Goodbye 2018

The end of the year is drawing to a close.

2018 has been a massive year for my health. Early March, I decided to take the plunge and hit the road for some travel and adventure. Admittedly, along the way there was some minor set backs. But by 'minor' I mean nothing compared to the dark, early days. Sure I get a few flares during any given day. This however, is very minimal and lasts only for a few minutes before the itchiness retreats again.

As of the time of speaking, I no longer put ANYTHING on my skin. Nothing at all. My skin is much more resilient and stronger than before & during Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW). Dare I say it's the best condition its ever been in?. Yes, I can gladly confirm that as a fact. It can hold moisture on its own, all my natural oils have returned, movement and flexibility are normal, diet, showering, sleeping and exercise are no longer any issues as they were before.

1,744 Days or 4 years & 9 months deep in to withdrawal now (Today 11/12/18). This year I was fortunate to experiment with different medicines that are not really well known in the west. If you read my last update, I briefly talk about these 'plant medicines - Ayahuasca & San Pedro.' I strongly believe that these PM'S have been a huge factor in where my health is at, currently right now. Along with the consistent, warm and humid weather of my present location; Puerto Escondido - Oaxaca, Mexico. My overall health has normalized greatly.

I don't have any scientific proof of my findings. However, my belief is that these PM's helped heal my gut and internal organs. Some people speculate that Eczema is the cause of a damaged gut. “All disease begins in the gut.” - as quoted from Hippocrates. I think this may have been the root cause with my own, individual case. Other people heal without anything but time. But, what if there is another way?. What if these PM's can heal us quicker?. I strongly advise that you to do your own research. This might be the magic pill that we've all been searching for. 

The only niggling seed of doubt I have is when I do eventually return home to Scotland. Why?. Because the weather. Yes, the PM's may or may have not helped as I believe. It might just have been that old chestnut which is time. Time along with the beach lifestyle might have got me where I am at the moment. If you pardon the pun, I have to go with my gut instinct. I strongly believe that all that I've mentioned have helped with my healing. So, with all that being said, I will keep you informed when I do return back home. Maybe the PM'S, the weather and my stress free lifestyle combined have all been positive factors with my healing timeline. Truthfully and with hand on heart I honestly don't know. All I know is that my symptoms have greatly reduced, with my all round health reaching optimum levels. 

My skin is no longer a daily issue. My mental health is in the best state that it has been in years. Life is good. In fact life is AMAZING. I'm doing what I've always wanted to do, which is travel and explore, meet new friends and enjoy living in the moment. This was only a dream that I would often fantasize about during the early months/years whilst going through the horrific motions that TSW dealt me.

Please feel free to get in touch for any information that you may require.

I wish you comfort if you are in a bad place. Take care & happy healing.

All the very best for 2019!

Gary
 

Day 90 of withdrawal

Day 884

Most recent

Most recent (2)

 

Fifty Five Months

Hello folks,

Yip, its update time again. I've been very lazy & a bit lackluster with keeping the blog up to speed of late. Truth being told and the God's honest truth that is, is that I simply couldn't be bothered with keeping it updated like I had been doing so.

Harsh but true. I know. Thankfully, It's gotten to the point that thinking about my skin isn't or hasn't been on the daily agenda like we've came to know. Traveling, exploring & having fun have!. Just worked out that I am 55 months into TSW as of today (03/10/18). Funny how these occurrences work out, huh?. For the past seven months, I've been very fortunate to have been traveling around some parts of South America. My last post was near the start of my time abroad. A lot of incredible situations and events have been 'tasted', if that is the correct word to use to describe these events, ha ha. During this time however, my skin has been a bit up and down as I've traveled. For example, at the very beginning of visiting South America, I was in a much more warmer & humid environment in Ecuador. I then headed north to the capital which is called Quito. In Quito, it was still nice weather, but it wasn't as humid as the previous city that I had been in.

After Quito, my next destination was the city of Cuenca. This is when the 'shit hit the fan', guys. The weather was mixed with more rain and clouds being involved rather than the blessings of humidity and sunshine that I had previously tasted (ha, yip, there's that word again). My skin began to flare once again. I was proper gutted as you could imagine, folks. I thought that maybe the skin would clear up quicker like many of us are often guilty of thinking. But, nope. It got worse and worse with time. Now I say worse but what I actually mean is that my arms, hands, legs and feet were the only spots to succumb to that particular flare. Thankfully, it never spread to my face. The only issue there was that my scalp became super dry and flaky. However, not unlike it had done so in the past.

For personal reasons I can't disclose why I was in Cuenca, all I can say are the words 'Ayahuasca', 'San Pedro' and 'Kambo.' I'll just leave that there. You'll have to conduct your own research I am afraid. Yes, I am being lazy again. I would just like to keep this update as compact as possible as I'm not a huge fan of writing up & reading long blog posts.

Back to the skin. The flare stuck around for roughly 3 - 4 months, the darkness had well and truly returned. It wasn't until I visited the beach in Northern Peru that the flare had stopped. Now, I can only speculate that the plant medicines, frog poison, along with time and the fantastic beach weather/lifestyle were the reasons behind this. I spent about a month in the beach town, which was called Mancora. Mancora has a reputation of being a bit of a party place. This is definitely the case. As I did enjoy the odd one or six parties whilst being there. Well, wouldn't have you after being through what we are/had been going through?.

I have to say that I believe everything mentioned is and was a massive factor in the fortunate place that I am currently in at the time of writing.

As always with the ending of most of my posts, I must mention & confirm that I'm still not 100% healed. I would say about 93% healed if using percentages!. For sure I'm a thousand times better, that is a given. The plan is to do another update before the year is out. So, until then, I wish you a gentle and speedy recovery.



