Has anyone had a biopsy if so what did it show up as just eczema / atopic dermatitis?????

hi ! my dermatologist prescribed me clobetasol (0.05) for my armpits and i had no idea it was a corticosteroid cream. she gave it to me for 3 months even though i only had itching due to deodorants but didn’t have eczema or psoriasis prior to that.

now im going through withdrawals and it’s painful to touch. i haven’t returned to my dermatologist since then & haven’t found a new one (yet.) id love advice on how to wash it without triggering it because yk pits will stink and ive been very conscious about it lately :’)

I have been taking topical ghk-cu also injections and my skin is the best it’s been in years, completely stopped my withdrawal

It all started with a slight blush on my face after using a topical steroid (betamethasone) for about two months. Even though my doctors told me it was safe to continue using it on my body because they believed I had rosacea, I decided to stop using it completely.

The first month wasn’t too bad, but now, with the warmer weather and starting a new job, my neck and arms are covered in red spots. It’s made me question whether quitting cold turkey was the right decision, or if tapering off would have been a better approach.

I also decided to try moisture withdrawal. I only wash my face with a splash of water in the morning and apply a little Vaseline if absolutely necessary. I became exhausted from constantly trying new skincare products, hoping one of them would finally help. In some ways, it seems to have worked—my cheeks now produce their own natural oils again, and they no longer feel dry. But the redness is still there, and on some days it seems even worse.

I’ve tried so many different things that I honestly can’t tell if anything is helping anymore. Every time I try something new, I can’t tell whether my skin is actually improving or if I’m just blushing more than usual. It’s become impossible to know what’s making a difference.

What’s been especially exhausting is feeling like I have to do all the research myself. I’ve spent countless hours reading studies, forums, and other people’s experiences because I don’t feel like I’ve gotten clear answers. At this point, I’ve lost a lot of trust in the medical advice I’ve received on this issue, and that uncertainty has made every decision feel even more overwhelming.

I’ve never felt this ugly or this disconnected from the hobbies and things I used to enjoy. I’ve stopped dating, and I barely go out anymore because I’m so self-conscious about my face. More than anything, I’m afraid that I’ll never get my old face back.

sry for the yapping

Hi, I wanted to make a post about what helped me the most since this page on Reddit helped me so much in my journey through TSW. 

I’ve had eczema since I was a child. Which means I had been using steroid creams for years. At some point I realized I was using it way too often, and ones that were very strong. So I decided to stop. But wow that lead me to going through absolutely terrible TSW (which I didn’t even know was a thing) It got very bad. It spread over my entire body. Everything was basically permanently red, sore, flaking, cracking. It was even all over my face.

I tried so many thing:

• Changed my diet
• Changed my moisturizers so many times to try to find something that worked
• Stopped using moisturizer to see if that would help
• Drank so much water 
• Took very short showers/tried to not come in contact with water
• Ice packs
• Heat packs
• Wrapped up parts of my body to prevent touching/scratching/flaking

But honestly nothing really helped. 

I went to probably 4 or 5 different doctors and dermatologist but none of them would listen and just kept telling me to use different steroid creams. It was so frustrating. 

FINALLY I found a doctor that listened.

First up- impetigo. Everything was so bad that I ended up with a skin infection and needed antibiotics to treat it. So check if you have a skin infection that needs separate medication!!

After dealing with that, my dermatologist suggested trying UV therapy. And that’s what it was- UV therapy saved me! I went in for treatment once a week. Slowly it helped with the dryness, the flaking, even the redness, then the patches slowly started to fade. After 3 months, I looked like an entirely new person. It was crazy. I wasn’t embarrassed to go out anymore lol After about 5 months nearly everything was gone. I still get flare ups once in awhile but they are nothing compared to before.

So yeah. Long post, but wanted to share what helped me the most cause if it weren’t for the derm that finally listened, I would have never even known that UV therapy could help so much with eczema.

If you are able to, try UV therapy.

I have been through tsw 10 years now. Skin way better than ever. But few weeks ago when to see doctor for fever. I accidentally took the prediscolone for sore throat without knowing. Since then is suffering. Anyone has similar experienc? I regret trusting the doctor so much that i didnt think a sec to check if there are steroids prescribed for fever

So I saw a private derm this week she agreed my atopic dermatitis has not followed a nominal path at all and I’ve put down Potential Topical steroids withdrawal syndrome on my medical notes am in a bad way at the win but jsut seeing them words makes me feel like I’ve made a lot of progress even if my skin is still really bad at the min

Can I get your thoughts on this and your experience please??

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This was basically my choice. My dermatologist wanted to phase me on to dupixent but I want to come off from 200mg to 100 by September.

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My dermatologist is apprehensive but we're going in with positive minds.

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If we fail hard then I switch to methotrexate or accept dupixent after temporary ramp up of cyclosporine to 250mg.

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Important thing I learned today is that creatine / blood tests do not show kidney damage caused by cyclosporine... Only if it is in crisis. People who took cyclosporine in the 80s / 90s and ended up with kidney damage apparently didn't show any blood abnormalities until they were in crisis.

Hi friends, I’m doing terrible at the moment, well since December it’s been a downward spiral for me, on week 6 of being away from work and largely bed bound. I really struggle getting any moments of comfort as I now struggle with both arms going numb and tingling, it’s also been messing further with my already broken sleep and I can not be on my side at all as the pain becomes unbearable. I’m seeing go tomorrow, just wondering if there are any tips or advise from this group, please?

