50 Months

So just a quick update. This flare finally seems to be on its way out. That’s two months!!! At over four years I had no idea I would still be flaring!

It was not bad though, not by a long shot. It was only my eyes, neck, inner arms, a little bit on my palms, and insomnia. NOTHING like what the flares were like in the beginning. Just frustrating.

My hands and inner arms have healed again. Neck is looking way better. Just a little redness that is slowly going. Eyes are the slowest to heal, but they are not as puffy or dry any more. I still have to be careful not to rub them too much however. Insomnia I am still dealing with to a small degree.

So things are looking up! I feel great honestly. 🙂

49 Months

So tomorrow marks 49 months.

I am still in this mild flare but it is frustrating. It is still my eyes, neck, and inner arms. Has not gotten worse, but is not getting better. The worst part is the eyes because I have triple bags under my eyes so everyone can notice. It suddenly has me very self-concious again. I am not sleeping great either, which does not help.

I have been sick for the last two weeks, a cold and now a sinus infection. I am wondering if my skin problems is related to this. I am on antibiotics now so we will see in a week if they help clear things up. I do feel like my immune system is run down right now.

Weirdly even though my eyes are so dry like the Sahara, my forehead is so greasy. Greasy forehead is normal for me, just odd that my eyes are soo dry, which is why I still believe this is a TSW flare.

I have been trying to get sun any chance I can as well.

Hope this flare does not last much longer. I will update when it heals.

4 Years Protopic Withdrawal

Well for a while I was honestly thinking of shutting this site down, as I had no intentions of updating since I was doing great…

I am doing great still really considering how bad I was, but I have noticed the last couple of weeks I seem to be having some kind of a flare. My eyes have been puffy, wrinkly, leaky, a bit flaky, red, itchy, the same as they were while I was going through the worst of my withdrawal. It started about the time of my anniversary. I cant think of any other time that my eyes have flared up again since my original healing.

I am also having a bit of redness on my neck and arms, BUT it really is very minimal. I am also having trouble sleeping the last few weeks.

I cannot really attribute it to anything and at first thought I was having just really bad allergies. My skin has been great for so long. I do get the occasional eczema on my inner arms or on my hands, usually in the spring and probably allergy related, but it nothing serious and eventually goes away on its own.

So maybe this is a 4 year anniversary flare? I hope it is nothing more. I have to stop myself from thinking it is going to get worse and stay positive.

Overall other than these few spots my skin is great and I am living a 100% normal life. I got married last November and my skin was perfect for my wedding.

Hopefully this flare wont last long.

Has anyone else out there experienced an anniversary flare like this?

 

3 Years Protopic Withdrawal

I am writing this post a little early. My 3 years actually is not until the end of August, but I was looking at some of the other blogs this morning of fellow TSW’s and figured I might as well do it now.

3 whole years without Protopic. Some days it is crazy to think that it has been that long already. I am doing really well. I did have a small flare on my neck in July, it only lasted a couple weeks, and seemed to clear up once I got some consistent sun on it [and lots of prayers :)]. It was a bit itchy for a couple days and red and rashy looking, but honestly when I compare it to my flares in the past, it was not bad, and I am back to doing great. No itching, sleeping great, no flaking, no redness!

If you had read my last post, I had requested people to help me and my Fiancé win our wedding! Well I just want to say THANK YOU if you voted for us! We actually won!!!! We are getting married in the Beautiful Bahamas this November. I cannot wait!

I am definitely not posting much any more and I am sure it will get less and less. Honestly I have a hard time going back on the Facebook pages and what not and looking at everyone suffering. I kind of avoid it. But if anyone ever has questions or comments I am usually pretty quick to get back to you.

Thank you again if you voted for us! I am counting down the days till we get married! Hope you are all doing well. Keep chugging along and try to stay positive. You will heal.

33 Month Update

So May 29 was officially my 33 month off all Protopic and steroids! I still cannot believe I have made it this far. In the early days, it honestly seems so impossible and hopeless. I wanted to do an update to say that I have been doing amazing. I have a couple of tiny tiny spots of eczema on the inside of my legs and inside of my arms, which quickly disappear when I get regular sun, but otherwise I have absolutely no issues. No itching!! I sleep great. My life is back to being 100% normal.

 

If you have any questions about my withdrawal or anything, please feel free to ask!!

28 Months

Next week I will be 28 months in my Protopic withdrawal. I am doing amazing! I was in a very small flare since the end of August, but it was not bad at all and very very minor. Just some small spots on the insides of my arms, chest, and lower legs. I was not itchy at all, it was just rashy.

Anyway at the beginning of December I went to Dominican Republic for a week of sunshine! It cleared up my flare! I was a little dry and flaky for a couple days after coming home, I think it was mostly my healing sun burn, but my skin has been doing great. The only spot I have anything right now is on my palms, just a few of the tiny annoying blisters, but they are tiny, and you cant really tell I have them.

