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For those of you who have known me for a long time, you would also be very familiar with my lifelong struggle with eczema. 100 days ago, I was faced with the undeniable fact that the exacerbation and spreading of my eczema that had been going on for months before I moved to Singapore & got worse when I moved here was not my eczema getting worse – it was my skin withdrawing & reacting to the topical steroids that I had been prescribed with. My choices were, to stop taking and using steroids, both oral & topical or keep taking stronger meds.
My skin was the worst it’s ever been. I knew in my heart it wasn’t just eczema. But I was being offered stronger drugs – methotrexate, dupixent.
I sought out a second opinion from @skinhealthcentre.sg – a skin centre here in Singapore that specialises in treating topical steroid withdrawal (TSW). I had read about TSW and seen pictures that looked like exactly what I was going through, and after a 2-hour consultation, my suspicions were confirmed. I was going through TSW, not even by choice.
I decided 100 days ago – I’m done with the drugs. I’m done with the steroids. I’m done depending on emollients. And here I am, 100 days after, and thanks to my support system- family, friends, Harrison, Churchill, and the wonderful people at SHC- I am healing, no steroids, no moisturiser.
This is a long but important post. I am in no way against doctors or steroids – some people do need them and benefit greatly from them. I did, until I didn’t. With eczema being such a common affliction nowadays, I felt like it’s so important to also talk about the side effects of the medication prescribed to treat eczema.
Today I’m getting much better and you can see this from my photos.
Photo 1&2: me today! 100 days TSW!
Photo 3: day 92 TSW
Photo 4: Day 70 TSW (40 days after I started treatment with SHC)
Photo 5: Day 30 TSW
Photo 6: Day 22 TSW
Photo 7: Day 10 TSW
I’m currently documenting my journey at @flakesville if you’d like to learn more!
As you can see, my skin is far from normal. But what is normal anyway? I am healing, I am happy, I am healthy. And that’s all that matters.”
- Humans of Kuala Lumpur
(The story was first published in 2021)
#TSW #healinghappens #eczema
