Friday May 31st

*Be warned that there are some potentially NSFW images in this post.*

So on Friday I went to hospital and ended up being there for 3 bloody hours!!! My appointment was at 10:40 but I wasn't seen until an hour and a half later. I then had to get my blood pressure done, go for bloods, a new prescription of Ciclosporin and produce a urine sample which my bladder didn't want to cooperate with. Because I was there for so long I was unable to have a shower before work, leaving me in a right old state. So as you can see by the images below, it was not pretty.

I suppose I should tell you what happened when I saw my derm. Well he told me he read a bit of the article I gave him on Red Skin Syndrome but didn't find it particularly credible - thanks bud! Luckily my derm nurse seems to find it intriguing enough to look into though, so I shall share these articles and blogs etc. with her. 

I've decided to give Ciclosporin a 3rd chance whilst I withdraw because there is no way I will be able to continue to go to work whilst flaring seeing as I'm finding it difficult enough at present with the state I'm in. I'm completely zapped of energy which isn't helped by the fact that I've had to go to work for 6 days in a row and won't get a break on my days off as they are filled with things that need to be done. Ugh. I need to relax. It takes so much effort to preen myself for a short shift at work and by the time I'm home I'm scratching myself to pieces. Really not nice.

Without further ado - here are the promised pictures. Don't be too freaked out by my near-nakedness.

(L-R) Body; Chest, tummy, arms; Tummy/ above underwear line

(L-R) Tummy; Back of knee; Breast; Arm

A truly grimacing sight. 

My belly is so ridiculously awful. It actually looks like an old woman's tummy due to the loss of elasticity. My poor skin.

I'm also pretty wound up today because some complete moron randomly reversed into my car whilst we were waiting at traffic lights. Luckily there's only minor damage but I'm still hacked off. I didn't have a straight thinking head, and even less so because I was dying for a shower so I didn't get his contact details for if anything does occur later on. I swear people just like to vandalise my car for the hell of it. Must have a retard magnet on it somewhere...

Sore, Red, Dry, Itchy and Oozy

In my last post a lady linked me to her video that she had created about her experiences with this "Red Skin Syndrome" that is brought on from Topical Steroid Withdrawal. I was quick to show some of my immediate friends and family as she explains it all so, so well and her story is extremely similar to mine. I also like her comical way of putting the video together. It made it that much more "real" and there's definitely no pussy-footing about (no pun intended Miss Kitty Fantastico!) she gets straight to the point.
So please take the time to watch this, it really is interesting!

In news of how I am today, well I'm not good really. I only woke up at 11:30 which is hugely late for me but the truth is I've been avoiding getting up because it just feels all too raw and painful today. It's all because of last night's antics and frustrations. I came home from work expecting to be able to have a nice relaxing bath and the hot water stopped being hot when I'd only filled a small amount of the tub so sitting there on the bathroom floor in a state of itchy frenzy, with no one to support me I had a bit of a break down. It  took about an extra 40 minutes or so until I could run my bath. 
It will sound beyond trivial to some that I wasn't able to bathe as and when I wanted to but it isn't because I want to, it's because I need to for the sake of my poor skin. If I don't pander to the needs of my skin as soon as I can life just doesn't feel worth living.