Footballer felt like he was 'electrocuted every second' after stopping common medication
A young Welshman has opened up on how he felt 'so depressed' as he dealt with complications from treatment of his eczema.
Meilir 'Rolo' Rowlands, 21, has had to deal with eczema his entire life, but things took a turn for the worse when he stopped using tropical steroid cream and suffered withdrawal, which caused his eczema to spread even further on his body.
He began taking an immunosuppressant called cyclosporine to deal with the symptoms but was advised by doctors to stop, leading to excruciating pain.
"The nerve pain I was dealing with made sleeping impossible," he told the BBC.
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"It felt like my skin was on fire and like I was being electrocuted every second – it sounds dramatic, but... I pretty much became an insomniac."
He called it "the most challenging time of my life."
'It has taken such a toll on me mentally'
Meilir is one of eight million Brits who are in a constant battle with dry, red, irritated and itchy skin.
Eczema is a condition that can be absolute agony and impact everywhere on the body, often requiring steroid creams to offer some brief respite.
While they can be a godsend to the afflicted and are a common treatment, they can have side effects, especially if you're using high strengths and for a long time.
That's what happened to Meilir, from Llandwrog in Gwyned, Wales, who had been prescribed tropical steroid creams for years with the strength increasing throughout.
When he stopped three years ago, he found the eczema began spreading more widely to his neck and face, areas he'd never even used the cream.
It turned out he had developed tropical steroid withdrawal (TSW).
"It has taken such a toll on me mentally," said Meilir.
"At the start, it was more of me being confused and a bit scared of what was happening to me... but, during the last few months, I've just felt so exhausted with it all, especially after trying everything possible to help myself and my skin.
"I've been bedridden throughout most of it, struggling to get out of bed to do simple tasks. I just felt so depressed... I was doing nothing while my mates went out and enjoyed their university life."
Meilir is raising money for treatment
Meilir was the vice captain of the football team and a social person at Cardiff Metropolitan University but found himself cancelling plans as he struggled to recognise himself in the mirror.
After all his struggles, the sports media graduate - who did manage to attend his graduation after his condition improved slightly - is now aiming to get treatment that can have a real impact.
He's raising money through a GoFundMe to pay for specialist Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) therapy, which could be 'life changing'
The therapy is not officially recognised by the NHS in the UK but uses charged gas particles to kill bacteria on the skin.
"I've accepted that I will have some sort of eczema throughout the rest of my life and I'm ok with that, but I really do hope it becomes to a point of it being manageable, as it's been quite the opposite for the last few years," he added.
He has already reached beyond his £3,000 goal.
The NHS says that most people will not suffer side effects when they stop taking steroid medication, but warns those on a high dose or have been taking it for longer than three weeks usually need to reduce their use gradually rather than stopping in one go.
Daniel Murphy