Day 210 Moving House With TSW

Wow, day 210, so that puts me at about 30 weeks off the steroids! I guess it feels like a pregnancy, counting the weeks, only at the end, instead of a new baby, you get nice, healed skin !

My "moving house" flare was short and sharp. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact I went a couple of days without a bath, which spells disaster for my skin. Once sweat and dead skin build up, it creates a vicious circle of flaring. I had a long, blissful bath yesterday and my skin instantly felt calmer and smoother.

Rest also helps. I had been on the go for weeks with no real rest or time out. I actually forced myself to take it easy yesterday and it definitely helped. i still have lots of work to do, but by taking short breaks and getting my legs up, it helps the skin and the leg swelling.

Sleep is vital with TSW, although it can be hard to get when the adrenals are messed up. I was so hyped up about the move that I didn't sleep properly for about a week and was surviving on a couple of hours sleep. The last 2 nights have been better and I have been reaching my sleep quota, with good results for my skin.

TSW is a huge learning curve, but we have many months in which to learn what helps and what doesn't. I am now in my "skin groove", as I know what works for me in the bath, what skin cleansers to use and what moisturiser to use. It is definitely not a case of "one size fits all", as what works for me will almost certainly not work for someone else and we all have to find the products that suit our skin. For example, I swear by the Body Shop Hemp hand protector cream as all all body moisturiser, as it is one of the few creams I can tolerate, but other members of the itsan forum find that the cream irritates their skin. At the same time, some of them like using Salcura Zeoderm, which I find stings my skin (although it works wonders on my daughters eczema!). We have to experiment with different lotions and potions and trial sized bottles are a great way to see what works for you.

I will get round to posting photos at some point, but my camera USB cable is still somewhere in storage!