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Sunday 6 January 2013

Month #4 - Cortisone side affects clearing up


4 months in and the improve is coming thick and fast.  When I first stopped using cortisone cream I became very dry and sore, I couldn't move and certainly couldn't leave the house or exercise without great discomfort, now the moisture is coming back into my skin, I can go out, drink and hang out with people... feeling really great.

This video is a bit frustrating because I am not actually that red, but i guess you have to take it any which way it comes.  Believe me when I say I'm looking much better :)

4 comments:

  1. Hi Josh
    So pleased to see that you are doing so well . It certainly is a great help for me to know that there is some kind of light at the end of the tunnel . i finaly got to work out the correct date that i stopped using steroids completely . it works out that i am on day 94 today , so another week and it will be the big 100 . I cant beleive that nearly 100 has passed already when ,at times ,the hours seemed like days and the days like months .
    Anyway, i think that i seem to taking the same route as yourself in regards to the symptoms of this condition . i had weeks were i had no let up , red ,sore ,cracking stinging skin ect ect . i got through christmas pretty well until decided to try an alcoholic drink . bad move because i flared on my face and neck almost instantly . it lasted a few days then eased some but it was quite intense .
    Now im back at work after the holidays and getting back to normal habbits .
    today my skin has felt the best it has since starting withdrawel .i actualy have a good colour to my skin and it doesnt feel as dry or tight as normal .
    i am still not sleeping all through the night . i wake up after a few hours sleep because i am oozing round the neck area . i find it better to deal with if i just go wash straight awy and vasaline again . normaly get about 5 hours a night but im hoping that improves soon .
    a slight wory for me is that i have blisters apearing on my body , mainly my fingers .they seem to be more on the knuckles and can be quite sore to the touch . ? . wondered if youde heared of anyone else with this symptom ?
    the plus point for me is that my skin is showing signs of healing already .it seems thicker and today i have only applied vasaline once . that in itself is an acheivment . i have only just realised that i havent actualy moisturised with a proper moisturising cream since i started . i remember seeing that Dr Rap recomends just vasaline and i decided to go with that . it can be a bit greasy but it seems to be working . it doesnt absorb into the skin but it free's the tightness so i can move without the skin splitting . mainly my neck . i only use it on my head ,face neck , hands and feet . the rest of my body hasnt seen cream since the day i quit . i m hoping that it carries on that way .
    Anyway , thanks for posting on how things are with you . it is helping me get through the bad days .

    Kindest Regards , Ty (uk) .

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  2. Hi josh, i am an aussie also and i just wanted to say i love reading your blog. you have immense amounts of enthusiasm, positivity and encouragement, you really are an inspiration. Even sometimes i wonder how you do it. i was wondering what made you start using steroids to begin with? are you an eczema sufferer? because your skin doesn't look rashy at all like mine. I am not as red but just patchy and blotchy with dry eczema kind of rashes. Also those lumps/balls under your skin are swollen lymph nodes. i have them also and they flare up when your body is trying to fight off an infection or problem internally. i think i may have read back when you said you have had a lymph drainage massage? i had one also, but that is all you can really do to help them go away. So just like everything else, in time they will go away. If you want to read my blog it is here: http://topicalsteroidredskynwithdrawal.wordpress.com
    happy healing, hannah

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  3. Hey Hannah,

    I was just sitting in the office about to reply to John when your message popped up, so somewhat unfairly i will reply to you first. To start with, thanks for sending your blog through, I'll add it to my blog roll now.

    Thanks for the compliments, if you meet me you'll notice that's just the way I am. I'm lucky to live a pretty cool life with cool people around me, great parents and an amazing city (I love Melbourne), so I really can't complain about a little skin rash. I'm not sure about how you feel, but I've always known it's much more about personality than how you look, as such I've never had a shortage of mates or girlfriends and I think that's important to put things in perspective.

    The pictures on your article http://topicalsteroidredskynwithdrawal.wordpress.com/2013/01/02/3-months/ look very familiar. I certainly had rashes like that in the past, but what's interesting is that when the redness started to clear up, the rashes went away entirely. For the alst 10 years i have almost always had a rash somewhere, but now they are nowhere to be seen (except when i scratch). Interestingly when I did use to scratch the redness would last for days. Nowadays it lasts for minutes or even less. This says to me that the body and skin is healing and we're on the right track.

    If you haven;t already, be sure to read Jakes blog http://eczemahealing.blogspot.com.au
    Jake had really bad eczema (unlike me) and nowadays it has basically all gone and he looks great. What they did with diet and treatment would be great for you.

    Now to end with a compliment. Be glad you have such gorgeous hair!! Looking at your photos I was struck with how beautiful it looks, and completely jealous as mine hasn't grown back yet.

    If you need anything or want to catch up, just give me a holla. You can find me on Facebook by searching Josh Strawczynski

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  4. Hey Ty (Johnboy),

    Thanks for your comments, it's good to hear you are staying the course and starting to see the improvements. It's interesting that you are tracking pretty similar to how I was and very pleasingly I can tell you that in the next few months things will keep improving.

    I can't remember what the dematologist was treating when I first got on the creams, I know I didn't has eczema when I was a kid, so I think it was actually a rash that he latter diagnosed as eczema when I came back for subsequent visits... oh I wish I hadn't gone back.

    With regards to the fingers being so sore and blisters etc. I know that Jake went through that problem and in fact that has been the worst part of his recovery. You can read about it on his blog http://eczemahealing.blogspot.com.au. I know his girlfriend Libby is spending a lot of time talking to other sufferers about it, so it might be worth dropping her an e-mail.

    Finally, thanks for your comments, receiving them is the motivation I need to keep posting. I really appreciate you taking time to write and if there are any questions I haven't addressed or things you are interested in, just let me know.

    Joshy

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