TSW Highlighted in the Mainstream Media

Just sharing some awareness from "big media" regarding withdrawal from the you know what's.

The article featured is from The Daily Mail newspaper, here, in the UK. Feeling quite pumped about this latest piece of recognition. It's getting out there folks!. Hopefully it's not too long for our condition to be recognized as a genuine medical illness. The future is looking bright gang. And hopefully not of the red variety either;)

Credit goes to Louise who's blog I found the article from. I also tip my hat to Laura Stageman, who the story is about.

Will update you on my own condition & progress in early January.

Take care and don't be too hard on yourselves. Remember you're going through a terrible ordeal which is no fault of your own. We can do this. We all have an end time. A guaranteed, better quality of life is at the finishing line awaiting us.

All the best for the new year. Healing thoughts & positivity be with you.

You can find the online news story here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3350782/Eczema-patient-spent-20-hours-day-bath-soothe-flaking-skin-suffering-severe-reaction-stopped-using-steroid-creams.html

Loise's blog link is here:  http://topicalsteroidwithdrawal.blogspot.co.uk/


Gary

19 Months Update

Hi fellow itchy friends.

Been a while. How you doing?. Just passed the 19th month mark of my withdrawal a few days ago. So what's my current status with my withdrawal I hear you ask?.

Recorded a short video with all the gory details :)

Hope your skin is treating you good.

All the best,

Gary

17.5 months (Day 534) Update

Hi folks.

Day 534 has now been reached in my quest in being healed from TSW.

Where do I begin to fill you in on my progress?. Lets start with my diet. I posted (2nd last entry) about trying the gluten free & dairy free diet. Has it worked. Hmmmm, not 100% sure to be fair. Obviously there are health benefits in cleaning up ones diet but has it affected my healing?. As stated above I don't quite know. It's been a hard change and I have to admit there has been some days where I've ate some gluten and had some dairy. I'd say that I've stuck to the diet about 80% of the time. My lymph nodes have gotten smaller so there's less inflammation over all. But, I continue to flare daily although not as intense as previously, thankfully. I have more energy too and continue to take part in sports and hit the gym which has gotten more & more consistent recently.

So to answer the question of has my diet change increased my recovery speed?. The Jury's still out on that one. It could be just a coincidence and that time is making me feel & look more normal. As we all know by now time is the one and only true healer in this battle.

I've only been applying Jojoba oil to the skin when I get out the shower or bath in the mornings. My skin is more stronger and doesn't tear up or crack open. Still have some troublesome spots but only my hands, face & neck continue to break open during a flare attack & be the most stubborn of areas to heal. The oils are returning too. I'm only putting the Jojoba oil on once or twice in any given day.

Life has taken over recently thankfully which can only be a good thing as I haven''t been thinking too much about my skin. Not long moved into a new place and have been more & more social by getting out when I can & catching up with my friends & family.

Below are some picts of my slow but comforting progress.

At a family celebration last Friday evening. My sister and I (14.0815)

As always thanks for stopping by. I hope all is well with you.

Gary

Adverse Effects of Cortisone (Corticosteroids/Topical Steroids)

Hi friends

Just sharing a link to a simple but useful website that I stumbled upon. Its filled with tons of informative info about all you need to know regarding topical steroid addiction (TSA). Including adrenal suppression, repeated infections & sleep problems.

Quite a good, wee read if I don't say so myself.


Hope all is well at your end.


Cheers

Link to website: http://www.askdrshah.com/cortisone-adverse-effects.aspx

Eureka!

 

No, no sadly I'm not healed yet...

Close, yes but not quite there I'm afraid. Although I'm fully confident I may have found the information and guidance needed that will super boost my healing capabilities. Stumbled across a blog from a fellow TSW sufferer earlier today. EUREKA!. After reading her story and viewing her images (brave, brave person by the way might I add). I've came to the conclusion that I might be suffering from a leaky gut which is prolonging my symptoms and healing time... maybe, just maybe.

Now my symptoms are nowhere near the severity as this brave lady. Hold on a minute, lets stop calling her "her" & "lady", her name is Ahfaye and she is from New Zealand. 

