Stories of Those Healed From Topical Steroid Addiction Part 1

I am, writing this post in response to a comment on the Itsan Forum that I read yesterday:

"I am getting kinda scared because I find it so hard to read through the research reports on itsan &I feel like I have only seen one healed blog and I am getting worried healing wont happen. There are people with blogs that are almost completely healed, but when I started this whole thing I found a blog of someone in this situation..now 7 months later she is bad again, weeping and all that and it is making me scared that healing wont happen? I know this isn't true on a logical level but I am still get really scared feelings.

I feel like there are so many of us with blogs of our struggles, but like none of us better. Am I missing something maybe? People still seem to be quite bad a couple of years down the track and it is scary."

 

Her comments resonated with me, because I felt that way myself many times during withdrawals. When I first stopped steroids, I had read a lot about healing, but didn't really know of anyone who had healed.

 

Luckily, things are changing and there are many people blogging about their steroid withdrawal journey. As a result, the healing stories are trickling in, which is very encouraging to those just starting out on this long road.

 

I should point out that steroid withdrawal takes between 6 months and several years, depending on duration and potency of the steroid used. This is why a lot of stories, my own included, have many ups and downs on the road to healing.

 

Anyway, I thought I would provide links to the blogs of those healed, in order to give others a little bit of encouragement. There are quite a lot of healing stories, so I am going to spread them out over a couple of days, as I don't want to write a ridiculously long post!

 

Here goes....

 

Kristina's Story:

 

When I started my steroid-free journey, there was a lady called Kristina on the forum, who was having a tough time watching her young daughter go through TSW.

 

Kristina and her husband had struggled, taking their daughter to every hospital and specialist imaginable in search of a cure for their daughter's spreading "eczema". The doctors only prescribed steroid creams and the parents spent lots of money on alternative treatments such as water softeners, NAET, acupuncture and special clothing. Nothing worked.

 

In August 2011, when their daughter was just 3 years old, the parents decided to stop using steroid cream on their child after finding Kelly Palace's Addicted Skin website (the precursor to Itsan).

 

Withdrawal was horrific, and left parents and child drained and exhausted. Kristina had bouts of depression and anger.

 

Slowly, however, things started to change. Children tend to heal quicker than adults, as they have not had so many years of steroid use and their skin seems to regenerate better. Finally, after nine months off steroids, their daughter had beautiful, clear skin.

 

The child is now five years old and has no recurrence of the rashes that previously plagued her. her skin is normal, healthy and clear. She can do whatever she likes, without any restrictions due to her skin.

 

Kristinas blog, along with pictures can be found at http://scratchymonster.blogspot.co.uk/

There are some great before and after photos here.

 

Jake's Story

 

Jake and his partner Libby live in Australia. They may live on the other side of the world from me, but we share a special bond because Jake and I stopped steroids at the same time. This is why I call him my "skin twin"!

 

I loved reading their blog, because they took a unique approach to TSW. They tackled the TSW using a multi-layered approach; though diet, alternative therapies and nutrition. I was really interested to see how their alternative methods would affect healing time.

 

The pictures that Libby posted of Jake's withdrawal were graphic. I remember one photo showed a pile of dead skin that Jake had shed that day! His skin was red, raw and flaky. It was in very poor condition in the early days.

 

Withdrawal took its toll on Jake emotionally. He struggled with a condition similar to post traumatic stress disorder due to everything he had been through emotionally and physically.

 

It took 18 months for Jake to heal completely, with lots of ups and downs. You can see his healing photos here. His skin is now completely clear and smooth and he can live his life again.

 

OK...that's all I have time for today. I will be adding more stories over the coming days and if you have a healing story you would like me to share, please leave a comment on the blog and I will get back to you. Thanks.