The first thing I wrote on my own arm was "NEW HERE"
Ghena had just discovered other people had this. Two minutes later the letters were raised on her skin. Her story from that moment to a settled routine.
Ghena ·
- Living with it
- 1–3 years
- Main trigger
- Scratching, pressure and heat
- What helped
- Antihistamines, cool showers and not panicking about it
My name is Ghena, and this is my dermatographia story.
The first thing I ever wrote on my own arm was "NEW HERE". I'd just found out other people had this, and I wanted to see it for myself the way I'd seen it in other people's photos. Two minutes later the letters were standing up off my skin, pale and raised, and I sat there staring at my own arm feeling equal parts fascinated and freaked out.
Before I knew what it was, I thought I was allergic to something and just failing to find it. I changed soap. I changed detergent. I cut things out of my diet. Nothing made a difference, because the thing setting it off was just... touch. My skin reacts to being pressed, scratched, rubbed, or overheated, and it doesn't need a reason beyond that.
The itch is the hard part, not the writing. The writing is almost a party trick. The itch is what keeps me up, especially when I'm warm in bed or stressed about something.
What helps me: an antihistamine, cooler showers, and honestly, calming down about it. When I first got diagnosed I checked my skin constantly and every check involved touching, and every touch made more welts. Leaving it alone was a real treatment.
I'm sharing this because when I searched for it I mostly found medical pages. I wanted to find a person. So — hi, I'm a person, and I have this too.