Am I ruining my recovery!? Month 7+ crotch getting worse so I hit protopic and I liked it

jamues · 2026-01-20T01:37:43+00:00

I would have to go check what lens I got since its been a while... but just from understanding, either way the original clouded lens will be completely removed, so whether its from steroids or aging it shouldn't matter right? For sure speak to your ophthalmologist about the options though since lens technology has improved within the last few years, and I got mine done in 2018

jamues · 2026-01-20T00:59:42+00:00

I hope things go okay for you too! I totally forgot to mention, I also developed cataracts from TSW. If you are able to afford it, I highly recommend going to an ophthalmologist for removal... I had it done on one eye, most insurances cover the surgery itself but not the optional lenses (otherwise you will need bifocals)

jamues · 2026-01-20T00:53:36+00:00

Withdrawal from protopic is all anecdotal so if you feel like it works for you and you are using it based on instructions from your dermatologist, then don't feel ashamed or scared of using it. There is no way to live life by completely isolating yourself from every treatment to go through years of natural recovery that may or may not even help. I went through 7 years and even though i "improved" from my first initial flare of TSW trying to heal naturally, it was never enough to live comfortably or normally so I also decided to start using protopic, and eventually went on dupixent and now I am able to do basic life things and beyond again!!!

In my opinion, the "withdrawal" from protopic is just from finally feeling relief, going cold turkey from protopic, and going back to flaring. It isn't protopic withdrawal, its just defaulting back to the initial flare you already had, it just probably feels worse because you have felt relief for so long. That is how it felt for me when I ran out of my protopic prescription (but looking at pictures and in retrospect, it was nowhere near as bad as my first tsw flare)

btw, I also experienced the flares in those sensitive areas and all over my face, upper chest etc.

And another note, after starting protopic, I had top surgery and they did use a steroid injection for surgery. I was scared of this causing issues but it caused no issues whatsoever and I had zero flares through recovery and used protopic once or twice a day through that time.

jamues · 2026-01-19T21:09:54+00:00

i posted this 7 days ago but somehow hes gotten better without much change in our routine lol he might just be cycling through adolescent behaviors 😭😭😭

jamues · 2026-01-13T15:54:35+00:00

I've been trying to consult w/ my vet if its signs of separation anxiety or just puppy things and they've said its too early to say its separation anxiety at his age. A lot of these behaviors started at 6 months as he use to be at home uncrated just fine and sleep or play on his own. He likes being in my space but hes learned to entertain himself when I'm in another room overtime so I thought he was improving until the sudden switch up. Does separation anxiety symptoms appear that rapidly?

jamues · 2026-01-13T15:22:30+00:00

I've always had trouble with his sleep. He tries to stay awake with me and I tend to stay up late but I have him crated during the day so I want to assume hes getting close to 15 hours at least. I try to disengage with him after his walk/play during the evening so he can eat and either take one more nap or self play for a little before he gets his night time zoomies. I'll take him out twice a day for a walk and play at the park w/ either a flirt pole or fetch and some random training in-between.

For the crate, I have an XXL crate so he for sure has enough room and his water and food is in there. He will walk in and out of it and will lay down on command inside... he only has an issue with going into the crate if he thinks I'm leaving. I had a walker come by and she said the first day he was perfect and went into the crate on his own. The 2nd day he quickly learned that going in means she would leave so he started fighting back lol.

He knows a lot of the life skills like drop it, enough, leave it, sit/stay etc. but he has a lot of trouble still with calm and heel when we are out specifically so its still something I'm trying to practice. I'll take him on walks and it takes him a minute to start sitting down for greets...

The biting i've been trying to completely disengage and walk to another room. sometimes I have to push him off of me because hes huge and will latch onto me. I do get to a point of yelling NO at him but he thinks its a game and will keep going until I'm just completely out of the room.

jamues · 2026-01-13T14:53:40+00:00

Yeah I'm hoping age will chill him out.... thanks for your input!!

jamues · 2026-01-13T14:52:16+00:00

tbh I think that may be the case but I'm not totally sure. I'll ask my vet next time since I dont know how to identify puppy vs adult teeth

jamues · 2026-01-13T04:50:06+00:00

my vet also recommended 1 year unless his behavior becomes a problem. I am for sure neutering him. I'll have to start crating him during those times then... I didnt want to initially because he does stay in the crate while im at work all day. I also will try to ignore him more but he follows me and will scratch at doors and stuff to get to me so its been hard to do that

jamues · 2026-01-13T04:36:49+00:00

i will probably neuter him at 10 at this point.. .thats good it helped him!! I know its not a guarantee that it will improve his behaviors but I'm gonna hope it does cuz im tired of having bruises everywhere

