Day 177: Photo

I woke up this morning and the right side of my face felt paralysed. I realised that the skin had been weeping in the night and had crusted over slightly and the crust had hardened on my skin.

My chin was wet with clear ooze.

The rest of my body is OK, and I'm not sure whey my face is flaring so badly. Only the right side is affected.

Here is a photo of my poor face this morning:

At times like these, it feels like progress is three steps forward, two steps back.

The important thing to remember that even if this is the case, I am still making one step forward each time, albeit very slowly!

The process of steroid withdrawal has been likened to watching hair grow. Progress is excruciatingly slow, and it can often feel as if it is going nowhere. It is only when I look back at the photos I took early on in withdrawal that I can see that I am making progress. Even this blotching is better than being on the steroid creams and doing permanent damage.

Only yesterday, my husband was telling me how good my skin was looking and how it is going to thicken up and get healthy. I truly believe that to be the case.

I hope this blog shows the reality of steroid withdrawal, but ultimately, I hope the photos show the progression from severe rebound to healed skin.

Realistically, as I am near 6 months off the creams, I estimate that my skin could take another year or so to heal completely. 15 years of steroid damage is a lot of damage to undo. Those who are lucky enough to recognise the symptoms of steroid addiction early can get off the creams and avoid having a long withdrawal process. Also, kids addicted to steroid heal quickly, sometimes in a matter of a few weeks or months.

I was reading an interesting article on the Internet about the correlation between the advent of steroid therapy 50 years ago and the increase in conditions such as asthma and eczema. Whilst doctors scratch their heads as to the cause of the increase in these conditions, could there be a connection? Eczema and asthma treated with steroids cause an addiction phase which means that these conditions do not go away on their own. Childhood eczema can be outgrown, but prolonged steroid use leads to Red Skin Syndrome that causes an untreatable spreading rash that does not respond to steroid creams, requiring more potent creams to manage the situation. The condition, which could have gone away by itself, becomes a lifelong illness. Interestingly, before the advent of steroid creams, when people used herbal remedies and tar ointments to treat skin conditions, there were very few reports of eczema.

Food for thought, huh?