Day 219 (photos)

Finally! I am able to post some photos on here. I found my USB cable, so all is right with the world!

So here is my face. I have seen massive improvements here and it is the best it has ever been. The skin is no longer constantly dry and tight anymore and it is resuming its normal colour. My chin and sides of my nose are slightly pink, but nowhere near as blotchy as previously. And bear in mind that these areas were hammered with steroid creams daily for over a decade.

Big improvements here also.My neck had been a big problem area. Look back on my previous photos and you will see how bad my neck and chest used to be. It oozed constantly for about 6 months and was dry and flaky the rest of the time. At its worst, I could not turn my neck at all. Now it is SO much better. This area is nearly healed. The remaining redness looks like mild sunburn. I can live with that!

OK, now the not so pretty bits! Remember that over the last few days I said that my arms were the worst affected areas? Well, you can see that I have clawed my right arm to bits in the night. I think it is bad because at the moment I am sleeping on an airbed, which is a bit rubbery and sweaty, so when I lie on my side, my arm gets sweaty. Most of the damage is superficial though. The skin on the rest of my arms is lovely and the tops of my arms are silky soft.

So, in conclusion, I'm pretty happy with my progress. I am now 7 months off the steroids and my skin is getting better every day. my life is pretty normal and I am not letting the TSW get in the way. I am even hoping to go swimming for the first time since I started withdrawals soon.

There have been lots of newbies on the itsan forums starting out on this journey. I hope my photos prove that by staying the course, you will get better.