Day 66 (photos)

Yesterday was a good day, and I was able to go out on the evening, so I'm feeling human again.

I askes on the forum about the pitted areas that I mentioned yesterday. It is apparently quite common to get these pitted areas during steroid withdrawal and the phenomenon is called vesiculation. Unfortunately, my camera doesn't have a good close up feature, so I can't take photos, but if you follow yesterday's link to Juliana's blog there is a good example photo on day 137.

I thought I would post some progress photos.

I am really pleased with the improvement in my neck. Last week, it was like a piece of bacon, red, raw and wet! Since the end of the flare, the skin has flaked off and feels baby smooth. Although the area is pink, the colour is a lot paler than it has been in a while and it is definitely getting better. I can move my neck and there is no weeping or oozing. For the first time in a while I was able to sleep without something round my neck to mop up the ooze. I am so happy, and I really hope that the next flare, whenever it comes, does not undo all the progress in this area! I still can't tolerate high necked clothing though and I like to have the skin exposed to the air as much as possible to minimise sweating.

As you can see, the back of my leg is terrible and walking is still a big problem for me, as it stings so much! If I remain in a sitting position for too long, the area gets wet and oozy. I have to keep my legs stretched out as much as possible. The area is also very itchy, so healing is slowed down by my fingernails scratching the area! I am thinking of bandaging this area with some tubular bandage to promote healing and keep it safe from scratching. this is by far the worst area at the moment, so the symptoms of withdrawal seem to be moving down my body. Interestingly, this is not really an area where I ever applied much steroid cream, and my face, where I applied lots of steroid creams, seems to be recovering OK.

Things are generally going in the right direction, and with no sign of flare number 4 just yet, so I will make the most of things and take it easy.