Articles on Steroid Addiction

One of the main problems that people have when they come off steroid creams is explaining the decision to their doctor. Many doctors simply refuse to acknowledge the possibility that steroid creams can be addictive or cause damage to the skin when used long term.

However, there are many scholarly articles available that strongly back up our position. I have included some of them on here, so feel free to print them off to use as a resource to use with your doctor or dermatologist.

Firstly, I would recommend printing the scientific articles on the ITSAN website which are the main documents that we use to explain our condition. .

Dr Marvin Rapaport, Dr Albert Kligman and the Japanese Doctors Fukaya and Sato are some of the original doctors who were writing about steroid withdrawal decades ago before it hit the mainstream media. It is interesting that many doctors in different parts of the world were able to discover the same thing about topical steroids. The following articles support Dr Rapaports findings by coming to the same conclusions.

Steroid Addiction in Malta This article quotes Dr Suzana Ljubojevic, speaking at the First World Congress of the International Academy of Cosmetic Dermatology . She said that "Patients persist in using steroid creams or ointments because they have typically learned the hard way about the severe rebound inflammation that occurs if they stop. In short, they find themselves caught between rosacea like steroid dermatitis and the erythematous pustular eruptions of steroid rebound."

Indian Journal of Dermatology This article was created by the collaboration of many respected doctors and dermatologists. The conclude that "Effective treatment of TC addiction and rosaceiform dermatitis is possible, and results in significant improvement in the quality of life of these patients. Treatment of facial adverse effects of TCs focuses on complete cessation of use, which can be abrupt or gradual, depending on the potency of the product and duration of use. In cases of addiction, progressively less-potent TCs are introduced over a period of weeks to months."

Morphologic Investigations on the Rebound Phenomenon After Corticosteroid-Induced Atrophy in Human Skin. This article is from 1983, but one of its authors Dr Albert Kligman was writing about steroid cream addiction as long ago as 1979. In this experiment, the doctors applied steroid cream to volunteers and noted the skin reaction. Rebound symptoms occurred. Note the amount of references at the bottom of the article. Each reference leads to more articles about steroid addiction. Plenty of evidence if you are looking for it!

I will be posting more articles on subsequent blog pages.