea and dizziness was now bumped to the next week. S…M…H.
In the interim, I marched myself to HEB and purchased Dramamine. Le sigh.
Anyways, when I finally did see my new doctor, the nausea had subsided, so the appointment changed to an annual check-up. We went through the usual list of things one is subjected to at their annual appointment and then she asked if there was anything else I wanted to address. I decided, screw it, she’s a doctor, just ask. So i took off my headband of scalp shame and explained what I was going through. She immediately slapped on some gloves and got all up into my scalp (something my dermatologist never did). She proceeded to prescribe a topical solution, different shampoo because she said and I quote “Clearly what was prescribed is not working”, and a round of pills to take for a week. Anti-fungals specifically for seborrheic eczema. More embarrassing things. The shampoo worked like a charm, as did the solution. My solo trip is coming up in a few days though, so I’m going to hold off on the round of pills until I return. One of the possible side effects is dizziness and it’s recommended that you don’t drink while you’re on them. I don’t want to deal with that on vacation. This new doctor is two for two so far, so I have hope for the third part of her plan for me.
Stay tuned for Skin Woes: Part 3, coming at you post-solo trip.
Have questions about my particular case of eczema or going through the same thing and want me to write about something specific? Let’s connect! Shoot me an email, shannon@sdotcurls.com.
