Flaring again...

Things have not been going too well for me. After the start of school, my skin has taken a turn for the worse. My arms are constantly red and my face has been doing good up to today, when I woke up with swollen, red eyelids and a blotchy mouth. However, I feel like this is a different type of flaring than before. Starting around the end of month 6 was when I noticed this difference. Before, my flares would just be red with hard, crusty skin and burning, and it would affect the entire surface of my skin in one flush. Now, I get bumpy red patches that don't entirely encompass the area in red, but are more like blotches. However, they are more raised patches that are more raw. Today was especially bad, as my chest and back of neck have started to weep. It's such a horrible feeling when your skin is sore and crusty from all the oozing...

Another thing that has been bothering me is that people expect me to heal and just be done with tsw for good. However, we all know that you can be in a break and look perfectly fine, then a day later spiral back into red skin, oozing, and swelling. I think this is by far the worst thing about tsw, seeing flawless skin destroy itself and begin to break down on its own, all while trying to maintain a normal life. I think that I need to accept that I am most definitely NOT normal at the moment, and that I shouldn't be doing all of the things that normal people do. I do have an illness, no matter how you look at it. I will be posting some pictures in the next few days to chart progress of my flare. I hope you are all doing well!