Patient Story – Maurice’s Eczema Journey

When I was a baby, I nearly died from eating an egg. My mother told me that I had a rash from head to toe. As that time, I had to wear gloves to bed so that I did not scratch myself to pieces.

This was the start of my eczema journey.

I remember my father taking me to the Brighton Sea baths as a young boy to swim in the salt water to help manage my skin condition.

Life was normal until the age of fifteen, when my eczema became much worse than it had previously been. I left school midway through year 10 for a period of time, as I was too embarrassed to change in the change rooms due to my skin issues.

This changed the course of my life.

Throughout my teenage years, and into my early twenty’s, I saw dermatologists, naturopaths and doctors and tried many different treatments including colonic irrigations. I tried and used many different creams including a cream that was used on cow’s udders, tar treatments, steroid creams, and countless different moisturisers.

This was a challenging time as a teenager and had a negative impact on my mental health.

Over the years, I have tried a multitude of diets, including a number of 10-day fasts. I was constantly dry, itchy, and scratching. This led to a lifetime of disrupted sleep, from a relatively young age.

I learnt to live with this the best I could but was always aware of how this restricted me at times to lead my best life and be involved in the activities I loved to do.

I visited a dermatologist in 2014 and was told that the way only forward was to use immunosuppressants, which I decided not to go ahead with.

Around the age of fifty, I developed recurring cellulitis which started from my ongoing eczema, and over the next 8 years, I had twenty visits to hospital for this.

I continued with alternative medicines & naturopathy, and constantly worked at healing myself with complementary medicines, diets, and clean living. These all helped, but never got me to the place I wanted to be.

In 2022, after not seeing a dermatologist for 8 years, I decided to visit Dr. Amanada Saracino from the Melbourne Dermatology Clinic in South Melbourne.

Dr Saracino started the consultation by asking me a question. “How is your skin?” I answered that it was good, and well managed. She then commented, “what are you talking about? You have chronic eczema”.

It was at this appointment that Amanda told me about Dupixent.

Amanda said, “If you were my brother or uncle, I would recommend and urge you to give this medication a try”. I went for a walk for 15 minutes, came back to the practice, and said, “let’s get started!”

Dupixent has been life changing for me. I noticed changes within a month, and over the next year, my skin continually improved. Generally, I now feel well, more content, energetic and vibrant.

Maurice and his wife Fiona

I realise I have been fortunate that my eczema has been moderate, compared to many other sufferers. Even though this has been the case, it has been difficult for me throughout my life. I recently turned sixty and are pleased to say my skin is better than it has ever been, allowing me to enjoy a better quality of life, improved sleep and be more actively involved with my work, family, friends, and the passions and interests I enjoy.

I never thought that I would get to the stage that my skin would be as good as it is today. If you have persistent, challenging eczema, I highly recommend giving Dupixent a try and keep persisting till you find the answers to improve your skin condition.

Maurice has decided to share his story on the occasion of his 60th birthday in the hope of raising much needed awareness for eczema sufferers and funds for the Eczema Association Inc. so that we can keep supporting our members like Maurice.

Please consider making a donation for Maurice’s 60th birthday.