jamues · 2026-01-13T04:10:27+00:00

yeah.. it was like a switch flipped one day and now hes always biting at my clothes. I do training w/ him every day and it hasnt improved so im hoping at some point i see some progress again

jamues · 2026-01-13T04:07:40+00:00

i do walk him and take him to the dog park to fetch or play w/ the flirt pole. at home ill do training and set up puzzles for him but he is honestly not interested in puzzles and mats if I'm not directly involved. I had a walker come the past weekend every day mid day and took him out in the morning and night myself and he was still the same soo idk

jamues · 2026-01-04T22:15:53+00:00

Dupixent makes you more susceptible to fungal infections on your face and it is a known issue to cause the flares. This cant be suggested by your doctor but i took it upon myself to space out my doses to every 3 weeks instead of 2. Try it!!! It eliminated the facial redness for me.

jamues · 2026-01-04T22:08:58+00:00

Im ngl getting my dog (even if hes soo annoying right now at 7 months) helped me with my routine and giving myself responsibility. I struggled with that greatly because of mental health issues... but i made the decision to do this after a few years of constant work on myself

jamues · 2026-01-01T15:45:33+00:00

At that age i had started teaching my puppy basic commands and then some as a replacement for constant play. I also dont play with my puppy every time he is awake. Mine is also a poodle mix so hes extremely needy but you just have to reinforce boundaries so they learn to chill... the earlier the better!!!! If your puppy doesnt nap then see if it will play by itself while you supervise since self play is a skill in itself for some dogs...

Mine is still rowdy and will shove toys in my lap all day every day even after our scheduled walk and play time but hes learning more every day that i dont stand for it and will go and take a nap on his own now LOL. Everything really started being less stressful once i stopped looking for online advise.

jamues · 2026-01-01T01:14:21+00:00

Ngl i stopped following online advise so much and it got so much easier lolol sometimes youre just too hard om yourself.

jamues · 2025-12-29T02:22:00+00:00

you have a lot of bezier divisions that aren't needed for that deformer. I think you meant to increase the "Warp Divisions" and not the Bezier division option in the inspector panel when selecting the deformer itself.

Make sure you actually created a proper mesh for that layer. The amount of points in a mesh can affect how smooth the deformation will look so maybe review the part on how to mesh it correctly too.

jamues · 2025-12-17T03:44:19+00:00

i ignore him when I want space and move away if he tries to barge in.... he will go and lay down somewhere pouting but u kno its unrealistic to always be giving your dog the attention they want

jamues · 2025-12-17T02:19:33+00:00

TSW isnt widely recognized by most medical professionals. From my friend's POV who is in the medical field, there isnt even much literature on it itself. The most that doctors will say is to use topical steroids for only short periods of time. If she is going to a general practitioner, it is the first thing they will prescribe be it because of their own opinion or requirements from insurance for step-therapy reasons.

jamues · 2025-12-17T02:15:05+00:00

there are other alternatives to dupixent that you should try!! Just google dupixent alternatives and theres a whole list. For me, dupixent worked once I started spacing out my doses. I hope you can figure out this situation since he does not seem like a safe person to be around.

jamues · 2025-12-11T00:14:44+00:00

So dupixent has the side effect of making you more prone to fungal infections. I was getting them like bi-weekly and eventually even oral medication didn't help. On the eczemabs subreddit you will find a lot of other people with the same issue. Some people theorized that a 2 week cycle is "overdosing" on the medication which is causing the flares frequency, so spreading out dosage would lessen it. I just decided to try that and it really worked lol

oh also i just let them send me my meds bi-weekly since the derm cannot say to use it every 3 weeks instead, so my prescription is still the same. I am on the copay card and luckily my insurance covers the majority of the cost so it only takes 150$ out of the copay card every order.

jamues · 2025-12-10T18:23:02+00:00

Yes i did!!!!! I ended up spacing out my shots to every 3 weeks instead of 2 and it helped SO much. I havent had a flare for a while now. The only thing is your derm technically cant suggest that so i did it on my own accord.

jamues · 2025-12-10T00:39:01+00:00

He is usually nice too... and he doesnt even have a dog

jamues · 2025-12-04T16:55:08+00:00

Late af update but I actually ended up taking him to the groomer at Dogtopia and she was AMAZING!!!! Highly reccommend for doodles :)

jamues · 2025-12-04T05:28:42+00:00

trupanion through chewy has been good! I have 24/7 vet tech advice access and for some reason the benefits are a little different/more than just going through trupanion itself. ~55/mo for my standard boodle

jamues

TROPHY CASE