If your specialists has suggested that you need oral medications that suppress your immune system for your eczema, it is likely that your eczema is quite severe or has a tendency to relapse frequently.
Oral immunosupressive medications are quite effective to control eczema but not all individuals will respond well to the treatment. There are also different types of immunosuppressive medications, some which work faster than others and your specialist will discuss the various options and their efficacy with you. While these immunosuppressive medications have their own set of side effects, it is likely to be safer to take these medications for a prolonged period of time compared to a prolonged course of oral steroids, which has a lot more side effects.
As eczema is a chronic skin disease, the eczema may often flare-up again once the immunosuppresive medication is tailed off. This is not invariable but it does depend on the activity of the eczema in each individual. Those with a more severe baseline disease will be more likely to relapse and may require a more prolonged period on the immunosuppresive medications for control of the eczema.
There is a new biologic treatment called dupixent for the treatment of eczema. This is given by injection and is indicated for moderate to severe eczema. It is less immunosuppressive that traditional oral systemic medications and would be a good option for individuals who are unable to tolerate the side effects of the oral immunosuppresive medications.
