In 2012 I was also diagnosed with high blood sugar. My A1C was 7.1, which is borderline diabetic and well beyond the so-called pre-diabetic range. In an effort to get my A1C down, I lost 25 lbs by the end of 2012 but my A1C was still around 7.2, which was insane because I only weighed 140 lbs and yet I had the blood sugar levels of a diabetic which is usually due to obesity. I eventually learned that some topical steroids are actually glucocorticoids, they cause the blood sugar levels to go up.
I stopped using any steroids on my foot sometime in 2013 and took another blood test about 4 months after, and my A1C was 4.8, shocking.... I thought I was in the clear.
During this time, whenever I was stressed, I would sometimes get small rashes. I would subdue these rashes with the leftover steroids that I wasn't using on my foot. Usually in two or three days the rashes would disappear and I would stop using the topical steroid.
In March of 2014, I did a run and a workout (not something I did regularly). I started to get a rash on my abdomen area. That rash looked like goosebumps but red. They were itchy. I managed to subdue the ones on my abdomen area by using some topical steroids. I worked out again, and a couple of days later, some more bumps appeared, this time on the inside of my thighs. Then a few more on my arms. I went to a walk-in clinic, the doctor thought it was folliculitis and gave me some anti-bacterial medication. I aslo had a cracked thumb, she told me it was definitely eczema and gave me some Lyderm. I faithfully applied both on the prescribed areas.
Within two days, those bumps got bigger, to the point where they were the size of peas. I went to the ER. The ER doctor thought it was a case of scabies, but also gave me a referral to a dermatology rapid access clinic, just to double check his analysis. Over the next two days, the situation got progressively worse. I went to see the dermatologist. The dermatologist said it was eczema... I was emotionally crushed.
I had never been able to overcome the eczema on my left foot and now it was attacking the rest of me. I felt angry, angry at the weather (it was a really cold winter), angry at all these misdiagnosis, etc. The derm gave me 100g of betaderm (Betamethasone) and said in 3 days it would be gone. I put the betaderm on, I put it all over my body like it was a moisturizer. It did reduce the inflammation, but it didn't get rid of the itchiness and I was still getting more and more new patches elsewhere on my body. I had spreading eczema.
I went to go see a traditional chinese medicine doctor. He gave me some foul tasting concotion to take for 4 days and acupuncture. I was skeptical it would help and it didn't help. I was still get some occasional new spots and the itchiness wasn't dissipating. I also saw a naturalpath and a different traditional chinese medcine doctor. They all prescribed their "remedies" and got my hopes up, none of them worked.
I visited my regular doctor and she referred me to another dermatologist and gave me some topical steroids. I was starting to get skeptical. Their remedy is always some topical steroid and the one my doctor gave me was actually the one that caused my high blood sugar before.
I then started doing some research on the internet and that's when I stumbled upon http://www.itsan.org and learned about topical steroid addiction. I realized my skin had become dependent and addicted to steroids over the years and that's why nothing worked. I stopped using steroids for a while and my skin was trying to rebound, but I suppressed it using the betamethasone. I immediately stopped using all topical steroids on April 1st 2014. Within a day, the flare that had started 2 weeks earlier resumed in earnest. I'm now in topical steroid withdrawal and this blog is going to be the story of my long road to recovery.
I stopped using any steroids on my foot sometime in 2013 and took another blood test about 4 months after, and my A1C was 4.8, shocking.... I thought I was in the clear.
During this time, whenever I was stressed, I would sometimes get small rashes. I would subdue these rashes with the leftover steroids that I wasn't using on my foot. Usually in two or three days the rashes would disappear and I would stop using the topical steroid.
In March of 2014, I did a run and a workout (not something I did regularly). I started to get a rash on my abdomen area. That rash looked like goosebumps but red. They were itchy. I managed to subdue the ones on my abdomen area by using some topical steroids. I worked out again, and a couple of days later, some more bumps appeared, this time on the inside of my thighs. Then a few more on my arms. I went to a walk-in clinic, the doctor thought it was folliculitis and gave me some anti-bacterial medication. I aslo had a cracked thumb, she told me it was definitely eczema and gave me some Lyderm. I faithfully applied both on the prescribed areas.
Within two days, those bumps got bigger, to the point where they were the size of peas. I went to the ER. The ER doctor thought it was a case of scabies, but also gave me a referral to a dermatology rapid access clinic, just to double check his analysis. Over the next two days, the situation got progressively worse. I went to see the dermatologist. The dermatologist said it was eczema... I was emotionally crushed.
I had never been able to overcome the eczema on my left foot and now it was attacking the rest of me. I felt angry, angry at the weather (it was a really cold winter), angry at all these misdiagnosis, etc. The derm gave me 100g of betaderm (Betamethasone) and said in 3 days it would be gone. I put the betaderm on, I put it all over my body like it was a moisturizer. It did reduce the inflammation, but it didn't get rid of the itchiness and I was still getting more and more new patches elsewhere on my body. I had spreading eczema.
I went to go see a traditional chinese medicine doctor. He gave me some foul tasting concotion to take for 4 days and acupuncture. I was skeptical it would help and it didn't help. I was still get some occasional new spots and the itchiness wasn't dissipating. I also saw a naturalpath and a different traditional chinese medcine doctor. They all prescribed their "remedies" and got my hopes up, none of them worked.
I visited my regular doctor and she referred me to another dermatologist and gave me some topical steroids. I was starting to get skeptical. Their remedy is always some topical steroid and the one my doctor gave me was actually the one that caused my high blood sugar before.
I then started doing some research on the internet and that's when I stumbled upon http://www.itsan.org and learned about topical steroid addiction. I realized my skin had become dependent and addicted to steroids over the years and that's why nothing worked. I stopped using steroids for a while and my skin was trying to rebound, but I suppressed it using the betamethasone. I immediately stopped using all topical steroids on April 1st 2014. Within a day, the flare that had started 2 weeks earlier resumed in earnest. I'm now in topical steroid withdrawal and this blog is going to be the story of my long road to recovery.
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