Tuesday, November 19, 2013

months 9, 10, and 11 aka I am a slacker

Lets just let the pictures speak for themselves because I already put this post off long enough. Basically pain/flakes/etc was manageable. 


8/29/13 Day 264

9/7/13-9/11/13 days 273-277 



9/12/13 Day 278


9/29/13 Day 295 




10/17/13 Day 313 


10/22/13 Day 318


11/2/13 Day 329 


11/1213 Day 339 



And here are a pictures from life during those months to show how I didn't look like a monster at that point in time.






Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Month 7/8: Day 200 has come and gone...


Sorry my posts have been very infrequent lately but there just isn't that much going on like before. Here are the highlights from the past two months:


  • Day 200 came and went. At the start of my withdrawal I numbered my planner from my first day steroid free, but only went to 200 because I was sure that I would be fully healed by then. So when day 200 arrived and I wasn't healed yet I became really frustrated with the whole process even though I have come so far. The planner now goes to day 300, so fingers crossed....
  • my harms have been constantly cycling through flares: 
    • super itchy bumps all over 
    • bumps gone but itchy and now little cuts from scratching the bumps
    • raw and red 
    • flaky
    • a day or so of just being pink
  • I ran out of natural/sensitive face wash so I used an old one (that is full of chemicals) for two days and got an awful rash down my cheek and neck. I am currently just using my natural bar soap on my face and the rash faded in a few days 
  • Now that my face and neck look normal and the rash on my arms is mostly in the crooks, strangers seem to think it is ok to just straight up ask me what is wrong with my arms. I am happy to spread to word about the dangers of topical steroids but it just sucks that you have to be reminded that people notice 
8.21.13 Day 256: Here is where I am at so far: 
Neck: has been itchy the past few days out of nowhere (but no rash or redness). I have not been able to put makeup on my neck or wear necklaces. I also had to take atarax a few times to get to sleep because my neck was so itchy. (Maybe this is that big rebound flare people talk about around month 7/8/9???) 
Shoulder blades near armpits: Still rashy looking but not too much itch so I forget that they are still bad until I look in the mirror 
Wrists: fingers and tops of hands are healed but my wrists are still VERY rashy/itchy/flaky. It also hurts to flex my wrists (like when doing a push up) 


Arms: I still have reddness (that looks like small spots) up my whole arm but it is pretty faint. The big block of redness (more like dark pink, not red like before) seems to be getting smaller and is now just in the crooks of my arms. They are currently done being flaky and are just red and raw making it hurt to close bend my arms without lotion. 

Sunday, June 9, 2013

6 Month Update!

6.9.13 Day 183: Today I have officially been withdrawing from topical steroids for 6 months! To celebrate and help other red skin warriors out there, my screen printing company Notorious Sportswear will donate $5 to ITSAN (International Topical Steroid Addiction Network) for every Warrior shirt sold on the Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/NotoriousSportswear?ref=shop_sugg

Here is how I am looking 6 months into withdrawal:
just a small rash on the back of my right shoulder

lots of rash on the back of my left shoulder

bits of rash on my chest

still rocking those lovely red lines






Song of the Day: "Hey, this is not a funeral. It's a revolution, after all your tears have turned to rage, just wait, everything will be okay. even when you're feeling like it's going down in flames. Oh, people like us we've gotta stick together. Keep your head up, nothing lasts forever. Here's to the damned, to the lost and forgotten. It's hard to get high when you're living on the bottom. We are all misfits living in a world on fire...sing it for the people like us, the people like us" People Like Us - Kelly Clarkson