I'm in Melbourne too and exactly 1 week into this rubbish. Sitting in the sun wasn't quite as nice for me today but I'm definitely keeping my eye on the prize.
Did you experience any issues with getting Dr's/GP's to believe this is what you had? I ask because I'm seeing my GP tomorrow and I'm afraid he'll think I'm crazy and want me to use some more steroid creams.
Yeah I didn't find any GP's that really believed me. I saw quite a number of GPs and Dermatologists. The reason behind this is shown in Dr Rapaport's video in the top right of my blog, the GP's have never seen someone who hasn't used cortisone, so they don't know any different.
Basically I just found a Doc that would support me with the drugs I wanted (sleeping pills mainly), and I only saw him 3 times in 12 months. There was nothing he could do for me, it was all on my own head to get through it.
If you do really want a doc's support, you can write to Dr Rapaport and get him to conference call with your GP. It costs a small fee I'm told, but it can be a good way to gain credibility, as he has published many papers on this topic.
Stay in touch Tom, and remember, just get through the first 3 months, that's the worst of it.
Josh, so good to see you looking so well these days! Hope that you don't mind if I give a bit of an update of my own. Tomorrow, the 21st of October will be the completion of my 8th month without any Steroid, Cortisone creams. By month 6 I thought it was about over, but darn if It did not flare up just enough these last 40 days or so to be uncomfortable. Not bad enough to prevent me from doing work or play but enough to be a nag. Redness came back to my neck and eyebrow area, and the tightness that goes with it. No flakes at all, just red. Also came back a bit on the insides of my knees and elbows, just red and a bit itchy, no flakes or broken skin, nothing at all like the early months. I have a bit of a theory that during the summer, while I was sweating heavily while outdoors and during my workouts each day, that I was relieving my body of toxins at a much faster rate than I am now that the weather is cool. I intend to stay indoors for workouts this next week and try to really sweat for over an hour each day and increase my water intake. Time will tell. During this time however, my wrists and the backs of my hands which were always one of my worst areas have gotten much better, almost totally healed. I would encourage Tom to just stay the course, and use Josh's experience as inspiration. The first few months are very tough, but they do pass and you will get better. I remember actually being thrilled when I turned bright red all over my body and arms. In spite of the discomfort I then knew for sure that my ailment was RSS and I WOULD Totally Recover. People here are a tremendous uplift on those days that you are feeling down and can't get support from friends and family because they will look at you and be scared. My parents were conspiring to have me hospitalized against my will during month 3. Once more I thank Josh and all those who went through this ahead of me for all their support in the recovery these past months. Geoff Zimmerman
You are more than welcome to post your updates, in fact I wish you would do it more often. I believe we are all in this together, and there is benefit in sharing with others, both from a giving perspective and a cathartic one.
As you know, I also thought I was just about healed after 6 months, but it came back and gave me a bit of trouble for a couple month after that, followed by flare ups here and there.
I will be really interested to know about how your sweat regime goes. It is something Ive thought of as well, that if nothing else it should clear the blocked pores, and move on the dead skin cells. On top of this, we all know the body works better when we are being healthy.
I'm so thrilled to hear you are doing well Geoff. Those first 3 months are scary, but when you see the direction it heads in, you get a feeling you are on the right course. I think we have this idea in society that we need instant gratification instead of working for it... this perpetuates a negative spiral, but you my friend are on the right path. God speed.
Great to hear form your Geoff, don't be a stranger.
Hey Josh, My names is Sav and Im a bit over 3 months into this hurricane. Month 2 was craziness and the last couple of weeks ive seen small victories. My partner is a natrapath and she has been pumping me with all relevant herbs since I weeded off the steriods and Im now seeing a Chinese doctor who has experienced red skin syndrome aswell. I was wondering if you took any kind of herbs at all or did you just eat really healthy organic? Also, since month 2, every morning Im dry head to toe on every part of my body to the point where my body is tight. I really didnt experience too much red raw action, so i was wondering how long the extreme dryness lasts for? One more question mate, did you experience hot and cold flushes and swelling of fluid in the body? I have been cold most of the time and recently started getting hot aswell, but its slowly stopping now that im seeking the chinese Doctors help.
