Re: My story

As a teacher I can relate. In fact, that anxiety is what caused me to over-apply Aquaphor and constantly have white skin falling off (or I would obsessively remove) every couple days! I think that period of time (also extreme levels of depression, anxiety, acidic diet, and alcohol abuse in smoky bars) exacerbated my condition considerably.

Four years later, I still teach, but my peeling cycle is at a week and it's not really noticeable until the last days of the cycle. Even then, maybe one kid out of thirty will ask some dumb question about my lips (yes, kids, there is such a thing as a stupid question). I'm at the point where even that won't make me run to the bathroom to exfoliate, because I know from experience that chilling out about it all, leaving the skin on until it comes off easily, has improved my condition somewhat.

Hopefully you can find some support and helpful advice here, and find a way to manage the nuisances of your condition while setting yourself on the road to healing -- it's a long road for many of us, but there is an end in sight. And things could always be worse.

Onward,
C.S.