A mum-of-two has shared her journey dealing with the side effects of steroid cream withdrawal that caused her to have ‘oozing’ and constantly ‘scabby’ skin.
Nicky Higgs, 54, from Merseyside, has suffered with eczema on and off throughout her life, being prescribed steroid creams regularly to help keep it under control.
The teacher has suffered several bad flare-ups, with her hands typically being the worst affected area.
In November 2020, she started getting flaky, itchy patches on her forehead and was prescribed more, yet weaker steroid creams to help treat this – but the effects didn’t last.
“The problem subsided for a couple of days, before coming back worse,” Nicky told Jam Press.
“I realised that there was no point continuing with the steroid creams, which is when I noticed there was a pattern in my eczema cycles.
“The steroid creams would ‘magically’ heal my eczema in a few days, but when I stopped applying them to my rashes, I would rebound in a worse way.
“In January 2021, I stopped using these creams as they had stopped working.”
Looking online for some answers about a month later, she came across posts about topical steroid withdrawal (TSW).
Nicky would often experience bone-deep itching, flaking, swelling, wrinkles, thickened skin, fatigue and redness all over her body, which other people reported experiencing.
She said: “It was a total lightbulb moment and I knew I would never use steroid creams again.”
After discovering TSW, she made an appointment with the dermatologist specialist at her local surgery but was disappointed with the response.
She added: “He was totally dismissive of my hypothesis and he suggested more steroids, moisturisers and referred me to a dermatologist.
“I refused treatment, but did see the dermatologist who was pretty much the same as the GP, as she said my use of steroids couldn’t have caused the withdrawal symptoms.”
Instead, Nicky has been trying to manage her skin alone and says it has been difficult to live with painful, flaky skin.
She said: “So far, it’s been a very uncomfortable and difficult process and is still ongoing.
“My skin has been worse on my hands, face and neck and at one point, my whole body was swollen and burning hot.
“Although, this eased when I stopped moisturising.
“After that, I had redness on my face, chest, arms and hands, as well as incessant skin flaking, some oozing and scabbing.
“It’s affected my sleep, as I often wake up scratching and I have felt a general lack of energy throughout.
“[Around eight months in] I started getting weeping patches on my eyelids, which scabbed so uncomfortably that I could hardly open my eyes.”
The skin condition has affected her work and has had a huge impact on her self-confidence.
She said: “[TSW] has had a major impact on my work, although I work part-time as a teacher and we were in lockdown at the start of the process, meaning I could work from home.
“I was teaching on Zoom so could hide the worst of my symptoms and luckily since returning it has never been as bad as those first few months.
“Staff and students know what I’m going through and treat me as normal even though I’m self conscious and hated seeing myself like it.
“My work has been very supportive and understanding throughout, as well as my family who have supported me emotionally and with practical household chores – especially when I felt unable to go out.
“I have been very self-conscious about how I look during the whole process, but there are days when I look more ‘normal’.
“I seem to cycle through the itch, scratch, scab, flake rollercoaster every week and it has affected my confidence.
“I’ve developed lines and wrinkles and it’s hard to imagine if it will ever subside – which it should – but I look older than I used to.”
Nicky joined the ITSAN Facebook support group and has been following the no moisturising protocol (NMT) since February 2021 – which involves avoiding moisturisers and minimising washing of the skin.
Although this causes the skin to dry out, the skin can begin the process of repairing itself once in this state.
For Nicky, this has meant more flaking and sores, but less swelling and redness, which means she is able to function more normally.
She said: “I still have anxiety about my appearance, especially with my scabby and wrinkled face. ”
One of the products that Nicky found helped was Lyonsleaf Zinc and Calendula.
Contact [email protected] to license this or any Jam Press video.
Make money from your videos! Submit footage to Jam Press
Subscribe, Like, or Follow Jam Press
YouTube:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/jampressltd
Instagram: www.instagram.com/jampressltd
Twitter:
source
