I wanted to give an update in case anyone was going through something similar. After seeing the derm several times and being honest about his current and past drug use we have answers and it turns out he has severe eczema.
He never had any symptoms before so we didn’t think that could be it but the derm said stress can trigger it at any point.
At it’s worst his entire upper body was so dry and scaly, his arms, hands and back had cracks that bled and no lotion or treatment we tried helped at all and we tried all of them. oatmeal baths, bleach baths, fragrance and dye free everything……Hydrocortisone worked but I worried about topical steroid withdrawal. The derm put him on Dupixent he hates it, the shots are very painful and they’re once every 2 weeks it’s been 4 months and he’s only about 60% so we’re going to go back to adjust his dosage.
He quit using completely, quit cigarettes and started exercising to treat his body better. His stress level has also improved a lot but the eczema still stuck around but slowly getting better.
Thank you so much to everyone who left helpful responses I felt helpless and seeing a loved one suffer is so far, I appreciate you taking the time to give your opinion.
If you’re suffering with similar symptoms try to see a derm asap I wish we would have insisted much earlier on a referral to see a derm instead of letting his GP try several unsuccessful treatments. I now know the hell eczema can be and I’m so sorry you’re suffering. It can get better with right meds. They’re expensive but we asked about ways to make it more affordable for us and there are several options to help. Google Dupixent my way.
To the people who responded with just go see a doctor, he needs a doctor etc when I already said in my main post we were waiting on his appointment thank you your advice it was invaluable and helped immensely you really saved the day.
