Day 196

Look at that! My lip is healing up nicely@

I know my feet look bad but this is a lot better then it used to be. :)

Day 192

Nothing new, I'm not getting better or worse.
I'm now about a month into moisturizer withdrawal and I'm not sure weather or not I should go back to light moisturizing. Like just a little bit of jojoba oil, but I don't know if that would mess everything up. *Shrugg* That means I probably won't do anything.

Can't wait for my days off tomorrow!

Day 186-Slowly

Things are slowly getting better, I feel like the steroid induced eczema is less concentrated on one spot now and just spreading out.

I realize they're still not pretty, but soo much better. The itching is still present but not as intense unless it's night or I'm having a mini flare On the bright side, the big wounds/cuts are starting to heal and scab. Yay!

Day 183-When I Can

I'm not particularly fond of the sun but I know it's good for you, especially if you are going through topical steroid withdrawal. So I expose myself to the sun whenever it's available. My lunch timed up decently.

New cuts on both eye lids.

Day 180

 Things aren't looking too bad, infact I'm looking pretty decent other than the silly cut on my lip that continues to split open. When I laugh, yawn, eat, smile... it RIPS! So I have to try hard to not do any of those. Feet are looking much better then they used to.

I Found a GREAT Distraction for Itching!- Attack On Titan

I don't have any photos to show you... and I won't for a few days... Not because anything bad's happened, but because my skin hasn't made any progress in any direction.

And mostly because I found this WONDERFUL anime on Netflix called "Attack on Titan" which is apparently the Japanese equivalent of The Walking Dead. The art style is frighteningly grotesque.

Here's a quick synopsis taken from Funimation's site here.

"When the man-eating giants called Titans first appeared, humans retreated behind massive walls. After a hundred years of safety, a colossal-sized Titan smashes through the defenses, unleashing a flood of giants and carnage in the streets. Eren Jaeger watches helplessly as one of the creatures devours his mother.

He vows to kill every Titan walking the earth.
Eren and his surviving friends enlist to fight against the insatiable monsters. The future looks bleak, but there’s more to Eren than meets the eye: he may be humanity’s last hope against extinction. From the director of Death Note and High School of the Dead comes the series Anime News Network calls “an intense, visceral, and graphic thrill ride.” The Titans have come to feast. Anything can happen. No one is safe."

The show is easy accessible from the internet. Once again, it's also on Netflix. If you don't mind reading subtitles I would highly recommend you watch/use the Japanese Audio. If you can't tell, yes, it's for mature audiences. At least check out the 1st episode. Out of every anime, television series or mini series this is the only show that I liked after just one episode.

If this doesn't distract your itching, I'll be impressed.

Day 175- 6 Months!!!

I am now starting my sixth month of Topical Steroid Withdrawal and am continuing my third week of Moisturizer Withdrawal. This are supposed to get drastically better from here on out. I do understand that I will have more flares in the future and I'm not done. This has been extremely difficult and painful and even as I write this I feel defeated. I know there are those who are worse then me and I should be grateful I'm not as bad as I could be. But I'm exhausted, and I feel like it's won in many ways.

 

Are things getting better? Yes. Slowly, but surely.

The red is going down, and my temperature regulation is getting better, some days I only need to wear two coats instead of three! Swelling has gone down, but the elephant skin is still pretty thick. The itching and stingers are still very present. I also feel like it's easing up on my face and arms (wheres it's been the worst generally) and heading to my tummy, legs, back and top of scalp. We'll see, it's still early. 

As far as Moisturizer Withdrawal I can't say it's been great, it's still pretty uncomfortable and I'm not digging it. I think I should just buckle down and get some Dead Sea Salt. 

Maybe since summer is coming I'll be able to eat a little better. More fruits and veggies and what not. May even consider doing a juice cleanse.

Positive thoughts. 

Day 173- What the Crap!?

This is stupid! 

This stupid withdrawal has no stupid rhyme or reason! 

The only thing that stands true: 1 step forward 2 steps back.

Just yesterday I was happy about me looking better. This is truly exhausting.

Day 172-Not Too Shabby

It's been a while since I looked this decent. The red has gone down by a lot. The itching is still about the same, but thankfully my skin seems tougher and can stand up to the damage I do. I can even give my feet a good scratch with little damage.

Day 169- Finding Little Things

Happy March 1st everyone! Not much new to report. I'm on my 9th day of Moisturizer Withdrawal. I don't particularly like it. I love that I have "less" of a routine for my skin and have to buy less products as well. I don't feel like this is "less" painful, just a different type of pain, which I think I find more tolerable.

When I took my first shower through this I did something I haven't done in my entire life. No moisturizers right after the shower. All my life, I was taught that when you get out of the shower you PAT yourself dry and use moisturizer to lock in moisture. The idea scared the shit of out me.

Left Arm/Wrist

Right Arm/Wrist

I've had a few people ask me what the tattoo on my wrist is. Well it is the symbol from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The lines coming off from the symbol were supposed to be delicate bamboo leaves, I had a lazy artist. When my skin is finished healing, my present to myself is to touch up this tattoo. I have a Wonderful inker now and we are going to work together to change those icky lines into a snake for the house Slytherin. Can you tell that I'm a a fan?

But the point of that story up there ^ was.... that if you check out my wrist above my tattoo, there's a small lightening bolt shape. Harry Potter!!! :D

My feet still look awful, but I think they look better then they did.

Knees