Week 4 already! Doesn’t time fly when you’re having fun. The spot situation seems, annoyingly, to have reached a plateau. I’m not really getting any new ones but there are few lingering ones which obviously started a while ago which are making their slow journey to the surface, so it feels like not a lot has changed. I am still loving the lack of oiliness though, and my hair hasn’t needed washing anywhere near as much either. It’s dead straight and quite fine and when it gets greasy it looks really lank and flat. I don’t miss the bit of greasy fringe which used to flop down across my forehead halfway through the day. So generally the stuff’s doing what it says on the tin, to paraphrase the Ronseal ad. Unfortunately, it’s also doing what it says on the little leaflet inside the tin too…
The lip situation has been terrible this week. SkinStore.com still haven’t delivered my Neosporin and 8 hour cream so I have sent a stern email to their customer services department. They obviously don’t realise my dire need. In desperation yesterday I bought some Cymex, which is also for cold sores and contains urea and cetrimide and other serious-looking ingredients and smells very medical. Lancome Juicy Tubes it ain’t. It seemed to disappear straight away, but I applied it on the hour, every hour and this morning, whilst not ideal, my lips were a lot softer so I think they’ve turned a corner.
The other disturbing development this week was the appearance on Saturday of lots of tiny little dry gritty-feeling bumps on the backs of my hands. Yesterday morning they turned red and itchy, but I put some 1% hydrocortisone on them and they have calmed down a bit now but are still dry and bumpy. Imagine a plucked chicken with eczema and you are not far off.
Still. Worse things happen at sea. I’ve not lost my marbles and my skin is looking better so I’ll take the rough (or chapped, or peeling) with the smooth. I’m seeing my dermatologist on Monday and if all is well my dose will be doubling, so there are more fun and games to come. Tune in for the next gripping installment.