Taken 23rd May 2014, almost a year into withdrawal. |
In the photos where I'm so obviously suffering, yes, the symptoms are shocking, but as I look so different, I'm almost able to pretend it's someone else – it's less personal, with the symptoms so much more than the person. In this photo, however, I couldn't hide under swollen skin and was instead offered a glimpse of the old me and a fear that this was the new me. This photo is so much more than my appearance. It is a total loss of identity.
Don't get me wrong, the sleepless nights that come with the weeping and irritation are terrible, but in my opinion, it is the stagnant stage of withdrawal that proved to be the most difficult. We start to see us again, and yet we are still so far from what we once were, a thick layer of elephant skin distorting the old like a mirror at a funfair.
From L to R: Before TSW. During TSW. After TSW. |
As a woman, you want to put on make-up and wear pretty dresses, but in reality, the thought of anything on your skin is unbearable. Through TSW, you feel unattractive, laid bare – I was no longer a woman and just some tired human endlessly suffering, the girl in the old photographs long gone. But I was right because you are never going to be that person again. You are going to be something better, and this time it is all yours.
What you need to remember is that you don't lose your identity through withdrawal, but find yourself, and besides, your old self was never yours to begin with. Topical steroids created a lie, and the truth is that it's going to take some time to get there, but get there you will, and you won't need anything to maintain it because it will simply be you. The new you. The real you.
I am going to end this by telling you something important: the stagnant stage is just another part of withdrawal.
Now is not forever.
Withdrawal is temporary.
Love,
The new me x
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