Day 183: Six Month Update (photos)

Today is a bit of a milestone for me, as I have been off the steroid creams for 6 whole months! I started back in November 2011 and it has been a rough ride. I remember when I first found out about steroid withdrawal and reading that it typically took between 6-36 months for your skin to heal completely. Maybe I was an optimist, but I thought would be better by the end of the 6 months! Actually, I think most people do. There are many accounts on the itsan forums of people who thought they would be the exception to the rule and be healed in 3-6 months, or maybe that they would not go through all the nasty stuff like the oozing and redness.

Reality check.

Like I have said before, this is a marathon rather than a sprint and what I have learned over the last 6 months is that the only ones who heal quickly are children and those who have only used steroid creams for a short time. As I have 15 years or more of steroid use history, I now know my healing will be a lot longer. I currently estimate that it will probably be another 18 months before my skin is normal.

That's a lot of blogging, but I know it will be worth it!

Am I disappointed that I am not healed yet? Well, yes, of course it would be lovely to be boasting creamy white skin at this point, but I am pleased with the progress I have made this far. I also know that the place I am now is infinitely better than the place I would have been in if I had continued down the topical corticosteroid route. The creams would have continued to damage and atrophy my skin and in all likelihood cause other conditions, such as Cushings syndrome and cataracts after many years. And of course, I would have continued to have needed stronger and stronger creams to get any kind of effect.

I took the following photos this morning. I think they illustrate how slow this process is. Many of them seem like a step backwards from previous progress pictures, but I'm afraid that is the nature of TSW.

So this picture shows that my face is still quite pink! It is funny in a way, because my natural skin colour is very pale and I had a teacher at school who was always concerned with how pale I looked. maybe I should email her this photo, as I certainly have some colour in my cheeks!
My right cheek is more blotchy than the left, as it hasn't fully recovered from the flare a week or so ago. You can see that my left cheek actually has a lighter skin tone, which is the real me trying to break through!

My skin is not so bad now that I have to hide from people. When I am out, I wear my hair down, which hides some of the redness on my cheeks. It is very apparent that the skin on my face has a long way to go, but this is my own fault for slapping potent steroids on it for years.

My neck and chest areas have always been problematic throughout this whole withdrawal process. Even at 6 months, my neck still oozes at night and my chest area is usually red and inflamed when I wake up because of how I have slept.

My palm is covered with tiny watery blisters that itch. I think part of the reason that my palm is like this is because I have to wear socks over my hands at night to stop me scratching myself and the socks make my hands sweat in the night. This symptom is not too unbearable, but it stings when I wash my hands.

This is the latest picture of the "wet wound" on my left calf. It doesn't look too bad and isn't bothering me all that much. Wet wounds are a real problem in TSW. I have had this one on my leg for about 5 months now. Using moist wound techniques, I can reduce it by about 90%, but when I flare, it returns. If I sit at the computer for a long period, the skin weeps fluid, but if I raise my legs, it improves. It is always better after I have slept, as there is no pressure on my legs when I sleep. I have an identical wound on my right calf and also a similar wound on the back of my right leg. I think they will go away by themselves over time, but healing is very slow. The wounds form a papery scab which will fall off and reveal weeping lesions.

This is the wound on the back of my leg. it is similar to the calf wounds in that it takes a long time to heal. The good news is that you can see that the rest of the skin on my leg looks normal, so it isn't all bad news!

In conclusion, it has been an interesting 6 months. At the moment, the skin seems to be stuck in what I would call "mid-flare". It is not quite flaring, but it is certainly redder than it has been in previous months.

I am happy to see areas of white skin again after all this time, namely on my legs, upper arms and back. I know that the rest of me will follow. I have my little routines and habits now that help me cope with the withdrawal process: I wear loose cotton clothing during the day and brushed cotton pyjamas at night to mop up the neck ooze. I drink lots of dandelion tea and always have a relaxing chamomile tea at night, as well as an antihistamine to stop the itch. I bath in epsom salts every few days to keep the bacteria levels down on my skin. I also use hemp cream as a moisturiser, but never use as a treatment, only as a lubrication for ease of movement. I have a tube of hemp cream in every room, and in my bag too!

Another bonus of quitting steroid creams is that the cold sore virus that I used to get every couple of months seems to have stopped. I think this is because the steroid creams suppressed my immune response and now my skin is getting its immunity back. I also used to get a lot of conjunctivitis attacks in my eyes, again, I think that this was due to the steroid creams suppressing my immunity. I have not had a single case of bacterial or viral conjunctivitis since withdrawing from steroids.

I am happy with the choice that I made to quit steroids and have no regrets. I would never go back to using corticosteroid creams now I know the extent of the damage they have done.

Withdrawal is hell, but recovery will be so sweet!

My next milestone will be my 200 day milestone and I will post some more photos then.

Every day is another day closer to perfect skin.....