Other than that I do not really have much to say! Everything is really the same month to month. I’m living life 100% normal now. In fact while I was in the Dominican I got engaged! So I’m now getting ready to plan our wedding! 🙂

I am so grateful for how good 2015 has been for me. I thank the Lord all the time for bringing me this far! Hopefully the healed skin will continue! 🙂

Hope you are all doing okay! Keep the faith that you will heal.

Merry Christmas and I hope 2016 is as amazing for you, as 2015 was for me!

xxoo

2 Years, 24 Months, 733 Days off Protopic

2 Years! Wow. When you are in the beginning stages, you feel like this marker is so far away. Its finally and here and so worth all those tears and pain. I am doing so much better than those early stages. I hope I will never take for granted having nice skin again.

So how are things today? Well I have some slight skin issues, just a bit of normal eczema on my palms, neck/chest, inside of my lower arms, thighs, and lower legs. These spots are a bit eczematous but it hardly bothers me. I don’t really think much about it. I am still seeing a homoeopathic doctor and he believes that these spots are due to hormones. I am due to get my period this week, so we will see if these spots clear up in the next week or two.

I even started going to the gym again and working out with a personal trainer and can sweat like crazy with hardly any problems.

I sleep great. My itching is about a 1-2 out of 10 depending on the day. Even when I do scratch, it is a normal scratch. It is itchy, I scratch it, and then that’s it. I no longer have the hour long scratching sessions. No flaking, no oozing, no pain. My life is 100% back to normal. It feels great! I thank the Lord everyday for bringing me so far and healing me so much. It is truly a blessing from Him.

Do I think my TSW is over? I am not sure. You really never know with this beast. So for now I think I will just say lets wait and see how things play out over the next few months. But for those in the early stages take heart, you will not always be suffering.

If you have any questions, please ask. 🙂 Take care.

23 Months Withdrawal

Just a quick update, I am 23 months TSW, Protopic withdrawal.

My last flare lasted only a week or two. I went on vacation for three weeks and had an amazing time with hardly any skin troubles. In fact, I have a beautiful tan! My first tan in quite a few year! Currently I am really having no skin issues. My legs have finally almost healed with just a few tiny spots, but unfortunately I now have to wait for the scars to fade. Oh well, I wont complain about that.

See you next month!

22 Months Protopic Withdrawal

Okay, so 22 months. Well I am flaring up again a bit. It started a couple weeks ago. I noticed I was getting some occasional hives, which I haven’t had in a long time. I also had a couple of sleepless nights, but thankfully I have been sleeping great in the last week. In fact I have been rather tired the last week. Last weekend I noticed my neck staring to get the small flares on the sides of it again, which had been clear for a while. Then I started to get some eczema on the backs of my hands last week, just a few small spots, which today are almost gone already. My palms started flaring up again. No cracks, but some of the little blisters. My left inner arm started flaring a bit last week too. It’s a bit rashy and a bit itchy. Nothing too bad. The picture below makes it look better than it is.

My neck was red and angry looking yesterday. You can see the picture below. I only seem to scratch it through the night while I am sleeping, but it has been VERY hot here. It was 32 Celsius yesterday. I put some zinc on it last night and it’s a bit less red today, which you can see in the second picture (with the purple shirt on).

  

Oddly I have still been getting pimples and my forehead is a bit oily. My face has been relatively unaffected so far, except my eyes which have been dryer and a bit more leaky than normal.

Legs are still their same scabby selves. Nothing has changed there.

I leave on Saturday to go on a three week vacation in another province. It will be my first vacation since I started TSW. I have been planning this since January. I was doing so well, I am bummed that I am flaring, although I do realize that it’s not too bad. I just worry about if it will get worse. I will be staying with family who don’t even know I have gone through TSW, and I don’t want to have to answer questions about my skin.

I am just going to trust God, that He is in control, and pray it won’t get worse and this flare will be short lived.

21 Months!

WOW, tomorrow will be 21 months since I last used Protopic. 🙂 🙂 🙂

I am happy to report that I am still doing really well. I am not posting as much any more, as things really do not change much month to month right now. In fact I am pretty sure things are still the same as my last post. I have tiny spots on my hands that come and go. Two or three small spots on my neck, again that come and go. I do nothing to them and they really do not bother me much. My legs are still a bit scabby. I am not sure why it take so long to heal the legs. Sheesh. The inside of my arms have a few spots, but again it does not bother me. And really that is about it. Every where else is nice smooth skin. No redness and barely any itchiness. If I have any itchiness, it is like a normal itch. I scratch it quickly and its done. No more scratching for hours on end! My homeopathic doctor asked me the other day when I saw him to rate my itchiness on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the least. I told him it was usually about a 2, maybe a 1. 🙂

I have been getting as much sun as I can lately. In fact I am even developing a tan! Last year I avoided the sun like the plague because it hurt so bad to be in the sun. Not this year! I cant tell you how grateful I am every day to God that I can enjoy the heat and beautiful weather we have been having again! I feel like I have my life back!

So really not much to say. I am doing really well. I hope and pray it continues.