How Living with My Partner Has Impacted My Eczema

I have lived with my fiance for about two years now. A little background about my relationship is that we have been together since 2014. We met at our old workplace and have been together since. We recently got engaged last year during New Year's Eve in Mexico. He does not have eczema but does have other medical problems.

My relationship

When I met my partner, I did not have eczema, but it started making a re-appearance during the first years that we had started dating. We had always thought of living with each other, but rent is expensive where we live. It was not easy being in a place just on our own and being able to afford it. I ended up moving into my partner's apartment with his brother as well.

Moving in together

At first, it was hard adjusting to a new place for my skin and coping with all the changes. When I first moved in with my partner, I was excited to start a new chapter in my life with him. Yet, I was used to living in a house that we rented and had not lived in an apartment since I was a little girl.

Living in an apartment with eczema

When you live in an apartment, you have to do things a certain way. For example, you have to go to the laundry mat in the apartment's designated area when you are doing laundry. You have to share washing machines and dryers. As someone with eczema, I use special detergents to help protect my skin from irritants that come in other detergents. Also, there are many noises and people who don't care about cleaning up after themselves in the apartment. It affected my eczema because I am used to having everything clean around me and not having additional triggers for my skin.

Owning our own condo

Now that we have our own place, a small 2 bedroom 1 bath condo, I can control the triggers, allowing me to be freer in my home.

Laundry

For example, I can have my own washer and dryers accessible in my condo for any time use. I also can clean the machines and control what detergents go into the wash.

Outdoor space

The second thing is that I can be outside in my backyard and get some sun during the day. It allows me to get some vitamin D and go out to get some fresh air. Being outside also allows me to unwind after a long day. I feel freer and am more likely to get outdoors, unlike before where I did not have a backyard and felt trapped indoors.

Carpet and dust mite free

The third thing about living in a new place is that there are no carpeted floors in the house. A trigger I suffer from is dust, dust mites, and just having to vacuum the carpet with all the particles moving around. Now that there is no carpet, I feel like I have fewer triggers. The house is cleaner because I can sweep and mop the floor. I am also able to do things daily, which also controls the amount of dirt piling up.

Having control over my environment

Although some of these triggers might seem small, they do, in fact, make a difference on my skin. I can control my environment, which allows me to be less flared.

How has your experience been living with a partner?