Gracias for stopping by!.

A tiny bit of discoloration. Not in any means the end of the world.

Good times with my American friends in Cusco, Peru

What is Topical Steroid Withdrawal? (TSW)

Should have really posted this a long time ago to be honest. Was at a loose end the other day and decided to type up this rather simple but detailed description for the blog for you or other people who might not be entirely up to speed with what TSW actually is, or what to expect whilst going through withdrawal.

“Topical Steroid Withdrawal” or “Red Skin Syndrome” is a condition that is caused by applying corticosteroids on to areas of the body and or also, ingesting oral steroids such as Prednisolone. However, not everyone who uses the steroid creams will have an adverse reaction or get addicted. For instance, my father who had really bad eczema symptoms when he was younger, used various amounts and different strengths of TS over the years, “grew out of it” as time went on. He doesn’t require any sort of skin care regime now, as his symptoms no longer persist. This has been the case for a good number of years, thankfully & luckily for him.

From what we know already, all the evidence gathered regarding the length of withdrawal in which one can expect to go through depends on the potency, the area of skin in which the creams were applied too and the time period in which the user had applied the creams for.

The duration or time period of withdrawal is a real mystery. Sadly, as of yet, no one can predict how long it’s going to require to fully recover & be completely healed. There have been several cases in which children and adults alike have had mixed results after ceasing the usage of TS.

For example, a child aged six, who used a moderate strength of TS, applying the cream on their body (from a caregiver in this case) to such areas as behind the knees & the creases of the elbows for, let’s just say around roughly 18 months could take about three and a half years to fully recover.

Now, and adult aged 24, who used the TS creams at different potency’s ranging from low, moderate to high for over 13 years and applying it all over their body could “only” require two years to get over the finish line and be completely free from all TSW/RSS symptoms.

What I am trying to say is, you would expect that the child’s recovery duration would be a lot quicker than that of the adults, due to the age difference and the period of time that the creams were used. This oddly, as suggested isn’t always the case.

These are just some short, simple examples of the obscure nature in which TSW/RSS can be a total mind-boggling phenomenon.

Frustratingly, TSW/RSS is a condition, that at this present moment in time, is not yet fully recognized as a genuine medical condition from within the medical community, including General Practitioners and Dermatologists.

As of now, there is more and more awareness of the condition being brought to the public's attention with tools such as social media and the Internet playing a huge part  in getting the information out there.

What are the symptoms of TSW/RSS?

Some of the typical but by no means the least amount of symptoms that one could expect from entering withdrawal can include;

• Persistent itchy, red and burning skin

• Skin cycling between swelling, oozing, burning, drying and flaking

• “Red sleeves” (arms & legs become red and inflamed, sparing only the palms & soles)

• Enlarged lymph nodes

• Swelling of body parts – Edema (or Oedema)

• Changes with body temperature (feeling too hot or too cold)

• Appetite fluctuation

• Insomnia, fatigue and mood changes such as depression and anxiety
  
  
  
  
  
  

Please visit the following sites;

ITSAN (International Topical Steroid Addiction Network)

Link: https://itsan.org/

Dr. Rapaport who is also a pioneer with all things related to TSW/RSS

Link: http://www.red-skin-syndrome.com/


Facebook, Twitter and Instagram have various helpful and imformative support groups, also. Just have a search for them.

I hope this article made some sense to you and gave you a brief insight in to what someone going through TSW/RSS might be dealing with & suffering from.

All the best out there,

Gary

First Update of 2018

Hey,

Felt like giving you folks an update of my current TSW predicament. Still not 100% over the line yet. Up and down, up and down, round and round, round and round the bizarre and maddening pattern of withdrawal I continue to go. Are you riding along too?. Face, neck and hands are the most stubborn area's of flaring. Sleeping or lack of it is still not quite there yet. I wake up a few times during the night, every night for the record to have a scratch, but quickly fall back to sleep, thankfully. Just a bit frustrating that am yet to manage a perfect, uninterrupted full night's sleep from dawn to dusk like one could manage, pre TSW. I guess patience is something you learn to accept and have during withdrawal.

With all that being said, life is definitely more bearable with each new, passing month. When I do have a "big" flare, my body & irritated spots heal much more quicker. I can have a bad day with tearing my skin up, then wake up the very next day, shower and get on with it. No big deal I suppose. I only put a tad of Shea butter on the driest of places, once per day in the morning now after showering for your information. Maybe once or twice I'll put a small bit of Shea on during the day if needed, but, not everyday that is.

A week ago I took the plunge and decided to attempt backpacking around South America. My trip started in Guayaquil, Ecuador last week. Quite a bold move you say, no?. The reason why is to see if being in the constant warm & sunny weather would finally see my skin fully recover. Also, it's nice to have some sort of adventure. I've been wearing shorts and t -shirts on the regular over the last few days. This is a huge milestone for me, as it's been years since I've had the confidence to do such things. Simple things, yes. But, simple things I can 200% bet you will and would be able to relate too, dear reader.

I plan to stay in S A for at least three months minimum. This is just to see how my skin reacts. If it's a positive reaction then I guess I continue the adventure. So far so good am glad to report!.

There you have it. Just a quick , short update for you. Four years have now passed with this monkey on my back. How long left?. Who knows... I will keep posting until that day comes, so we shall find out!. Slowly but surely getting there. As I touched on earlier, patience is the name of the game for me at this particular stage of TSW.

Hope the update pleased you!. How have you been doing lately?, Drop me a comment, please!.

Keep fighting on my friends!.

Cheers,

Gary