My Topical Steroid Withdrawal update – Month 44

It's time for my monthly update post. I was planning on making this the last one but after an interesting skin month (don't worry, I've not flared at all!), it would be a very odd place to leave it but next month will definitely be the last one ... I think. As per, here is what has happened with my skin over the last month:

• On the evening of Friday 6th January 2017 my cold got worse and as a result, my lips were drier. My skin also felt really crappy (dry and sore) and I kept expecting to see redness when I looked in the mirror but there was nothing. My lips recovered very quickly, along with the sore/dry feeling.
• On the evening of Monday 9th January 2017 my skin felt irritated and the rash on my forehead came up a little. I took an antihistamine and very quickly everything calmed down.
• On Saturday 14th January 2017 I decided to cut out refined sugar (along with things like honey etc, only having fruit sugars or food that turns into sugar) for a while as I had not been feeling too great and when I did it in August 2015 for about four months, the difference in my skin and body shape was crazy. After a few days of not eating sugar and having a really healthy diet, on Monday 16th January 2017 a couple of rashes came up on my face - the good ol' reliable one that has made many a cameo appearance on my forehead for the last few months returned (and was a little bigger this time) and another to the righthand side of my chin - plus I also had very dry lips. I think my skin came up not only because I took out sugar but also due to my period, lots of stress and very cold weather. I don't believe those factors on their own do much but if the timing is right, and they all happen at once, they have the ability to produce a small reaction on my skin. When the rashes first came up, I thought I was totally cool with them, until I woke up in the middle of the night and had an almighty panic attack. Not pleasant. I think I am only really dealing with TSW now and for the last few months I have experienced more anxiety than I ever have before. I could lie to you and just glaze over these things but I do feel you need to be prepared - TSW is tough in every imaginable way. Still the most rewarding experience of my life but that doesn't mean it's been easy. I really wish the mental symptoms were talked about a little more within our community as they are just as debilitating as the physical ones. Back on the subject of sugar, I feel SO MUCH better now - the quality of my skin has just been amazing recently, the rashes have gone, my lips aren't dry, the keratosis pilaris that I occasionally used to get on the tops of my arms (but had been much better since I started dry body brushing) has completely gone and the skin is so smooth and lovely again. I'm not talking specifically about TSW symptoms here but I do believe for me at least that not having sugar makes a massive difference. In a few months I'll relax the no sugar thing but I think I just need some proper time away from it again.
• I also want to add that even though the rashes have gone for now, I have a feeling the rash on my forehead isn't done with and there is still life in the old girl yet and it'll be making a few more appearances until it goes for good. Only a hunch though.
• On Friday 27th January 2017 the skin on my face felt so hot. I kept looking in the mirror and nothing showed but it felt like my skin was hot enough to fry a damn egg on it. Not the best feeling in the world and I'm wondering if it's just my skin adjusting ... again. Ah, the many symptoms of TSW!
• On Tuesday 31st January 2017 I spent the entirety of the day in front of the computer - I mean from seven in the morning until nine in the evening - and at the end of the day my skin felt irritated. The rashes on my face, even though you couldn't see them, felt irritated and my hands too. I definitely think sitting in front of a computer all day is terrible for my skin but unfortunately that is going to be my life for the next few months so we'll see how that goes. I'm going to try and find my old illusive friend balance to see if that will help me keep my skin calm.
• On and off over the month I've had the odd hive on my hands and arms - always ridiculously too small and faint to take a photo of though. I'm trying to find the website where I heard this but apparently hives are the last stage of withdrawal ... I'll take that. If anyone heard this too, please let me know. *Thanks to a lovely reader who sent me a link where it is mentioned (here).*

Hugs

Cara xxxx  

Next, is a video I posted via my Instagram Stories (broken up into two parts due to size) along with a couple of pictures from the evening of Monday 16th January 2017 where a few rashes etc came up on my face.

Next, are a few photos from another FABULOUS TSW London meetup that took place on Saturday 21st January 2017. Starting life as a picnic for three on the floor of the British Museum last summer to a twelve-strong group today, the meetups have come a long way. We went to a vegetarian & vegan restaurant called Mildreds in Kings Cross (here). It's always such a pleasure to speak to a group of people who truly get it and what a lovely bunch! If you live in or are willing to travel to London and would like to hear about future meetups, join the TSW London Network on Facebook (here). As always, thanks to the lovely Steph for organising it!

I thought I'd include another #TransformationTuesday post that I put up on my Instagram account (here). For reference, the photo on the left is from Saturday 24th January 2015 and the photo on the right is exactly two years later on Tuesday 24th January 2017. I have to say out of every part of me through withdrawal, looking at my hands back then was like an out-of-body experience - they felt totally alien to me, I almost couldn't understand what I was looking at, and could not for the life of me imagine them ever getting better BUT somehow the skin repairs itself so try to remember that absolutely anything is possible with this.