I'm going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal right now and it totally sucks. Here's my steroid addiction story...
Once upon a time, I lived in Seattle and I also used to smoke (I know nasty habit). I also had a kitten. I didn't have any health problems... yet. After the kitten grew up, I started getting asthma from his dander. I was given an albuterol inhaler. My doctor encouraged me to give up the cat, I resisted. Somedays, I would avoid going home because I knew within 30 minutes of getting into the door I would have an asthma attack. I lived in the cat's home.
I eventually did get rid of the cat, but I couldn't get rid of all his dander. I was still asthmatic. The smoking didn't help, it sometimes led to asthma attacks. It was around this time, that I started getting some white patches on my back. I had developed vitiligo. The derm put me on clobetasol (an extremely potent topical steroid) and protopic (an immunosuppressant) to see if the pigment would return, it never did. I think I was on that regiment for about 9 months. I gave up, the vitiligo wasn't spreading and stopped using clobetasol and protopic. Turns out albuterol is considered a steroid, it is sometimes used in bodybuilding and injected in liquid form for its anabolic effects.
In 2011, I moved back to Toronto (yay home), and my asthma disappeared within weeks. Usually Seattle's climate is better for asthmatics, but the opposite was true for me. It could have been that I left the dander infested place and moved into a place no one had ever lived in. A few months later, I quit smoking.
In 2012, I went on a trip to Greece and Turkey. I developed a small eczema rash on my left foot. I tried using some hydrocortisone on it, it didn't work. I went to go see the derm to see what he could do. He gave me some topical steroids for the rash. It didn't really go away, in fact it was itchier and spreading. He gave me a stronger topical steroid and told me to wrap it in serran wrap to make sure it got absorbed. I listened to him, but he situation continued to worsen because it was itchy and I kept scratching it. Eventually, I was using protopic on that foot and the condition seemed to start to fade but I read the protopic is potentially very dangerous and it was inconclusive whether it could lead to cancer, so I stopped that right away.
I still wanted this eczema to go away, I started using polysporin on it. Polysporin is an antibacterial ointment that's sold primarily in Canada. It actually helped quite a bit, but I was still scratching it because I put it in a occlusive dressing, being of the belief that if I kept the moisture in, it would keep the skin from drying out. I would later learn this is a fallacy when it comes to skin moisturizing. How naive I was then...
Once upon a time, I lived in Seattle and I also used to smoke (I know nasty habit). I also had a kitten. I didn't have any health problems... yet. After the kitten grew up, I started getting asthma from his dander. I was given an albuterol inhaler. My doctor encouraged me to give up the cat, I resisted. Somedays, I would avoid going home because I knew within 30 minutes of getting into the door I would have an asthma attack. I lived in the cat's home.
I eventually did get rid of the cat, but I couldn't get rid of all his dander. I was still asthmatic. The smoking didn't help, it sometimes led to asthma attacks. It was around this time, that I started getting some white patches on my back. I had developed vitiligo. The derm put me on clobetasol (an extremely potent topical steroid) and protopic (an immunosuppressant) to see if the pigment would return, it never did. I think I was on that regiment for about 9 months. I gave up, the vitiligo wasn't spreading and stopped using clobetasol and protopic. Turns out albuterol is considered a steroid, it is sometimes used in bodybuilding and injected in liquid form for its anabolic effects.
In 2011, I moved back to Toronto (yay home), and my asthma disappeared within weeks. Usually Seattle's climate is better for asthmatics, but the opposite was true for me. It could have been that I left the dander infested place and moved into a place no one had ever lived in. A few months later, I quit smoking.
In 2012, I went on a trip to Greece and Turkey. I developed a small eczema rash on my left foot. I tried using some hydrocortisone on it, it didn't work. I went to go see the derm to see what he could do. He gave me some topical steroids for the rash. It didn't really go away, in fact it was itchier and spreading. He gave me a stronger topical steroid and told me to wrap it in serran wrap to make sure it got absorbed. I listened to him, but he situation continued to worsen because it was itchy and I kept scratching it. Eventually, I was using protopic on that foot and the condition seemed to start to fade but I read the protopic is potentially very dangerous and it was inconclusive whether it could lead to cancer, so I stopped that right away.
I still wanted this eczema to go away, I started using polysporin on it. Polysporin is an antibacterial ointment that's sold primarily in Canada. It actually helped quite a bit, but I was still scratching it because I put it in a occlusive dressing, being of the belief that if I kept the moisture in, it would keep the skin from drying out. I would later learn this is a fallacy when it comes to skin moisturizing. How naive I was then...
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