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Dupixent during TSW: experiences?

Hi AD community 😀 it’s my first post here, I’m happy I found you in a moment I can barely move or open my eyes bc of AD.

My name is Thais, I live in Berlin, Germany, and I’m originally from Brazil. I’ve struggled with atopic dermatitis for more than 20 years (Im currently 26) and I’m clearly addicted to topical steroids. Fortunately, I didn’t take much oral corticoides and used few tubes of high potency topical corticoides. But for my entire life I used Desonida and most recently Topison almost everyday and almost on my whole body including face.

Now I’ve attempted to stop steroids 4 times. First (and most traumazing one) was recommended by a Doctor in Brazil and no gradual plans were set for me. The results, the damaged area spread from arms, neck and eyelids to my WHOLE body in 7 months. I’m still suffering its effects as I couldn’t stand the treatment and gave up after 7 months.

Other 3 times with STW it lasted only few months (max 3) until I come again to a point I couldn’t go out of my bed to work or university. So up until now I decided to live a “better” life without the flares.

However it really annoys me to be an addict. Plus, I started to notice how my skin wasn’t going back to “normal” anymore after steroids and weird things started to appear, making me really uncomfortable about myself.

This week in Berlin a dermatologist gave me green lights to start Dupixent. But (as any other dermatologist in my life) they lack a set of soft skills to introduce me to the treatment and I’m feeling super insecure about it.

I would like to ask the community:

Does it work if I use Dupixent for 1-2 years as a complementary treatment for my steroids withdrawal? My idea is to use it for the time my body needs to get rid of the topical steroids and stop Dupixent gradually until I don’t need it anymore, even if some flares or soft dermatitis come back afterwards.

Let me know your thoughts and experiences 😀 I’m sending some letters with the same questions to some other professionals. Once I get their answer, I’ll update it here.

Thanks and stay safe!!

  1. Hi Thais, I hope some of our great community members who have experience with this will give you an answer. My eczema is not bad enough to need Dupixent, thankfully. From what I’ve been able to find, continuous treatment may be needed, but individual response may vary. Ashley, one of our advocates, wrote an article about tapering off Dupixent that you might find interesting: https://atopicdermatitis.net/living/why-stop-dupixent/. Hope it helps, you’ve had so much to deal with. Wishing you well going forward, and please keep us updated on how you’re doing. Cora Lyn, AtopicDermatitis.net Team Member

    1. Hi Thais, I hope some of our great community members who have experience with this will give you an answer. My eczema is not bad enough to need Dupixent, thankfully. From what I’ve been able to find, continuous treatment may be needed, but individual response may vary. Ashley, one of our advocates, wrote an article about tapering off Dupixent that you might find interesting: https://atopicdermatitis.net/living/why-stop-dupixent/. Hope it helps, you’ve had so much to deal with. Wishing you well going forward, and please keep us updated on how you’re doing. Cora Lyn, AtopicDermatitis.net Team Member

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