Featured Image Credit: SWNS
Topics: Real Life
Emma Guinness
A woman has praised a 'miracle drug' for curing the eczema that left her bedbound for decades.
Antonia Wilson, 28, had eczema since she was a baby, but her life transformed when she was given a new drug.
Sold under the brand name Dupixent, the treatment was approved five months ago to treat allergic diseases including eczema.
Before taking Dupixent, Antonia had tried steroid creams, which are typically used to treat the condition, but they didn't give her the long-term relief she craved.
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She explained that she struggled to walk when her eczema flared up and her scalp, torso, face and legs were all particularly effected.
As she had suffered for so long, she doubted that the new drug would make a difference, but she was willing to give it a go.
Antonia, who is a Scottish carer, said of life before the drug: "Somedays I would wake up in a pool of my own blood from where my eczema had cracked in my sleep.
"I've suffered for decades, but now, thanks to this new treatment, things are finally looking up.
"I couldn't get out of bed, my face was raw, and I even lost some of my eyebrows as a result of the peeling skin.
"I became addicted to steroid cream because it would offer very short-term relief, but my condition would just flare up worse afterwards.
"Some days I'd wake up in a pool of my own blood from unawarebly itching in the night, and the deep cracks in my skin.
"My doctor even put me on immune suppressants as a last resort, but that just gave me kidney problems - it was horrific."
Antonia was one of the first people in the UK to use the new drug, and she explained that she began to see results almost straight away.
She began taking Dupixent in April, which was administered via injections from her dermatologist, and said her eczema flared down with the first injection.
Because of the severity of Antonia's condition, she was eligible for NHS funding to receive the treatment.
She said that the drug was so effective that within four days, her eczema was cured, and she is finally able to move without feeling pain.
She is now receiving regular injections every two weeks to keep the eczema at bay and is looking forward to a pain-free future.
Antonia, who said she is happier than ever, said it's the little things she is enjoying most about her life now.
"It's the little things I appreciate most - like being able to wear make-up and wear clothes that don't hide my skin," Antonia said.
"The treatment is about £600 an injection so I'm grateful I qualified on the NHS, otherwise it would have been unaffordable.
"It's available for both adults and children but I don't know anyone else receiving it - I'm one of the very first.
"There's no side-effects apart from slight watery eyes, but compared to the pain I was in before, it's nothing.
"At the moment I think I'll need to take it for the rest of my life, but in the future I may be able to reduce the frequency of injections.
"My dermatologist did an amazing job of sorting this treatment and I thank her every day I wake up.
"I just hope it becomes more widely available soon, so other eczema sufferers can get the help I've been so lucky to have had."