You can find her blog here: http://byebyesteroids.blogspot.co.uk/

The reason behind my confident self-diagnosis is her, "Ahfaye" :) hand image is very similar to my own right now. Also, recently everytime I eat wheat or sugar I break out in a flare not long after eating said culprits. Wheat and sugar are two of the many intolerance's one can have if a leaky gut is present. I've been on the old world wide web doing some research & gathering up information to give this leaky gut cleanse a shot. Now I know my symptoms could still all be related to the steroids. But I think that I'm nearing the end of my withdrawal with the leaky gut being the last remaining underlining issue that I MAY have.

Thinking to myself I've got nothing to loose. Why not give this a blast?. I'm nearly 15 & a half months into this beast now. Over the last couple of weeks I've seen HUGE improvements with my health. Most notably being my sleep. I can wake up and spring out of bed like a six year old on Christmas morning, I kid you not. Skin is slowly but surely improving too. The bodies oils are returning at a snails pace. Got a few troublesome spots hear and there like my face, back of neck, and hands. My back and ass are as soft as the day I was born. Legs and other body parts are dry but nowhere near as dry as say 3 or 4 month ago.

Got a two week break from work planned in the middle of July. This is when I'll start my cleanse. I'll include some of the links *below that will fill you in more on the symptoms of a leaky gut and how to heal it naturally. 

It involves getting some lovely Colonic Irrigation sessions and a liver cleanse for good measures too. First things first though. You have to eliminate some foods that might be causing your skin to break out and give your gut a chance to heal. Some of these foods are; Wheat, dairy, alcohol & sugar. Yip, yip all the good things I hear you say!, ha ha. Never fear though as its not the end of the world. Thankfully you can reintroduce all these foods containing the above ingredients. So relax. You'll still be able to go out with your buddies and get shit faced while eating pizza and chocolate, if that's what you're into or floats your boat.

Ah well. Feeling super excited and confident that this might be the answer to my prayers on my quest to normal, healthy skin...

Lets wait and see. Onwards & upwards we go. Hope your doing well out there;)

Gary

*Links to information about leaky gut & liver flush and how to heal them from the inside out:

http://draxe.com/4-steps-to-heal-leaky-gut-and-autoimmune-disease/

http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10908/9-signs-you-have-a-leaky-gut.html

http://www.colonzone.org/liver-flush.php 

Pre TSW - Found some old photos

Pre TSW - Found some old photos...

So I was deleting some files while cleaning up my hard drive when I stumbled across some old photos of myself from mid 2013 whilst I was still using corticosteroids.

The images show typical red skin syndrome, one of the many adverse effects from using the evil poison that is topical steroids. As you can see from the images below my skin was super red and inflamed while the others show my skin during a dry, flaky phase - all from the same month might I add.

Interestingly and thankfully I no longer suffer from that level of inflammation & redness. Well, only on my face these days. Also, that level of dryness has never returned throughout the latter stages of my withdrawal.

Just passed my 15 month into withdrawal dear reader. I will be me again, one day that is. Until then the fight goes on!.

Cheers & best wishes friends! :)


Gary


P.s.

Just thought I's share this wonderfully created video regarding TSW. The lady Briana, gives a humorous but powerful insight into what to expect while going through withdrawal. I encourage you to share the video with friends & family as it really does describe all the symptoms and negative impacts that TSW can have on ones quality of life.

Day 447 - Quick video update

The roller-coaster ride that is TSW

Day 447 - Quick video update. The 3rd of June will mark my 15 month anniversary of my withdrawal from corticosteroids. Offft, it's been one hell of a journey, I tell thee.

But I will prevail!. Hopefully by the time I reach 18 months my withdrawal will have ended. Fingers crossed.

18 months seems to be the lucky number for some people who have reached the end of their withdrawal. Not being naive. Just confident............... or stupid?, unreasonable?, ha ha.

Guess we'll just have to wait and see!.

 All the best.


 Gary 

Positive exposure for TSW & ITSAN from Canada

Hi folks.

Someone posted this article from the Huffington Post News in one of the Facebook support groups that I am a member off.

"B.C. Woman Whose Skin Fell Off Warns About Steroid Cream Addiction" is the name of said article.

