Wowowowowow! Can’t believe it’s been a year! I was wondering if this milestone would ever come around, but here I am – healthy and well. My progress has amazed me and I’m grateful. Though there is some more healing to be had, the worst is behind me and I can get back to the other shenanigans in my life. Christmas and New Years Eve were a delight. I spent it with family and my wonderful boyfriend.
The last little bout of progress has been positive overall. The good news is that the second flare I had back in November died down fairly quickly. I was itch-less for the bulk of December. Some of it has returned though not nearly as intense as the beginning of withdrawal. If I scratch, I get strange burny-tingly sensations all over that’s pretty dang satisfying and makes the itching go away for a good long while. Ahh!
Despite this minor flare that I’m experiencing, I’ve learned that healing isn’t perfect. It doesn’t mean that you won’t have any symptoms later on, but that they progressively dissipate and you begin feeling them less and start to forget about it – slowly but surely. I might say that I’m 90% healed and at the end-tail of this!
Here are a few pictures I took today. Just wanted to show you what healing at 1 year looks like for Leizel and give others reference to others with similar usage history as me (Clobestasol Propionate very lightly and diluted with petroleum jelly over last 3 years of use (Jan 2010-Dec 2012); 1 week course every 3-4 months. Since age 6, mild topicals (class 4 & 5) very infrequently to Dec 2012).
My right wrist got a little more scratching action these last few weeks
Left wrist
Perioral dermatitis much improved. Dark pigmentation is fading. This was the worst area for me as it was difficult to eat, smile, and other mouth-oriented activities. See previous posts for comparison.
It’s worth mentioning that my perioral skin is improved when I use EczeHerbal ointment and calendula cream consistently. I stopped using it out of laziness for a couple weeks and went back to itchy, ozziness.
So yooou seeeee, things are feeling/looking better! If you’re reading this and are close to the 1 year mark and are feeling uncertain about your progress, please know that my usage/dosage was fairly modest and was withdrawing off and on for 3 years before I stopped topical steroids (TS) completely last year when I realized that my worsening “Eczema” was actually no longer Eczema but something entirely different. I didn’t think I’d be as healed as I am now. Your body is working at its pace to heal itself. Don’t underestimate your body’s healing powers. Take care of it and it will take care of you. May this New Year be a year of healing and growth.
Happy New Year from K and me!
laleizel 
So glad to see you are doing well!! I’m excited to see what life has in store for you!
Thanks, stranger! I’m looking forward to the rest of my life too!
Yay, HAPPY NEW YEAR! Glad to see you feeling and looking well at this one year mark! Cheers to you, my friend 🙂
Happy New Year to you! It’s wonderful to be not thinking about my physical state 24/7… it really makes you appreciate health and our youth! It’s been a while since I’ve visited your blog. Hope you’ve been doing well!
Wooyay! x
Nice one! Very happy for you! Its great to see more people nearing the end of their journey – very encouraging!
Looking great! Very happy for you!!!
You are looking fantastic! I am so happy for you.
I am so excited about your progress. It gives me hope. Would there be a way to private message you? I am on ITSAN Thanks
Hi Alisa, sorry for the slow response. I’m happy to hear that you have hope… As you should! There are many beautiful, healthy days ahead of you. If you’d like to message me, please email me at leizels.mailbox@gmail.com I’d love to hear from you!
Wow Leizel, I had no idea you had been through so much. I read your blog from beginning to end tonight. You are so inspiring! Best wishes as you recover!
Hey you! Thanks for dropping a line. It’s been a tough year but it’s taught me how to not take things for granted, especially health. Although a necessary process, It was taken away from me quickly and made me realize how precious everyday really is. And what I want in life. Best wishes to you and your family. I love seeing the little updates of Iris. She is beautiful just like her momma ❤
Hi there,
My son (21 months) is going through topical steroid withdrawal right now. We are 4 1/2 months in and it’s been Horrible (as you know)! Our naturopath recommended the Homeopathic Quebec Calendulis cream that you mention. We’ve used it and the results are amazing. So amazing I’m very suspicious there is a steroid of some sort in there. Did you find this too? Another RSS mom said the same thing – when her son stopped the cream (in the throes of RSS) his symptoms returned and way worse than before… Kinda makes me scared to keep using it. And scared to stop…. Have you been able to stop using it and if so did you have any problems? Any thoughts you have about this cream would be so greatly appreciated. I don’t know if my family can handle going back to full RSS again. I know the company stands by no steroids in the cream. I wonder if there is some kind of naturally occurring steroids out there?
Hope you are doing well and have enjoying continued healing!
Jessie
Hi Jessie,
I’m glad you found my blog helpful! I understand your concern with the Calendula Cream. I don’t believe there’s corticosteroids in the formula. The Eczema Company (online store) sells the exact same one by Homeopathic Quebec. I trust them as a company because they ensure that they sell natural products. I understand that there was a recent re-formulation, as a result of some kind of new by-law in Quebec regarding creams. So they added paragons and mineral oils to stabilize the formula. I’ve used both the original (non-paraben/non-mineral oil) and current formulas; and have not noticed a marked regression in my skin during the change from the original formula.
Sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner. I check my emails infrequently and just saw it last night. Just know that I understand where you’re concern is coming from. You’re not crazy and you are simply just looking out for your little one.
I had/have the same concerns as you; it seems too good to be true! I continue to wonder if my skin would worsen without it. And if I actually interrupted my body’s natural healing process by preventing oozing.
But for experimentation’s sake, I am going to stop applying Calendula for a couple weeks and see what happens. I’ll update you in a couple weeks! I pray that things will actually be okay and my skin doesn’t get worse like before. I’ve just been enjoying normal skin for a while now that I didn’t stop to think about it. I wonder if my body still has some unfinished oozing to do from last year and if the Calendula stopped that. I expect my skin to regress. The only difficulty will be in pinning what is causing the regression as there are many variables.
For one, it could be that I hadn’t allowed my body to fully ooze/withdraw because the Calendula was superficially healing. Again, I don’t think it’d be an withdrawal from Calendula, but from the fact that I interrupted the natural oozing process. I imagine that the body is trying to expel something from the body and needs to continually flow until it is completely gone. That is a hypothesis.
Secondly, Without Calendula Cream, Regression in my skin could be a result of a greater sensitivity to my living environment. I live in a household of allergens (4 cats, 2 dogs). I do my best to isolate myself from them. I keep them out of my bachelor’s apartment and wash everything I own, including myself with all the anti-dander/allergen products you can imagine. So it’s possible the root cause of worsening skin (without Calendula) could be from the allergens alone.
I think hard about these things… Haha. I hope you’re little one is doing alright. It must be so difficult for you to watch him experience TSW. My mom was my caretaker when I was going through the worst of it. Bless her heart. I don’t know who else would’ve truly done the same. Your baby is so lucky to have you! There’s lots of wonderful information out there that will help with the healing process. Avoid foods higher in histamine is definitely something that could help as they are inflammation-causing. Good on you for researching this far and finding out about TSW. People are far too trusting of the medical field and do not understand both its benefits, as well as its short-comings.
Best wishes,
Leizel
Hi Leizel,
I’m wondering how your experiment turned out stopping the Calendulis cream? I continue to worry about the contents of the cream and their long term effect on my sons withdrawal and would love an update on your experience! I look forward to hearing from you!
Jessie