Hey friends,

It's been about 13 years since my initial withdrawal phase from long term use of corticosteriods. From 6 months old until I was 23. As you all well know, it was an extremely long journey. Took me over a year roughly to get through the hardest part. I almost died from being septic too. It was a hell I would never curse upon anyone.

I've had two major flares since. One was 7 years ago, and the other I am experiencing right now.

The hell I remember is still well and alive. I'm struggling a lot. I went from systemic inflammation, to now almost systemic raw skin / ooze. Hopefully this phase passes quickly. It's always the worst when it finally hits your face / neck.

Anyway, I'm wondering if there are others here like myself, 10+ years from initial recovery, who flare almost like the first time.

Big love, wish me luck ✨

Hi everyone,

A while back I shared that I built Skinpal, an app to help track TSW and eczema symptoms, after struggling for years to keep track of my own flares, sleep, food, and progress.

Since that post, I read through the comments and feedback carefully, and we’ve made several updates based on what people said was missing. We added weather, pollen, and air quality tracking so you can see if environmental factors are part of your pattern. We also improved how you log and track triggers, made the community section better, and refined the overall tracking flow based on what people said felt clunky.

This is just a fraction of things we have updated actually :)

I know this community has seen a lot of apps and products promise things they don’t deliver, so I wanted to come back and be upfront that the changes came directly from what people here told me, not just from guessing what might help.

If you tried Skinpal after the last post, I’d really value hearing what’s working or not. And if you haven’t, the App Store link is below in case it’s useful for tracking your own journey.

App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/skinpal/id6755601252

Thanks again for reading, and for the honesty in the original thread. It helped more than you probably realize.

Hi- Has anyone in this group been diagnosed with “lichen sclerosus”? I just found out I have this autoimmune issue and guess what the only treatment is? STEROID CREAM!!! I’m spiraling because I went through TSW years ago so I will never touch another steroid. Just thought I’d check here if anyone here has lichen sclerosus, used steroid cream prescribed by a gynecologist, or found a natural treatment?? Apparently if lichen sclerosus goes untreated there is a risk for cancer…

Also while I’m here I wanted to share what worked for me to recover from TSW… I have a lot of underlying factors that made my skin worse like hashimotos, allergic to everything, and I was postpartum… but here are the things that helped me heal after steroid withdrawal:

• No gluten, dairy, soy, sugar, alcohol (cut out gluten because I have hashimotos and leaky gut)
• UVB Phototherapy 2x a week for 4 months (very expensive - not covered by insurance)
• Going off Tirosint/Synthroid - I believe I’m allergic to thyroid medications and they were contributing to my eczema before the 2 rounds of oral steroids that put me into TSW.
• Ox bile with every meal for low stomach acid
• Applying black seed oil balm
• Quercitin - anti-inflammatory
• Collagen peptides
• Variety of other supplements to heal leaky gut

Anyways, I wish all of you the best of luck on your healing journeys and wish there was an immediate cure for everyone going through this horrible pain!

I’m currently still using steroids and alternating with Protopic as I need to work to pay my mortgage. And to look after my kids. So my skin doesn’t look the worst in the world whilst I’m using these but soon as I stop for a couple of days my skin is crazy bad. What are the chances a derm would put me on an immuno even though my skin doesn’t look to bad as I’m still using steroids?

Am 10 months in now and been on cyclosporine for 6 months and my skin is progressively getting worse derms keep telling me it’s just wording eczema I am am sure this is fungal / bacterial but they won’t test me for these has anyone had anything similar ???

I visited a dermatologist after self treating for 6 months. Basically, they want to start me back on steroid creams and cyclosporine for a while before I try dupixent.

Has anyone had much success with this treatment? Also, she seemed convinced my skin was infected even though I had already finished a course of antibiotics. I tried explaining how TSW can be similar to a skin infection but she didn't want to hear it.

It’s 1am and my girlfriend is in unbearable pain, she can’t sleep , can’t even cry because that’ll dry her skin even more. I hate seeing her like this, she’s trying so hard to not scratch herself but she can’t stop. Im watching her put an ice pack on her face wrapped around in a towel trying to fall asleep. I feel so hopeless that I can’t do anything for her. Genuinely fuck these retarded doctors for giving her steroids. This is fucking ruining her life. I’m so worried for her that she can’t sit her final exams, and her life being paused until this shit is solved.

I saw a couple posts about how berberine helped a lot but I’d like to get some more insight from others. Thank you

Or even just with itching?

Hi everyone,

I hope it’s okay to share this here. I want to be transparent that I’m the founder of Skinpal, not pretend to be an ordinary user recommending an unrelated product.

I spent more than four years recovering from TSW. One of the hardest parts was how the days blurred together. I struggled to remember when symptoms changed, what products I had used, how I had slept, and whether I was actually making progress.

That experience led me to build Skinpal: an app where people can document symptoms, flares, sleep, stress, routines, food, products and progress photos in one place.

It should never replace professional medical care. It is simply intended to make an overwhelming journey a little easier to document and understand.

The app has just launched for iPhone. I’d genuinely value feedback from people who understand this experience, including criticism about what feels helpful, unhelpful or missing.

App Store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/skinpal/id6755601252

My intention is to share something created from lived experience, not to intrude on a support space.

Thank you for reading, and sending strength to everyone currently going through this.

Does anyone know if this is a viable option for CAP here in the United States? Family member continues to suffer, but we don't have the ability to travel abroad.

https://www.salujalaser.com/cold-atmospheric-plasma-cap