 Full story can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/05/15/steroid-cream-addiction_n_7236986.html


Nice, positive story & a good read.



Gary



What Doctors Aren’t Telling You About Steroid Creams – Janelle’s Incredible Story. Link @ http://www.collective-evolution.com/2015/03/09/what-doctors-arent-telling-you-about-steroid-creams-janelles-incredible-story/

 Click here to listen to a documentary featuring Janelle Norman.

Join the Facebook support group. Link @ https://www.facebook.com/groups/212642132257327/

More info and all things topical steroid withdrawal related can be found @ http://www.itsan.org/

Day 432

Day 432...

Just sharing my progress as of late folks.

My energy levels are still going strong compared to previous months thankfully, dear reader.

Flaring, sadly is still an everyday occurrence for myself. It tends to get worst around the start of every new month, which is interestingly about the time that my withdrawal started, "the third day" of the month that is.

At the start of the month there (May) I started getting random, sweat attacks during the day. Embarrassingly, I was up at a friends house when it began. It got too much. My skin just started pouring out copious amounts of sweat!. Then the ITCH, f**k me the itch was intense. I asked my mate if I could hop in their shower. Que, orgasmic sounds coming from the shower room! (you know what I mean, right?) ha ha. 

Sleeping much better too. Only wake up a couple of times during the night for a good, ol' scratch then quickly, without any problems fall back to sleep.

Took some pictures of the parts of my body that were the worst affected. You can see the redness has faded. Still have some dry, eczema like spots to heal here and there too, check the picts out below.

 

 

 

As always,

Muchas Gracias for stopping by. Healing thoughts are always with you.

Gary

Progress in pictures - March 2014 to April 2015

My progress so far from March 14' to April 15'. Nearly 14 month into my withdrawal from corticosteroids.

Please scroll down below to view the images of my progression.

I warn you now that some of my pictures are quite graphic, like horror movie graphic!. 

You've been warned...

March 2014

April 2014

May 2014

June 2014

July 2014

August 2014

September 2014

October 2014

November 2014

December 2014

April 2015 - Today 23.04.15

Feeling much more like my pre TSW self again as in internally. Although my skin is still going through the motions. Maybe being completely healed is not that far away for me now, fingers crossed!.


Cheers,

Gary 

13.5 Months and a bit completed now

Red, raw but happy...

Recently I told you that I'd switched to coco-nut oil instead of good, old reliable petroleum jelly for applying to my face & neck. Well, I got a bad reaction almost instantly when I put the CO on my face so I reverted back to the PJ only applying in the mornings and if my face got a bit dry during the day. Bear in mind that I'm still continuing with the moisturizer withdrawal everywhere else.

My face and the back of my neck have been given me some serious jip of late. I think the PJ is the culprit. So from today I'm refraining from using the PJ. Someone from the Facebook support group suggested hemp oil. Luckily, I found a bottle that I purchased a couple of months back in my drawer.

So I applied the HO (no instant reaction) after my Epsom salt bath, went and sat outside in the glorious, lovely, warm sunshine that we thankfully have been getting recently here in Scotland. Came back inside the house after about an hour then went for a nap. Woke up to a big red face, ha ha but at least it wasn't dry & flaky or sore and weepy.

So for now it's hemp oil only to be applied to my face/neck. MW will continue for the rest of my body. I plan to go completely product free on my entire body once my body's natural oils return. 

In the meantime I made a short video to capture my mood at the time :)

Strength and healing thoughts to all!

Gary

13 Months down in a few days time

One year has now passed with my fight against topical corticosteroids withdrawal.

Just coming out of a big flare actually. Entering a smaller one just now. Was super dry a couple of days ago as that's me also four weeks into moisturizer withdrawal. Only doing MW in certain areas. Doing MW everywhere apart from my face, neck and hands as these parts remain the angriest areas so must keep them moisturized during the day.

Yesterday I bought some coconut oil. Going to try out only on my troublesome spots instead of the petroleum jelly. Been using petroleum jelly since month three. Looking forward to seeing if I get some results with the swap. Not been having as much Epsom salt baths and showers as I've done previously. Trying to see if my body will start producing its own oils by skipping baths and showers. My skin interestingly, goes through different cycles during any given day.

