Bad flares

So I've been really stressed from uni lately. That plus < 7 hours sleep (don't judge me, I need at least 8) means FLARES. And while I'm not completely distraught over them because let's face it, I have more pressing matters to worry about at the moment, it's still incredibly frustrating. Yes, here I am feeling really anxious and stressed, let's chuck in a flare or two to really liven things up! Even better, let's make them appear on previously 'healed' skin, just as a reminder that eczema will always be hiding there below the surface!

And while we're at it, another trigger I strongly dislike is alcohol. All I want to do is have literally one drink when I'm out at dinner and my face flares for the rest of the week. I have no idea what it is about alcohol lately, but my skin really, really hates it. Of note, during my last bout of eczema (second half of last year), my skin did not actually suffer post-alcohol  barring some mildly dry skin (we're talking max. 5 standard drinks on one occasion). And even May this year when I went to a 21st and had a lot to drink (maybe 6?), there wasn't a massive change in the week following that night. But I try that shit in June post-exams, my eczema lost its mind and I woke up with very, very dry skin and the day after that, virtually my whole face had gone horribly red, rashy and weepy. Needless to say, that effectively conditioned me to fear alcohol. Even last week, when I tentatively had 2 drinks for my birthday, it flared moderately for the rest of the week - and it hasn't really recovered since then due to my stress levels. I mean, I'm not a raging alcoholic, but I like the occasional drink now and again and a (very) occasional night out, especially when there's something to celebrate. Not to mention I'm going to Europe at the end of the year - I want to take advantage of that cheap wine! I wish I knew what to do to get it back to being able to cope with alcohol :( it just feels like one more thing it's taken away from me...