32 Months TSW

Hi everyone,

How the time flies! It has been roughly 3 years since I set up this blog in order to spread awareness of severe eczema, then learning of steroid induced eczema or 'Red Skin Syndrome' and in this time I have had a staggering 330,000 blog views. Your kind emails and comments also mean the world to me as I am humbled to learn that my blog has achieved it's aim of spreading awareness and showing people that they are not alone in this. I am truly grateful for the opportunities that have been opened up to me and for those of you who share your own experiences with me to show that I am not alone.

Thank you.

In other news sorry I have been AWOL recently. I work full time now and find it hard to find the time and energy to write on here. But I am still here! Although something scary happened on Christmas day morning. My Google account was 'hacked'. 2 weeks of trying to get hold of Google later, to discover that Google had just decided to change my email address, thus locking me out of my whole account. Cheers Google! Never mind... It's all resolved now!

I bet you're all dying to know how my skin is? Well it still isn't exactly great. My face, neck and arms have recently flared and I think the trigger is stress related. I mentioned that I'm now working full time - it's still within the same company but it's in a different department and I'm learning a hell of a lot. There's only 2 of us in the department and my colleague had a week off after Christmas which was probably the worst time for her to disappear. Needless to say I struggled immensely, and hence the result is that my skin is a bit of a mess. But that was weeks ago now, I hear you cry. Yes it was weeks ago but now that I no longer have the adequate time to heal (read; laze around and do nothing), it's going to take a little bit of time. It is however slightly better today than it was though.

Rashy, dry and wrinkly!

Yes my brows need sorting. But I have some!! & I'm also noticing more baby hairs on my head :)

Splits on my eye lid creases

I am now officially vegan. Shane and I have seen the light and don't want to consume any more dairy - I stopped eating meat months ago. We even enjoyed a vegan Christmas, at both of our parent's houses and it was glorious.

My next step is to try to incorporate more raw fruits and vegetables into my diet, but it is hard to think meal-wise what I can eat for lunch at work. I work from 7am so am hardly in the mood to make meals for work. I've been enjoying the night before's left overs or pitta breads and hummus with tomatoes and spinach but I want to try to get away from bread and consume more vegetables instead.

I've been snacking on fruits - kiwis, blueberries, bananas, oranges and apples but find they don't sustain me for long. I can't take huge portions of these things either because I don't have much time to eat them and we're forbidden to eat at our desks so that's a bummer. I would take salads but the prep thing is the only thing holding me back - I haven't actually tried it but I imagine it wouldn't taste so fresh making it the night before? I don't know.

Breakfast is usually a variation of overnight oats or smoothies so I'm definitely getting my quota of fruits in there. I just need more during the day. Also considering probiotics now. Something I've been thinking  I'd try for ages but I don't want to pay an arm and a leg for them. Does anyone have suggestions of good but cheap ones?

2 & A Half Years Steroid Free

As I hit a big mile stone yesterday I figured I'd better make some time to write a blog post on reaching 2 and a half years off topical steroid creams.

Right now I'm really busy with life. I finally have a full time job which I've been doing since the end of September, with two role changes during this time. I've been going to a lot of gigs and having more of a social life. I can't remember my last day of doing absolutely nothing, I always seem to be on the go right now.

I'm still taking Ciclosporin but no doubt I will be asked to come off it soon, but all of my blood tests come back fine each time so my body is in sync with it. I still haven't lost any weight yet but I trust that when my body normalises I will do. My diet is mostly clean but as always, there is room for improvement and I am switching ever more to a vegan diet.

I have also worn make up for long periods on a couple of occasions without any over-damaging effects. This makes me hopeful that my skin is finally toughening up. My eyelids were one of the worst targeted areas for applying steroid creams and it reached a point where liquid eyeliner would burn and eventually even mascara just applied to the eyelashes would cause an awful reaction. I doubt I'll ever be able to wear liquid liner again but I'm happy enough to get away with mascara. Also my eyebrows look fantastic now.

I've also noticed my intolerance to heat has diminished significantly. I've always had poor circulation in my hands and feet, and also have my lips turn blue, but recently I've noticed that this has switched and I'm much more intolerant of the cold. It got to a point where I was unable to wear layers underneath a coat or jacket because I would come out in hives, but now all I do is layer up because I'm freezing cold! I was a lot better over this summer period of tolerating the warm, but the true test will be going over to a hot country to see how I fare then.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still up and down with my skin but it hasn't prevented me from doing stuff recently and I can't remember when I last took a sick day from work because of it. Onwards and upwards!

Recent photo of me from a friends' wedding wearing mascara, eyeliner and eyebrow pencil.

I would dig out more photos but I can't be bothered to trawl through my phone so this will have to do you for now ;)

Hope everyone is doing well, and as ever I apologise for my online absence.

Month 28

Hi everyone, I reached month 28 a week ago so figured I'd best do a catch up post. It seems my posts are becoming more and more scarce as time goes on. That's because I haven't really had any major turning points to speak of. I'm still trundling on, however my social life is coming back and I'm practically on full time hours at work. I've started attending the gym, to address the weight gain, and apart from a few blips I'm quite content presently.

I went to see the dermatologist the other day which I thought was going to lead into the monotonous fight that usually occurs but I was told as long as I was aware of the effects, and was regularly monitored, I could stay on Ciclosporin for the present. That is fine with me, as it seems to be actually working right now. They did mention a drug break though which I will have to eventually do anyway but for now it's all good.

Recently I've been watching more and more documentaries and videos on veganism and am really hoping to make the switch soon. My partner is on side with me as he would like to be healthier overall too. I got a juicer for my birthday, which I'm yet to use but I'm hoping it will yield good results for me. If anyone knows any good recipes, that don't contain celery or cucumber do leave a comment!

Here are some photos from Friday.

Thought I'd take a couple of close-ups to show how wrinkled my skin has become around my nose/cheek area. Thanks steroids (& over-scratching!).

Neck/chest looking good

Also thought I'd include this one of me giving this woofer a good old stroke. Not often my skin behaves with furry ones!

The rest of my body is remarkably clear. Although I now seem to be having some other health issues with my stomach and randomly vomiting so my skin is a bit worse for wear this morning. Oh well.

Hope everyone else is doing good!