Firstly when I get up in the morning my skin is a little dry. I then get ready for work only applying the PJ to my face, neck and hands. The pain is no longer present like it was in the earlier days so I can move freely thankfully without shoving pain killers down my neck. By midday my skin is more flexible. Early evening it continues to remain comfortable. Nighttime my skin begins to get dryer. I then start scratching and have a couple of flares during bedtime. Still got the old insomnia. The insomnia isn't as bothering as it has been. Maybe I'm wide awake until about three am. Then manage to get four or five hours of sleep if I'm working. Days off I can sleep longer and well into the afternoon if I've got no plans or nothing to do that day.

You'll be interested to know I still haven't opted for the imunnos yet. In previous posts I said I was considering take Cyclosporin. Think I'm just gonna solider on through without them now. Feeling confident that I can get to the end with just good, old perseverance.

Even more good news is that I've been more social by getting out and about and hanging with friends. Went on a night on the town the other week there. Had a good time with a few tasty beverages on hand. Even managed to get a game of footie with some old mates in there too. Although sadly, I'm still not ready to play football weekly nor am I ready to hit the gym. Missing my physical activities big time. Just have to be patient and get on with it I suppose.

Nice timing with the good weather approaching to our grey skied, ladled lands. Looking forward to the warm sun and lying out the back with the nice rays hitting my body and getting a cheeky tan.

Not got much really else to say here folks. As I always say; time and comfort are the allies. Slowly but surely I'm getting there as will you too. Maybe there's light at the tunnel for myself after all?.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how far you're into with withdrawal and how you're getting on.

Hope all is well at your end.

Thanks again.

Gary

Day 362

Just a quick update here today folks.

Not started the immunosuppressant, Cyclosporine yet that I talked about in a recent post. By chance we were getting a new bathroom fitted which meant I couldn't rely on my beloved Epsom salt baths for relieve.

This helped me out tons as I think I may have been stripping the body's natural oils due to frequent bathing. Showering was all I could do because of this. The lack of bathing has had a positive effect on my skin. The angry, redness has receded. So much so that recently I've stopped applying Vaseline all over. The only parts where I apply the Vaseline are my face, neck and hands for comfort and relieve.

Still flaring daily and suffering from insomnia. Some days I don't even shower or bathe. Gonna give my skin and body more time as I'd like to avoid taking Cyclosporine for obvious reasons, side effects being my main concern.

Will update the blog on Tuesday with picts when I enter my one year anniversary into withdrawal!.

Cheers for stopping by.

See you soon.

Gary

Approaching 11 month at top speed

Yip folks eleven month is just around the corner for myself; 3.02.15 to be exact. Not much to report back I'm afraid. I've just been going through the withdrawal cycles while getting as much recovery time as possible. Took two weeks off from work in the middle of January there to help with the healing. The winter/cold weather has been a tad harsh on the old skin.

Keep on debating if I'm a slow burner or just haven't peaked yet. Mini flares continue EVERY day. Face, neck, hands and legs are the most common areas of discomfort. The awful night sweats have dissipated at the moment thankfully. Still have insomnia although taking Atarax every now and again helps (don't wanna build up a tolerance you see) energy levels fluctuate also.

Went to the Dermatologist recently to acquire about the possibility of starting Cyclosporine the immunosuppressant. Now I know the side effects are pretty hard core but it's getting to the point that I have no quality of life. If I'm not working I tend to remain in the house climbing the walls, ha ha. Sometimes I visit friends but my energy dictates that.

After doing a ton of research about Cyclosporine I feel the positives out do the negatives. I've read about people getting there lives back on track while taking the drug which is obviously very appealing. Even though the symptoms are still present there not as severe as the regular withdrawal phase. I miss getting a proper good nights sleep. I miss playing sports and hitting the gym. I miss going out and having fun with my friends. I feel like I'm in a stagnant period with no end in sight. My plan would be to start the meds and remain on them until the better weather returns.

Hell they might not even work as not everyone responds to them. I just feel it's worth a shot to try them out and get a break from the horrors that withdrawal offers. Will keep you posted as always anyway.

Below are some images of my troublesome hands.

Take care TSW friends. Speak to you soon.

Gary