I had been applying oleaginous ointments; antiinflammatory ointment(bufexamac in petrolatum) then petrolatum(white vaseline) to all my lesions 2 times a day immediately after bathing.

In spite of those series of intensive care, the secretion of my skin sebaceous grands hardly seemed to increase.
I felt like as if I put a sticky film on and off everyday. Did it truely benefit to the recovery of my skin? Someone said an oversupply of moisturizer decreased original secretion of sebum. In addition, oily moisturizer needed a soap to take off, which looked to make my lesions drier. Furthermore, the oily film was fairly uncomfortable. I felt like the skin difficult to breathe, and everything I wear or touch got gooey.

At last I gave up applying ointment for moisturizing.
Since applying to almost whole body skin had been quite a few work, my heart as well as my body in fact felt relieved.
I didn't need a soap then excruding my face and genital region.(I used a camellia oil soap)

As I was expected, the AD skin got drier and scaled a lot like a desert.
I tried to endure till my skin secrete its own sebum more about 2 months. But dryness did not improved and caused inbearable itch and pain.
I searched less oily moisturizer. I bought a gel contains abstruct gained when making charcoal; some said acetic acid in it would calm down AD itchy skin. It somewhat sooth down my skin. I applied it once or twice a day after bathing. I needed some hydrophilic ointment on it in winter of dried air.

My face, on the contrary, had almost recovered. It needed only occacional use of a lotion containig camellia oil, which came to be limited only in winter then.

About my head, the skin was clear for all the period of time except occational small number of itchy nodules which would disappear within 1-2 days.
As I felt tired just from scrubbing my head, I washed my hair once in 4 days.
I had changed to feel the smell and color of artificial shampoos before I was aware of it. I hated to use them and bought a camellia oil shampoo.

I tried chinese herb midicine as well.
I took them over 1 year by the prescription of a doctor who had studied in China, but in vain.

I also tried the brand-new modern medicine drug, suplatast tosilate, which suppressed the production of IgE antibody, in vain.

My AD seemed to gain strength.
To my astonishment and despair, the blood IgE level increased on and on incredibly. It went beyond 6000IU/ml in 3 months, 13000IU/ml in 5 months, then 20000 IU/ml in 1 year.

Diffuse red AD lesions turned hard and elevated diffuselly with very rough texture and deep wrinkles, which are to be lichenification; the chronic and hard-to-cure phase of eczematous change.
All of my body skin except head, face, palms, soles, part of insteps were so.
The red-black scaling skin looked like an elephant skin, waving flabbily and wrinkling more than an old woman. Seeing it in the big mirror of the dressing room, I often felt desperate. I didn't want to recognize that it was me.
Exudates were not tremendous in my case, but still, I had to peel my pajamas off which were glued to my forearms and thighs by coagulated exudates every time I undress myself.
I sometimes felt like crying.

In the morning, I woke up and went directly to take a bath for consoling my ragged skin inflammed and destroied during the night. After I finished bathing, I writhed under itch.
Burning itch and pain never left me all day. At the bottom of my symptoms, I didn't know what to do with myself in great agony even lying in bed. I was at a loss how I could survive the moment. They were so long and hard days.
I spend time lying. I took breakfast and lunch in bed. Narrowlly, I got up in late noon and moved to living room. I could barely sit still. I tried to spend time by reading books, but itch and pain always occupied quite a few part of my brain. I could hardly concentrate to do anything.
In winter, warming myself at a kotatsu enhanced itch a lot.
Moving also caused itch and hurted skin smarted with every step of walk. I couldn't go outside at all.
Soon after dinner, hard itch came again and I had to go to take the second bath. I writhed again and then my mother brought my daughter to me and we were going to sleep.

The futon kept me in high humidity which made my skin more calm. That was another reason I had to spend long time in bed.
We spend lengthy night. My daughter woke up about 3 times a night, and I woke up more and struggled with endless itch.

I could hardly sleep.
To preserve some physical strength, I started to take antihistamines again. Hydroxyzine at night made me able to go to sleep after 1.5 hours of waking. I took it every night till I could get some sleep without it.

One day in winter, I noticed the itchy sensation differed.
I'm not sure how to express it: It changed to sharper, clearer and deeper sensation. It made my predicament profounder.
My sensory nerve which felt itch at last might had grown into the epidermis from dermis then.

In spite of all my expectations and efforts, time passed with no hope. The only thing I could was to think how to stand the period. Time would be the only and best drug. Chronic disease is difficult to get a rapid change in its briskness.
Don't give up. Don't be dejected.