by nikonotron » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:22 pm
I have had seborrheic dermatitis since I was about 12 or 13. It was, and still is, a very disturbing ailment. By that I mean, that I often feel like a lizard or snake that is losing its skin. Flaky, red patches on my face, chest, and more recently, groin areas. I am now 50 years old and have lived a solitary life due to my extremely poor self esteem due to this condition. Imagine how I felt when, at about 45 years old, I suddenly had similar red, flaky patches on my lower legs, but these itched to high heaven, unlike the seborrheic dermatitis. When I consulted a dermatologist he told me it wasn't seborrheic dermatitis, but, in fact, eczema. He prescribed a topical solution and gave me some samples; all of which helped, but never alleviated the problem altogether. I went on for a year or so with the topicals, and then my psychiatrist decided to try a different anti-depressant/anti-anxiety treatment called Remeron. He advised that it is like a very strong antihistamine and will make me very drowsy. Therefore, he suggested I take half, or even a quarter dose the first couple doses until my body adjusted to it. I took a quarter dose and basically slept for a day and a half and got very dehydrated as a result. I told him of the result and he said "That can happen; even on a small dose like that". Well, since he said it was okay I continued to take it. Dry mouth, lethargy, and weight gain were a big concern over the next year or so, but I have to say that of all the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety treatments I have taken, this one seemed to make the biggest impact (positive impact that is). I felt better mentally and emotionally, but after putting on over 40 pounds in the 12 to 15 months I was taking it, and eventually so lethargic that simple daily chores were getting too hard to do, I had to taper off and eventually stop taking it. It wasn't until I stopped taking the Remeron that I realized that not only did my allergies get really bad again (I didn't even notice that they virtually disappeared while taking the Remeron), but I then realized I hadn't used any eczema treatment in at least 6 or 8 months. My lower legs were clear. I no longer had scars or scabs from all the scratching and it didn't return. I told my psychiatrist and my dermatologist what the Remeron did; they both acted uninterested. Even though my psychiatrist told me that many medications originally designed for one purpose can later be determined to be useful for something totally different, he didn't think it was worth mentioning it to any of his colleagues. (Some examples are: Bupropion [Wellbutrin] for depression helped a lot of people quit smoking and was later prescribed as Zyban to help people quit smoking, and sildenafil [Viagra] which was originally prescribed for hypertension or high blood pressure or something like that). Even though my doctors didn't see it as necessary to advise the medical industry of a possible benefit to eczema sufferers, I do. If anyone suffers from eczema like I have suffered with seborrheic dermatitis, I think everyone should know about it, but be well informed of its side effects; possible weight gain, dry mouth, and lethargy, were my worst side effects, but to permanently get rid of the eczema it was worth it.