Protopic (tacrolimus) is an immuno-suppressant, which is typically something they give to organ transplant receivers to stop their immune system rejecting their new body parts. Somewhere along the line, some clever clogs realised immuno-suppressants could also be used for dermatitis, as it stops the body’s reaction to whatever bacteria or allergy has triggered the immune system into hyper-action.
It also has its uses for people with alopecia to encourage hair to grow and it can apparently be some kind of miracle-worker on vitiligo.
After steroids failed to do anything but ward off my eczema for a week and then invite it back with a +1 ticket, and my skin was getting infected every few weeks, sometimes resulting in fever, the NHS gave in and offered me Protopic. It was mainly for my face and neck but these patches were fast spreading:
So in July 2011, I was instructed to apply it topically twice daily, but it was made clear that I was only allowed to use it for one month. At the time at least, Protopic was fairly mysterious in the long term and had been linked with increased risk of skin cancer and all sorts of other shit stuff.
For that month, the results were beautiful. Within 3 days, in fact, I was able to go out looking like a normal human being. I kept up the applications for the full month, and then afterwards had a good few weeks of feeling clear. However, as always, eczema crept back, and I was soon using it at least every other day, but mostly daily.
The first few applications of Protopic burn like Hell. I spent about 5 days and nights tossing, turning and fidgeting around the crawling burn across my skin. After that, you get used to it and can’t feel anything at all. After extensive use, you become photosensitive (but for me not unbearable) and shouldn’t be anywhere near either sun rays or alcohol (obviously broke both of these rules repeatedly). The skin once healed seems more thick but also elastic; like too much skin has grown in that area. I felt like the wrinkles appearing around my eyes were a little premature for a 21 year-old.
Four years later, I found myself feeling pretty dependent on the stuff, and if it ran out and I wasn’t able to get a repeat prescription before a weekend my world would literally come crashing down and I would explode into painful flares.
By 2015, it got to the point where Protopic was no longer being used to help my eczema but just to keep it from flaring as badly. I was increasingly aware of the dangers of prolonged use of immuno-suppressants, so whenever I found a good unmedicated alternative I tried to wean myself off. In 2013, I managed to do it for a month or so using Salcura, but then the flares got worse so I had to switch back to Protopic. Salcura have since changed the formula for their miraculous Zeoderm and it now makes my skin sting 
I then managed to wean myself off again this April with Lipobase, but as mentioned previously, this was just keeping it at bay.
I don’t want to bash Protopic, because it really did help me for years, but in my medically-unqualified opinion it should not be seen as a long term solution; it doesn't deal with the staph bacteria and there aren’t many options for tapering down in a way that leaves the skin able to fend for itself.
So for me, the risks of long term steroid and antibiotic use were sort of a no-brainer when considering Dr Aron’s treatment. If I was facing similar level risks from my far-prolonged use of immuno-suppressants and still had little quality of life, why not chance it on a different type of treatment that could quite literally give me my life back?
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