Exciting News from the Medical Establishment!!!

Finally! The doctors are starting to listen to us and take steroid addiction seriously.

I found an article online from the Times of India website which shows that a group of Indian dermatologists are launching an initiative to warn their fellow doctors about topical steroid abuse. They are calling it the MATSA initiative, which stands for the Movement Against Topical Steroid Abuse.

An article on the pharmabiz website states that:

"Prof. Jayakar Thomas, president of INSTED said,“As topical steroids bring relief from itching, the patients and pharmacists start using and promoting it as magical remedy for every skin disorder, which should not be the case.  The adverse events of topical steroid abuse are steroid-induced acne, excessive sensitivity to sunlight, hyperpigmentation/hypopigmentation, cutaneous fungal and bacterial infections, striae, telangiectasis, hypertrichosis (excessive unwanted hair growth) and also systemic disorders like diabetes mellitus and cushingoid manifestations”.

Dr Dinesh Kumar, general secretary of INSTED said, “In view of the existing menace of topical steroid abuse, a Continuing Medical Education (CME) program is being organised to educate on oral antihistamines (anti-allergic drug) and topical steroid usage which happens to be common prescriptions in everyday practice. This CME is accredited by the Tamil Nadu Medical Council for CME Credit hours.”"

Exciting news indeed! I'm going to keep a close eye on this story and report any developments on the blog. Meanwhile, it may be a good idea for those in TSW to print out the articles to share with their own doctors and dermatologists.

Skin Updates: 28 Months of Topical Steroid Withdrawal! (photo)

Hi folks!

Here I am at the 28 month mark and I haven't posted anything on here in over a month. I'm enjoying my blog break way too much and psychologically it has been quite hard to return to the blog and "TSW World" now that I am feeling so much better.

I kept myself busy last month doing voluntary work in the community. As well as lifting my spirits considerably, it also had the added benefit of getting some sun on my skin. The sun is just starting to peek through here in the UK and the benefits to my skin have been enormous. It's not quite T-Shirt weather yet, but strangely enough, the little bit of diffused sunlight I have received on my face seems to have benefited by whole body. My inner arms, which had been a problem area, cleared up, even though I hadn't exposed the skin to the sun directly. Has anyone else had this happen, or am I just odd?

Anyway...time for a picture update!

You can see how much that little bit of sunshine has helped me. My skin is returning to its normal, pre-TSW colour and is no longer red. I do not need to use much moisturiser, as the skin is producing its own oils. I still use a little hemp cream around my mouth in the mornings, as this area can be a little flaky (I think because I use a steroid inhaler still). The jojoba oil is also suiting me well.

The period from October until February had been a stagnant phase and I believe that this was directly related to the winter weather. I truly believe that as Summer progresses, my skin will heal totally and I will not need to use any creams at all at this point. It remains to be seen whether the TSW rash will return in October again, but I try not to dwell on that too much.

I've noticed a few newsworthy updates in the TSW world since I've been on my blog break. The first is the ITSAN survey, which is very exciting as it aims to give patients a steroid usage score based on the usage and potency of creams used over their lifetime. The survey is worth doing, although I did find it quite hard and would recommend using a calculator! Once Itsan have 500 results, they can collate the scores into something meaningful and hopefully start to see patterns that relate to TSW healing times. The survey can be found on the forum homepage.

Another interesting news item is the development of Dr Fukaya's Clofibrate ointment, which has finally been made available to the general public after a test period. Check out Dr Fukaya's website for more details about how the ointment works. He also has a video on Youtube explaining the science behind it. If any blog readers have tried the ointment, please let me know how you got on with it.

I'm off again, as my computer is very laggy and driving me crazy! Hopefully I will get a new one soon.

Happy healing folks and don't stop believing!