WARNING: GRAPHIC IMAGES
A woman was left bed-bound with oozing, cracked and burnt skin for a month after ditching steroids that were supposed to help her.
Dance teacher Lucy McDermott, 27, from Melbourne, Australia, suffered from mild eczema as a child, but by 18 it became more severe and she was prescribed steroid cream.
The medicated
cream helped soothe her skin for a short period of time, but it would
eventually worsen again and Lucy was put on stronger creams.
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In 2018 and 2019 Lucy was hospitalised due to worsening symptoms but each time was given more steroids.
After doing some of her own research earlier this year, she found that people with the same symptoms as her were recommending stopping steroids altogether.
Lucy decided to stop using the steroids for once and for all and went cold turkey in June 2020 after joining online support groups to help her through the process.
Lucy says that the first month of withdrawal was 'horrific' and claims she was bed-bound with oozing, cracked and burnt skin, extreme fatigue and 'bone-deep itch.' She said the itching was 'unbearable' and meant she had to have ice packs strapped to her skin day and night.
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Luckily, five months into her withdrawal journey and Lucy's face is finally healing.
Speaking about her condition, Lucy explained: "It felt like I had to choose between taking them or having this debilitating skin condition for the rest of my life.
"Despite all of the medication I was on, my skin was still becoming dry, cracked and itchy, and the steroids weren't working. In early 2020, I came across an Instagram account of someone with the same symptoms as me, next to a more recent photo of them with clear skin.
"In the caption, they had used the hashtag #topicalsteroidwithdrawal, and I fell into a hole of looking at Instagram accounts of people with identical symptoms to me.
"I joined a few support groups and spent time reading about other people's experiences of withdrawal.
"A week later, I stopped using the steroids. The first month was horrific and I had to take time off of work as I was basically bed-bound.
"My skin was oozing, splitting, cracking and burnt, and I had bone-deep itching. I was also experiencing extreme fatigue and insomnia, and felt very depressed."
Lucy went on: "I feel like my life is on hold at the moment as I don't want to leave the house because I'm so self-conscious. It's even uncomfortable wearing certain clothes.
"As a dance teacher, all eyes are on me when I'm teaching a class, so that can be hard at times, but my students have an understanding of what I'm going through.
"I started sharing my journey on social media not long after I started the withdrawal process. It felt like a huge weight off my shoulders and everyone was so supportive and caring."
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There is light at the end of the tunnel though, with Lucy saying: "Although I have a long way to go, after five months of going with my gut and putting nothing at all on my face, I can't believe how some areas of my skin are looking.
"I can't wait for my life to be back to normal. It's a huge battle and I'm struggling every single day with intense symptoms, but I finally feel I'm heading in the right direction."
Featured Image Credit: MDWfeatures