Hi everyone! I hope life has been treating all of you well. I honestly lost motivation to update. I have eczema and been dealing with it since I was a baby. I have been to numerous doctors and always been prescribed steroids to treat it, so I thought that was the way to go because my skin got clear once I used them. Unfortunately, I have learned recently that topical steroids are not the best route because although they do help for the time being... it's a temporary fix. Using topical steroids thins out the skin overtime, it can also enter the bloodstream which can be detrimental to the body after a while because it counteracts with the adrenal glands making of its own steroid production. This can lead to 'hypoadrenalism' which causes low blood pressure and severe weakness (this can also happen while going through TSW). The skin also can get worse when the skin has gotten used to the steroid or if the usage stops not long after this the eczema will flare up again. This process is called "topical steroid withdrawal (TSW)." I never knew this was a thing until I saw this young lady named 'Jada Jones' on my for you page on TikTok. She was very open and vulnerable with showcasing her journey online and I as well as many others appreciate that so much. It's so comforting when we see others going through the same things we go through because it's easy to feel alone and feel like nobody knows how we feel, but truth is there is always somebody else out there going through the same thing! I'm currently going through TSW which caused my lack of motivation. It's so hard to do things sometimes honestly. TSW consists of constant itching, flaking, extremely dry skin, skin weeping, and overall, absolutely uncomfortable. I can't tell you how many nights I lose sleep because I get so itchy and there is literally nothing you can do about it but endure it. “Phantom itching” plays a major part as well and it’s basically your brain telling you your skin is itchy when it really is not. I catch myself doing that a lot. There’s always those people saying “stop itching” but its not that easy… honestly itching it seems the only way to soothe it at times. It's even hard to look at myself sometimes because I don't recognize myself especially when I'm looking back at old pictures and videos when my skin was clear. It can get depressing sometimes. However, I do love how much awareness is being spread about TSW and eczema. Growing up, I never really saw many communities discussing eczema let alone TSW, so to see all of the awareness now is amazing and I love to be able to have others to relate to as well as helping one another out on how to get a cure to eczema and figure out what causes it in the first place. I will definitely be diving more into this topic as I expand my knowledge on it! I will do better with updating. The Lord will heal me and give me the strength to go on and that goes for anyone else out there going through this!!! There's a season for everything!
“He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” – Isaiah 40:29
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28
'Jesus replied, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” – Luke 18:27