Hey Clint, thanks for the comment, please stay in touch with me and let me know how you are going.
First things first, I'm very proud of you making it through month #3. As I say to everyone, that's the first hurdle and if you can make it past that, then you are going to be seeing all the improvements. For me month #6 is where I saw the most improvements.
While I was recovering I tried everything, I ate really healthy, cut sugar out of my diet (which i have largely maintained, but only because i found out how bad it is for you), went to natrapaths, herbologists, Chinese docs, skin care cream specialists & much much more. In the end I agreed with all the others out there that these things don't make a difference... well let me qualify that.
What I mean to say is that your body has to recover from the damage, there is no silver bullet that will solve all the issues in a couple months, it will take 1 - 2 years. That said, I do believe that it is without argument that if you fuel your body with the best petrol and avoid all irritants then you have provided the most stable base with which to heal.
As for the head to toe stiffness, ABSOLUTELY! That was really really shit and I was still getting that up to month #8. I use to wake with a full body of dry skin and have to jump in a shower to be able to move. I hated going to sleep so I would stay awake as long as possible. This passes, I promise.
One pro tip. Get your carpet steam cleaned every quarter. It removed the smell and will make you partner really happy. Even if she says she doesn't notice, for the $60 it will cost you, just do it. The guys that did my place said they had never seen so much gunk in the carpet.
I was 28 years old and had been recommended topical Cortisone by dermatologists since I was 13, because of this my skin became persistently red across my face, arms and neck.
The solution is to cut the cortisone completely, but this process takes between 9 months to 4 years to recover from and came with many horrific side-effects.
The video above explains exactly what has caused the red skin, swelling and many other terrible symptoms that I've battled for the last 10 years. You can view all the posts on the blog by using the blog archive further down the page.
Hi Josh
ReplyDeleteI'm in Melbourne too and exactly 1 week into this rubbish. Sitting in the sun wasn't quite as nice for me today but I'm definitely keeping my eye on the prize.
Did you experience any issues with getting Dr's/GP's to believe this is what you had? I ask because I'm seeing my GP tomorrow and I'm afraid he'll think I'm crazy and want me to use some more steroid creams.
Hi Tom,
ReplyDeleteYeah I didn't find any GP's that really believed me. I saw quite a number of GPs and Dermatologists. The reason behind this is shown in Dr Rapaport's video in the top right of my blog, the GP's have never seen someone who hasn't used cortisone, so they don't know any different.
Basically I just found a Doc that would support me with the drugs I wanted (sleeping pills mainly), and I only saw him 3 times in 12 months. There was nothing he could do for me, it was all on my own head to get through it.
If you do really want a doc's support, you can write to Dr Rapaport and get him to conference call with your GP. It costs a small fee I'm told, but it can be a good way to gain credibility, as he has published many papers on this topic.
Stay in touch Tom, and remember, just get through the first 3 months, that's the worst of it.
Josh
Josh, so good to see you looking so well these days! Hope that you don't mind if I give a bit of an update of my own.
DeleteTomorrow, the 21st of October will be the completion of my 8th month without any Steroid, Cortisone creams. By month 6 I thought it was about over, but darn if It did not flare up just enough these last 40 days or so to be uncomfortable. Not bad enough to prevent me from doing work or play but enough to be a nag.
Redness came back to my neck and eyebrow area, and the tightness that goes with it.
No flakes at all, just red. Also came back a bit on the insides of my knees and elbows, just red and a bit itchy, no flakes or broken skin, nothing at all like the early months.
I have a bit of a theory that during the summer, while I was sweating heavily while outdoors and during my workouts each day, that I was relieving my body of toxins at a much faster rate than I am now that the weather is cool.
