What would I be for Halloween? HEALED!!

I love parties and I love dressing up!!

That is why I am sad that I won't be doing anything for Halloween this year.

If only we could really be anything we wanted to be for one night!!  Like...if there was a Halloween God who could grant us that wish...I'm sure we would all wish to have normal skin!!  But I don't know...since it's only for that one night where my normal skin would be granted...I feel like when the wish is over, I would feel so much worse than before.  Because I would know what it's like to have normal skin again...and I would be able to compare the immediate difference.

So maybe I would just wish to be invisible instead.  Then I would go out and take a long walk without the stares.  Or stalk people for fun.

Hey maybe I can still go out and celebrate.  If I went out like this, people might think it's make-up and assume that I am dressing up to be a burnt victim or something...hah who am I kidding!

Anyway...here's a picture that is kind of gross.

This is what my skin looks like after a bath, and before moisturizing.  Looks a lot redder in real life than in the picture.  Beneath the yellow crusty ooze, it is cracked, hole-y, super itchy, burns, and is painful.  After I apply my coconut oil though, the pain subsides.

Oh, I take epsom salt & olive oil baths right when I wake up, and again when my skin starts to feel dry.  During the bath, I can relax and stretch out my body without the tight skin ripping!!  After the bath, I am not as red, and not as dry! It also washes off the yellow crustiness and smell...so I feel a lot cleaner = subconsciously less itchy.

Positive thought of the day:  All day I've been thinking of my future halloween plans!!  Definitely going to go all out again...hopefully at this time next year, I will be healed!!!

Back to Blogging…for real this time!

I'm not sure who will read this, but Hi :)

The last time I posted was on June 18th.  I haven't actually started blogging because, to be honest, I was not in the mood to do anything.  My skin was getting worse, my life was changing dramatically, I was depressed and didn't feel like doing anything.

But since I began doing a lot of research and understanding my body, I've beaten the blues!  And I am back to wanting to blog...for real this time.

Now that I've finished school, and am home with family, I feel like I can finally focus on healing in a stress-free environment.

Here's a basic summary of what's going on with my skin…

After continuously using topical steroids for 20 years, I stopped in June 2010.  I've been having many many episodes of flare-ups since this day, up till June 2012 (2 years).  If they were small flare-ups, I let them get out of control and then naturally recover.  For the bigger flare-ups, unfortunately I resorted to using steroids.  Actually, going back to using topical steroids was not my choice.  I did believe in natural healing and was determined to beat my eczema without topical steroids, but it was extremely difficult due to me still being in university and living the student-life.  I ended up getting dragged to the hospital multiple times, where they slathered topical steroids on me, and I also ingested steroids orally.

Every time I left the hospital, my skin was so much more damaged!!!

That's when I found out about Red Skin Syndrome & Topical Steroid Withdrawal!!

Dr. Rapaport recommends cutting topical steroids out completely instead of weaning off it.  I didn't know this at the time I decided to stop/cut down on using steroids, so I thought I was on a road of recovery…unknowing that the use of steroids is cumulative.

I have not used steroids at all since June 2012.

End of October 2012 now...I am having the biggest flare-up!!  Ok not the biggest...but everytime I have a flare-up it feels like the biggest...

The biggest problem I am having right now, is my face.  The skin itself may not be as worse as it is on some other parts of my body, but the fact that it's on my FACE is just so annoying. 

Let me show you...

Face is juicy red and soo itchy!!  This is after I took a bath...so it's not crusty like it is when I wake up.  The shininess is the skin leaking.

My face & neck is leaking yellow liquid, juicy red, hot and itchy...is probably the most annoying thing right now because I can't sleep in a comfortable position.  I just feel so gross and I don't want anything to touch my body...

I can wrap my body up without irritating the skin too much, but if anything touches my face or neck it just gets soo itchy.

Positive thought of the day: I've never been one to spend much time by myself.  Before my skin issues, you can find me out all day all night, surrounded with family and friends.  Being alone all the time now, I can really reflect on myself and think about my values and goals in life.  It's been refreshing!

Red Skin Syndrome

I have recently been introduced to the concept of Red Skin Syndrome, which is a Topical Steroid Withdrawal symptom.

Red Skin Syndrome happens to some unfortunates who have overused steroid creams, to the point that their skin has become addicted to the medicine.  You can figure out if you have RSS upon stopping the creams, but a big hint while you're using steroid medication is if you keep getting prescribed a stronger and stronger type.  This is what happened to me, which is when I began to question if the steroid creams I was using was safe or not.

Symptoms of Red Skin Syndrome
Those in green are symptoms I have or had.

-no pigment (patches of skin that are either very red or very white)
-hot, burning feeling (often at the beginning withdrawal stages)
-cigarette-paper-looking skin
-blotches of red, scaly skin (usually resembling eczema)
-chills
-fatty tissue lumps
-hot, sweaty feeling
-red patches spread in size and increments in parts/all over body (often at the biginning to middle withdrawal stages)
-skin cracks and bleeds
-swollen veins
-intense itching, especially at night and in the morning
-tight-feeling of skin, particularly upon movement
-frequent flares for weeks or months after stopping steroid cream
-chronic peeling and flaking
-dry eye syndrome/goopy eyes
-unusual pimples and acne-like breakouts at various stages
-adrenal and hormone dysfunction, including skin not producing moisture
-oppressed immune system
-depression

Okay I ended up making practically all of them green.  I'm actually not sure what cigarette-paper-looking skin is so I may or may not have that.  I do not have swollen veins, but my body is overall swollen, especially my face.

I also wanted to make 'intense itching, especially at night and in the morning' green multiple times...or greenER if that is possible.  I literally pressed the colour button 10+ times...ITCHING SUCKS!!

You can check out the website on Red Skin Syndrome here, where I got the symptoms.  They include a LOT of information as well as blogs and pictures of those suffering from this terrible side effect.

I am still not sure if I have RSS, or if my eczema is just really bad, or if there is a difference.

hmm…any thoughts?

First.

Hi skin friends,

I've created this blog to give and gain support for curing eczema naturally, WITHOUT the use of topical steroids.

I have been using topical steroids for 20 years, but over the years I began to question my choice as I gradually got prescribed a stronger and stronger type of steroid, and even had to take them orally.

As soon as I quit the medicine (one day out of a busy exam-filled month, I ran out of my stash) my eczema spun totally out of control...as in TOTALLY...to the point that I have been hospitalized several times in the last two years.

I'm still not sure what exactly I'm going to be blogging about, but perhaps you can expect advice (I am not a doctor, so just personally what works for me, or what I've heard have worked for people), my skin care routines as I find my best fit, updates along with pictures of progress, and other random skin related treats!!

Let's be skin friends?