A Leeds woman who became a recluse after developing severe eczema triggered by the menopause has found a 'miracle' cure.
Serena Fenton said she went through "months of suffering" when the skin condition flared up around her eyes, making her look like an "awful red swollen toad". The 55-year-old mother of two said that previously her skin had been one of her best assets, but in January 2023 she found that her eyes suddenly became severely swollen and red.
The property manager said she even went as far as wearing sunglasses so that she could 'mask' her "extremely sore and very itchy" eyes when leaving the house. Serena also said she began apologising to people she met up with in advance, as she was feeling very self-conscious of her eyes.
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Serena, who is a grandmother of five, said that it was only at the start of the year that her eyes became red and puffy. She said: "Until the start of this year, I’d never had any issues with my skin, which has been one of my best assets.
"But in January this year, my eyelids started to swell and were very red – I felt and looked awful and had to wear sunglasses outside to mask it all, even though it was the middle of winter. My eyelids became extremely sore and very itchy in a matter of weeks – I didn’t know what was happening to me.
"They then started to swell and look really puffy."
Talking of how much her confidence was knocked during this time, she said: "I had to attend a family funeral while all this was going on, and I was very self-conscious about my awful red, swollen eyes – everyone kept asking me if I was alright, it was embarrassing. After a while, I just started apologising in advance to everyone I met for my demon eyes but couldn’t explain the reason for the flare up as I had no idea."
The eczema was so bad it also started to impact Serena in other ways, saying: "It actually makes you feel quite drained because you have a bad night’s sleep from waking up at night with the itching and burning.
"I also had quite low moods, and I did not want to go outside." After trying out Vaseline and aloe vera gels, she went to her GP who prescribed her steroid treatment, hydrocortisone cream. However, this also did not work, instead she felt that it was making the condition worse.
She said: "I used the hydrocortisone for the whole month before contacting my GP to explain it was having no effect and in fact was actually making it slightly worse. I decided I must start researching for myself to find something to help me."
So Serena decided to do some research of her own online. And while looking for some alternative treatments she found comments from other eye eczema sufferers that linked the skin problem with the menopause - and another trip to her GP confirmed that eczema-ridden eyes is a side effect of the menopause.
She said: "That was when it first occurred to me that this was probably what I had been going through too. Nothing quite prepares you for just how strange things are going to be with the menopause.
"I’ve come from a generation where my mother and my grandmother would not discuss or mention menopause, so I did not really know what to expect. But when the doctor actually said my eyes could be because of the menopause, it made perfect sense. I can see that my body could somehow get super sensitive."
Another thing Serena discovered while researching her condition was the 'miracle cure' that cleared her eyes back up. After reading the rave reviews of Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel, she decided to give it a try.
And she claims that after one day the itching had stopped, and after one week the redness and swelling had practically disappeared. She said: "The relief was incredible.
"After trying the gel, my awful red swollen toad eyes were back to normal after months of suffering, doctor visits and trying endless products that did nothing or made them even worse. The relief was incredible – for me, it was miraculous."
Serena added that her confidence was restored as well, commenting that other sufferers should "definitely give the gel a go". She said: "It’s been miraculous for me. When it comes to women experiencing the menopause, it feels like everything is at a low point anyway, and having extra things like this can be the final straw – it can really be debilitating.
"I wish we knew more about the menopause – but hopefully the next generation will be better set up than my generation."
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