Realisation and a new path. (Originally posted Nov 2 2013)

NOTICE : This is an older post taken from my original blog. Some info may be out of date.

It’s been a long time since I last posted; I was still on my steroids back then too with my skin showing no signs of improvement after 20 years of use. I then found out about Topical Steroid Addiction. This is where after prolonged use, your skin basically becomes addicted and reliant on the steroids to merely keep the skin from getting worse. It no longer actually heals it at all. At this point you may tell your dermatologist or GP and they will most likely prescribe an even stronger steroid which will help at first but soon enough, the cycle repeats itself until you’re constantly applying a dangerously strong steroid on a daily basis and you have to wonder something: “Am I ever going to get better?” “Will I always be this way?”

In late July, I started researching the subject. It seems to take around a year (it can be more or less than this though) and it seems to follow a fairly consistent pattern including the following:

Image owned by Ian Humes @ Flickr.

Flaking – your skin develops scales. These then flake and eventually shed, revealing either healed or raw skin underneath. Sometimes the skin underneath doesn’t change at all. This can vary in severity depending on if the sufferer is currently experiencing oozing or not.
Applying makeup or attempting other concealing methods result in the coating sitting on top of the flakes and drawing ever more attention to itself. Even though the flaking causes me the least physical discomfort of any of my other symptoms, I actually hate it second only to the redness, because it ends up all over clothing, bedding and anything else you go near.


Burning – this can feel like stinging or searing heat. The only way I can describe my burning to others is that it’s very similar to the feeling produced when chilli oil happens to get on to your skin.
It can be pretty annoying to alleviate as well. Anything cold is nice at first, but the rapid temperature change can wreak havoc to my skin, causing another flare up. Anything wet is a shock to the dry skin and can also flare it up. If I have to cool down somehow, I just take a layer off or open a window and cool myself down generally, because cooling a specific area makes it worse for me, sadly. It doesn’t stop me wanting this though.


Tightness – that terrible feeling where it feels like your skin has no elasticity. Attempting to stretch the affected skin results in the terrible feeling of paper cuts opening up across the area. This can be caused by something as simple as bending down to pick something up, making general day to day tasks somewhat difficult. For me, this is mostly alleviated on application of a very thick and greasy moisturiser. Anything less isn’t enough for mine.


Intense itching – The single worst symptom of this for me. I can only describe it as feeling like small insects are crawling over your skin. It’s infuriating and completely stops me from doing anything else until it’s gone. I can distract myself sometimes, if it starts while I’m doing something using my hands, such as playing video games or typing on this blog. I can’t ignore it when it’s started though, at all.
That’s when I start looking for tools – combs, brushes, hair slides, bottle caps, pegs, anything really. I’ve even been known to use knives. Funnily enough, I’ve never actually cut myself while scratching myself with one, but have with the other mentioned items. Worst thing while itching? Being told to “stop, you’ll only make it worse!”


Oozing – Not something I can personally describe, as I’ve always had “dry” eczema and I’ve always been thankful for that (even though dry eczema is still horrid). It seems to be a universal symptom of TSW though and I’m not looking forward to it at all.
So the point of this post is that I came to the conclusion that I was addicted to my steroid ointments and as of August 19th 2013, I have been topical steroid free! This blog will now be documenting my journey and my hopeful road to recovery. I really hope this may be of use to other sufferers and their families, as well as increase awareness of this preventable condition.