Monday, December 11, 2017

2.5 year update

Here I am at the 2.5 year mark since I began this detox from ongoing steroid use my whole life.
I can't believe I made it this far but the process, as excruciating as it was has been so worth it!

I am now completely eczema free for the first time in my whole life. I am not on any diet or food modification plan at all and I use no medication at all. My skin has all but completely healed itself and every 4-6 months for about the past year I have had some very minor flare ups on my face but the severity is much less and the healing much faster.

It has been so incredible to be able to dress for the weather, not to cover my body and to be able to do things that I could never do, like swimming in the summer with my kids and sleeping an entire night without scratching my skin. My life has changed so much and the only thing that has changed on this entire journey was giving up the steroids and allowing my body years to heal on it's own.

I will do a more comprehensive post at some stage but for now, I encourage anyone who is using steroids on an ongoing basis to be incredibly careful about using them long term. They completely destroyed my body and the reaction that I began to have to them after so many years of use only perpetuated my eczema and continued the vicious cycle.

I have told many doctors that I have seen and have not yet found any that seem supportive and understanding of this journey. Every doctor I have seen just prescribed a different type of steroid and never spoke to me about the long term effects.

I am so happy that I found this online Facebook group and organisation, ITSAN. Being able to do this journey alongside others all over the world has been amazing and the support was what helped me to keep going through the darkest months.

Here is a picture of me from the past few months with my mum and my daughter. No eczema, swimmers, pain free and so much freedom after 30 years of severe eczema from head to toe.
I use to go for a swim in the ocean and sit on the beach for half an hour afterwards, crying in agony as the salt water burned and stung every inch of my body. I can now swim without any pain or discomfort at all which is amazing!

Thanks to my amazing mumma also who walked alongside me my whole life during this journey and did so much to work out how to help me heal from this. We made it! xx