I intend to stay indoors for workouts this next week and try to really sweat for over an hour each day and increase my water intake. Time will tell.
During this time however, my wrists and the backs of my hands which were always one of my worst areas have gotten much better, almost totally healed.
I would encourage Tom to just stay the course, and use Josh's experience as inspiration. The first few months are very tough, but they do pass and you will get better. I remember actually being thrilled when I turned bright red all over my body and arms. In spite of the discomfort I then knew for sure that my ailment was RSS and I WOULD Totally Recover.
People here are a tremendous uplift on those days that you are feeling down and can't get support from friends and family because they will look at you and be scared. My parents were conspiring to have me hospitalized against my will during month 3.
Once more I thank Josh and all those who went through this ahead of me for all their support in the recovery these past months.
Geoff Zimmerman
Hey Geoff,
DeleteYou are more than welcome to post your updates, in fact I wish you would do it more often. I believe we are all in this together, and there is benefit in sharing with others, both from a giving perspective and a cathartic one.
As you know, I also thought I was just about healed after 6 months, but it came back and gave me a bit of trouble for a couple month after that, followed by flare ups here and there.
I will be really interested to know about how your sweat regime goes. It is something Ive thought of as well, that if nothing else it should clear the blocked pores, and move on the dead skin cells. On top of this, we all know the body works better when we are being healthy.
I'm so thrilled to hear you are doing well Geoff. Those first 3 months are scary, but when you see the direction it heads in, you get a feeling you are on the right course. I think we have this idea in society that we need instant gratification instead of working for it... this perpetuates a negative spiral, but you my friend are on the right path. God speed.
Great to hear form your Geoff, don't be a stranger.
Josh
i lovvvve the positiveness in you Josh i really gotta learn from you! Fantastic healing, enjoy life to the max. That's the way to go! xxx ahfaye
ReplyDeleteHey Josh,
ReplyDeleteMy names is Sav and Im a bit over 3 months into this hurricane.
Month 2 was craziness and the last couple of weeks ive seen small victories. My partner is a natrapath and she has been pumping me with all relevant herbs since I weeded off the steriods and Im now seeing a Chinese doctor who has experienced red skin syndrome aswell.
I was wondering if you took any kind of herbs at all or did you just eat really healthy organic? Also, since month 2, every morning Im dry head to toe on every part of my body to the point where my body is tight. I really didnt experience too much red raw action, so i was wondering how long the extreme dryness lasts for?
One more question mate, did you experience hot and cold flushes and swelling of fluid in the body? I have been cold most of the time and recently started getting hot aswell, but its slowly stopping now that im seeking the chinese Doctors help.
Hey Clint, thanks for the comment, please stay in touch with me and let me know how you are going.
DeleteFirst things first, I'm very proud of you making it through month #3. As I say to everyone, that's the first hurdle and if you can make it past that, then you are going to be seeing all the improvements. For me month #6 is where I saw the most improvements.
While I was recovering I tried everything, I ate really healthy, cut sugar out of my diet (which i have largely maintained, but only because i found out how bad it is for you), went to natrapaths, herbologists, Chinese docs, skin care cream specialists & much much more. In the end I agreed with all the others out there that these things don't make a difference... well let me qualify that.
What I mean to say is that your body has to recover from the damage, there is no silver bullet that will solve all the issues in a couple months, it will take 1 - 2 years. That said, I do believe that it is without argument that if you fuel your body with the best petrol and avoid all irritants then you have provided the most stable base with which to heal.
As for the head to toe stiffness, ABSOLUTELY! That was really really shit and I was still getting that up to month #8. I use to wake with a full body of dry skin and have to jump in a shower to be able to move. I hated going to sleep so I would stay awake as long as possible. This passes, I promise.
One pro tip. Get your carpet steam cleaned every quarter. It removed the smell and will make you partner really happy. Even if she says she doesn't notice, for the $60 it will cost you, just do it. The guys that did my place said they had never seen so much gunk in the carpet.
Stay in touch,
Josh