I started writing this back in May. I kept dipping back into it over the months, trying to get my thoughts down and clear some headspace. It was mostly a stream of consciousness, and I never really reached a neat conclusion. Now we’re approaching mid-August and I’ve been trying to decide if I leave it buried in my Notes app or just roll with it. After some deliberation on a sleepless night I decided to strip it back, remove anything that felt like an overshare, and focus more on my experience with stress and how it showed up in my body.
I’ll start by being super honest, May was not my favourite month of 2026. There were some lovely days out, calm evenings and it was a busy and full month with a much needed half term at the end. However, the overall vibe was a bit….off. I like to think I’m over the worst of the stress or at least, I’m more equipped to deal with any future hiccups along the way (fingers crossed for September). Despite having that underlying level of stress it was also a pivotal month for me, the stress hit during the time of a major shift, one that started around my birthday in early April and continues to be in full swing now. Perhaps I needed to go through the stress of May to unlock where I’m heading next. I know, my ability to flip a shitty situation and find the silver lining can be irritating, but it works for me.
So, from around the middle of May, I mostly found myself unable to sleep, crying or trying to figure out how to solve a situation that felt almost impossible. Even during Pilates, which rarely leaves me time to think, I found my mind wandering and had to fight back tears on numerous occasions. I feel very fortunate that this was the first time I experienced something like this and now that it’s August I can look back and feel grateful that it only lasted for a couple of months. I even think it was, perhaps, a slight overreaction but coupled with all the other things going on it was just too much, especially as I couldn’t find an immediate solution. I’ve since come to the conclusion that, as parents we can’t always fix every problem or find a clear solution. Sometimes the most important thing we can do is equip our children with the emotional tools and support so that they can build their own resilience.
The main reason for sharing this post is to talk about my experience of how stress affects the body, especially when it comes to eczema. With my skin, there’s usually a clear culprit, a dairy slip up (because sometimes you just need pizza), high grass pollen counts or animals. I’d never given it much thought before but stress is also a major factor.
How stress affects the body
I used to think of stress as something that happens in your head, but it turns out our bodies hold onto it much more physically than I realised. For some people, stress shows up as digestive issues and tension headaches or in my case, it all goes straight to my skin and almost overnight I come out in rashes.
A good few years back, I always linked stress to work. In more recent years that changed with the gradual build up of carrying the mental and physical load. It all just kept stacking up, there were some little signs that something needed to change but I just kept going. Then the middle of May threw a curveball, it was the final straw and boom, burnout hit.
The skin flare-ups were my body’s way of saying “hey, we’re carrying too much”. I knew I needed to make some changes to, in turn, be able to help the little person in my life who was also struggling.
How stress showed up for me
Eczema Flare-ups:
During that month my face flared up with eczema to a point that I haven’t experienced since my uni days, which was a very long time ago. I felt super self-conscious leaving the house and even hiding behind big sunglasses didn’t help. I initially thought it could have been from the high pollen count but as the days went on it became clear that it was down to stress. I soon found my hands to be covered in eczema and eventually there were rashes all the way up my arms.
After a few days of no improvement I made a late evening dash to the Beehive Centre for a tube of my trusty Avene Cicalfate+ cream, a skin barrier repair cream which has never let me down. Boots were totally out of stock so I took a gamble with a tube of Avène Tolerance and hoped for the best. It turned out to be one of my best discoveries of the year. Within a couple of days my face was well on its way to recovery, my hands calmed down and within a few weeks my arms returned to normality. Honestly, it’s magic and I’ve already repurchased it and use it every evening.
Disrupted Sleep:
I also had a good few weeks of severe muscle tension and ice pick headaches. They were a result of poor sleep from a busy mind at night. Not ideal when there were so many plates spinning, but perhaps a direct results of those sodding plates.
Emotional Overwhelm:
I’ve already mentioned about crying, a lot. It was as though my body had finally run out of capacity to keep holding everything together. It happened in-front of school mums, inside the school and mid-workout. There’s not much more to say about that but I’m so glad I’m no longer in that place because it’s not the kind of energy I want to be giving out.
What helped
So, what did I do to get on top of all of this? Because I couldn’t just leave things as they were. I had to make some changes because I really didn’t like how I was feeling both in terms of the flare-ups but also the underlying stress.
In terms of the skin flare-ups I’ve been using a simple skincare routine in the morning and evening, eating healthy food and drinking more water. Avène Tolerance has been a good addition to my evening skincare and I’ve been using the Avène Thermal Spray before applying any creams and serums to help soak in the moisture.
To tackle the stress I continued going to Pilates, walking more and quite simply, being intentional about finding time for myself.
Looking ahead
As I look towards September and the final months of the year I can’t help but feel optimistic. The stress hasn’t completely evaporated and I’m still very much wading my way through burnout but the way I handle things has changed along with my mindset and we all know, mindset is key to unlocking the life you want.
I plan to hold the new boundaries I’ve set for myself, listen to my body and continue working on filling my own cup so I can show up for the little ones who need me most. It’s all a work in progress but for the first time in years it feels like I’m heading in the right direction.