I am writing this blog on what would've been my 3 year anniversary of Topical Steroid Withdrawal. But I had a bit of a detour to take. With the MRSA threatening my life I had no choice but to use steroids. I fought MRSA for over 6 months and accumulated over $5000 in debt because of my health. And last week I received ANOTHER BILL for $225. That's a whole other story though. But after I finished my treatment my eczema started coming back, just as angry as last time. SO I have been Under Dr. Aarons treat for a few months now and things are gonig great, as expected. I'm just worried what will happen when I stop using it all together. I've gone down from 5 applications to 2 applications per day.
Small issues: I will get random hives sometimes throughput the day, I only end up noticing them because they start itching like crazy. One morning I woke up with quite a large one on the back of my leg. As I lowered my doses I started losing my hair again. I told this to Dr. Aaron and he advised me it may be something with my thyroid..... Anyway, here's a few updates!
ive been following your blog - your situation is quite similar to mine. I did 10 months TSW but it was absolute hell. Like you my skin was continuously infected (SA but not MRSA) which has just ended up in a period in hospital for staph infection in the blood, intravenous antibiotics for 2 weeks. Today I covered myself in Audovate RD. I have come to the conclusion that I cant do TSW. I am a strong healthy person and cant believe i managed 10 months but some things you just cant overcome. Life is too short to be bed ridden when we dont even know whether TSW can actually succeed (all Ive seen is anectdotal evidence). Other people have chronic medical conditions which need medication to function (diabetes, cancer, etc) and eczema, in some people, may be the same. My point is, some people just have cancer or diabetes and they cant get rid of it naturally - they need meds to control it. Maybe im the same. Hopefully the future will be kind twith new developments (Dupilumab etc) which will avoid need for steroids but otherwise, if applying the steroids mean you can live with some degree of normality, then we shouldnt be ashamed. I will take that any day over being bed ridden and unable to put clothes on. I do still intend to put the details in the blog that i started but havent got around to it. Feel free to get in touch to disuss
ReplyDeleteWow David, thank you for posting this on her blog. Very honest and refreshing. My baby girl just turned a year old. At 7 months I was doing TSW with her but she was absolutely in torture and unhappy. I finally caved and started her on steroid treatment again. She doesn't look like one big scab anymore (her face was the worst), she's laughing and playing again and doesn't cry so much like she would. Like you said, some people just need that extra medical help with their severe conditions. It hurts me to put it on her, it helps me knowing it makes her quality of life better & happier.
DeleteGood luck to the both of you. I know how hard this condition can be. <3
I still get hives, I think it is one of those "less severe" manifestations of TSW. I say less severe loosely because it all depends on how inflamed and big the hives are. If you're managing 2 applications of Dr Aron's cream a day that is a decent achievement. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. I'm probably lucky I haven't seen any of those "glorifying" TSW blogs.
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