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​Woman's Eczema Flare-Up From Beer So Bad She Could Have Fried Egg On Hot Skin

​Woman's Eczema Flare-Up From Beer So Bad She Could Have Fried Egg On Hot Skin

She became so irritated by her eczema she had to shave off all her hair

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

A woman has said the eczema flare-up she suffered after sipping a beer while on holiday left her skin so hot and itchy that she could have 'fried an egg' on her skin.

Maria Marzaioli, 43, was used to growing up with occasional and manageable dry patches around her mouth and elbow creases as a child.

But she woke up one morning while on a 2015 holiday in Tuscany, Italy, to find her eyes and face had swollen up and were painfully itchy - a reaction she believes was from a wheat beer she had drunk the night before.

When she got home, her symptoms only continued to worsen. Doctors prescribed topical steroid creams, which her skin in turn became 'addicted' to.

Maria, pictured before the severe eczema flare-up.
PA Real Life

This made the irritation so intense that she couldn't even stand her long hair any more, and had to shave her head.

Maria, of Hove, East Sussex, eventually ditched the creams but still faced an ongoing battle with her skin, saying: "At my worst, I would regularly wake with my eyes swollen shut, and blood all over my sheets from scratching during the night.

"Red patches spread everywhere, and I was incredibly hot and itchy. You could have fried an egg on my neck.

Having been diagnosed with eczema as a little girl - like one in five children in the UK, according to the British Skin Foundation - Maria had never previously found it to be much of a problem.

That was, of course, until everything changed during that fateful trip to Italy.

Maria, a quality officer, said: "I'd drank a wheat beer the night before and woke in the morning with my face and eyes swollen.

"There was no question in my mind that the beer was the cause. It was the only thing I'd had that was significantly different to what I normally ate and drank. I also remember having similar reactions a couple of times to wheat beers when I was younger."

The irritation was so severe Maria had to shave her head.
PA Real Life

Maria first tried to treat her symptoms with antihistamines and moisturising creams, but these made little difference.

She eventually visited a local chemist and asked in Italian for hydrocortisone cream - which seemed to do the trick, until the eczema came back with a vengeance once she returned to the UK.

"I slept with cotton gloves on and wore compression bandages to try and stop me from itching," she said.

"I couldn't even be cuddled because my skin was so sore."

Maria even eventually shaved her hair after finding it irritated the skin on her neck too much.

After around six months of pain and misery, she took to the internet for advice - where she found the International Topical Steroid Addiction Network (ITSAN), and was shocked to see there were many others who had suffered adverse reactions to steroid creams.

"I mentioned topical steroid addiction to doctors, but they didn't think it was likely, even though my experience was mirroring hundreds of other peoples'," said Maria.

"It is not widely accepted in the medical community, so the difficulty is that you have to self-diagnose.

"Incidentally, I also found out around the same time that the cream I'd been given in Italy was not hydrocortisone as I thought, but rather Diprosone, a much higher potency steroid cream.

"So I had been unknowingly using a large dosage of steroid cream for months."

Maria was offered immunosuppressants by medics by decided against them over fears about long-term reliance, eventually deciding to ditch steroid creams for good in March 2016.

She's continued to suffer with flare ups since, but is determined not to use ointments again.

Instead, she's opted for a more natural approach by cutting out wheat, dairy, sugar and alcohol, while also trying to limit the amount of stress in her life.

Maria has also found swimming in saltwater helps, and now goes for a swim on Hove's coast most days, and has also found great success with a £7.99 moisturiser called Skin Salvation by Brighton-based brand Balmonds.

Skin Salvation by Balmonds.
Balmonds

"A friend gave me a little pot and it was so useful," she said.

"It's now a key part of my toolkit. I use it most days and it really helps when my skin is really sore. It makes a massive difference."

Maria now keeps an Instagram diary of her progress in a bid to help others.

She continued: "I was unprepared for the mental toll that the sheer exhaustion would have on me. It impacted on my life in ways I never considered.

"It's hard to reconcile when your life changes overnight like that. I found social situations very overwhelming, and relying so much on other people made me depressed and anxious.

"The toughest thing was never knowing if it was going to improve, and surrendering myself to just taking it one day at a time."

Despite still dealing with skin issues, Maria is feeling stronger than ever and has finally found peace with her body.

Maria concluded: "We live in a world where, unless people can see an illness, they don't understand the impact. But I know now that my worth runs deeper than what I look like.

"I wouldn't wish this on anybody, and it has been a tough road, but I have certainly learned some lessons along the way."

She added: "In a way, it has also helped me to accept my body. I've realised how much of our self-worth is wrapped up in looks, but I have now made peace with myself and understand what I have to offer the world outside of my appearance."

Featured Image Credit: PA Real Life

Topics: News, eczema, UK