The flare seems to be subsiding. The skin is less weepy and less raw. This last flare lasted 6 days, so I seem to be at a stage where I flare for a week and then I am calm for a week.
I was re-reading Dr Rapaport's paper and it said that symptoms of withdrawal tend to peak by 4-6 months and then the flares get less and less. I'm not sure what that means for me, as I am almost at 4 months, but my flares seem to be less intense. I do know of some people who thought they were over the worst and then had a huge flare at 4, 5 or 6 months, so I don't know if I can rest easy yet.
I am starting to get an idea of the products that work for me. Everyone is different as regards what they can tolerate on the skin, and one man's medicine is another man's poison, but here are some of my topical steroid withdrawal "must haves":
Antihistamine: I always take an antihistamine at night to lessen he itch. I just use a generic supermarket product, like loratidine or cetirizine, but others have had success with prescription products like Atarax and Zyrtek.
Moisturiser: My skin likes the Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector cream, as it is rich, and great at moisturising very dry areas. I also like Zeoderm by Salcura. It cleared up my daughter's eczema within days, and I have just ordered another bottle from Amazon. I recently got to test the new Olay Total Effects Sensitive cream, which has lovely ingredients like Sea Buckthorn and Pro Vitamin B5, I found that it was well tolerated by my sensitive skin and contained no nasty chemicals. Other steroid withdrawal sufferers have found benefit from pawpaw cream, coconut oil, or the David Hoskins Psoriasis cream. Vaseline is usually well tolerated on even the most sensitive skin and is not absorbed, so forms a barrier on the skin.
Dressings: The very weepy skin areas and wounds require moist wound healing. I use a dressing pad with a layer of plastic to keep the exudate off the skin and apply a thin layer of vaseline to the wound, securing the pad with microporous tape.
Silk Pillowcase/scarf: I love my silk pillowcase and also use it as a wrap around my neck when my neck is oozing. The coolness of the fabric is soothing.
Suitable clothing: Brushed cotton pyjamas at night with socks over my hands to prevent me scratching! A bra that "seperates" to avoid oozing skin in the central chest area. Sometimes I also put a layer of tissue under the bra line to absorb ooze. In the day, I wear T shirts and summer skirts in the house. It is important to wear comfy clothing that can be washed frequently, because they will get greasy from the creams. I tie my hair back off my face.
Epsom Salt: I love my Epsom baths, which were a sanity saver in the early days. Dead sea salt and oatmeal baths are also good. One forum member adds coconut oil to the epsom baths to make it less drying. Epsom salt also adds magnesium to the body, which helps water in the body to penetrate skin cells and hydrate the skin.
Cleanser: Water can feel irritating on a sensitive face. I like Cetaphil, which I can wipe off gently with a cotton wool pad. The Avene high tolerance cleanser is also very good.
Supplements: I like a good basic multivitamin with Omega 3 and 6. I also take selenium and zinc.
Anyone considering withdrawing from steroid creams would do well to formulate a "survival kit" like this if they want to succeed.
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