I recently learned that my skin is going through Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW), and that has been the cause of the constant breakouts. Since TSW is a reaction to topical steroids and not actual eczema, natural eczema remedies have not been helpful. As I’ve continued to research the net and read the blogs of other TSW survivors, I’ve learned that many people have experienced improvement in their skin by going through moisture withdrawal. As far as I’ve found there is no miracle supplement or skin cream to cure TSW, but everyone who has tried moisture withdrawal has reported a vast improvement in their symptoms within a few weeks. When I first heard of it I thought, “That’s entirely too much.” I’m used to moisturizing every hour, or less, and it’s the only way that I’m able to look presentable in public. These flakes are no joke. But then the more I researched, the more it made sense. After you get over the initial discomfort and dryness of moisture withdrawal, your symptoms improve and the rest of the TSW process is a lot more bearable. When I weighed it out, I decided that I could handle two to four weeks of discomfort in order to expedite my healing. I’m currently starting week five of my moisture withdrawal process. The idea is that the body has to learn how to moisturize itself again. With prolonged use of steroid creams and moisturizers, the body no longer knows how to produce its own oil and cortisol to combat breakouts. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that prevents the release of substances in the body that create inflammation. According to Dr. Fukaya's theory, when people use synthetic cortisol creams to treat eczema, this tells the body that it no longer needs to produce as much cortisol to combat inflammation. This would explain why people get addicted to steroid creams, needing stronger and stronger prescriptions, while the body continues to produce less and less cortisol. In TSW, when the creams are stopped, the body goes haywire craving the steroids but is no longer programmed to produce the adequate amount of cortisol on its own. Check out Dr. Fukaya's blog post about how the skin produces its own steroids here. You can also find a lot more great information on his blog which is dedicated to Topical Steroid Addiction. While it is necessary to have cortisol in the body to deal with inflammation and regulate other functions of the body, too much can cause all sorts of problems, which is why TSW victims deal with so many symptoms. The side effects of prolonged steroid use can include cushing syndrome, hypertension, hirsutism, adrenal suppression, Hyper- or Hypo-pigmentation, skin atrophy, redness, stinging, sensitivity, delayed wound healing, thinning, fragile skin, and much more. For more information on the effects of steroid creams check out the Itsan site. In the same way the body becomes addicted to steroids, I believe it can become addicted to moisturizers as well. If you are constantly applying moisturizer, every hour like I was, the body doesn’t need to produce its own oil. During TSW, the skin is also highly sensitive and reacts to various stimuli, even all natural moisturizers. During my withdrawal process thus far, I have been on the hunt for a moisturizer that works for me. I used to use Cetaphil Cream but later transitioned to all natural products in an attempt to reduce my overall toxic load. I had to purchase moisturizer every week and applied it almost every hour seeking some sort of comfort for my skin. No matter what I used, I remained red, itchy, sometimes burning, and the open cuts on my face and hands took forever to heal, if they ever healed at all. When they did heal, they would crack open again a few days later. I tried every all natural lotion, cream, serum, and ointment you can imagine, but nothing seemed to work. It felt like the moisturizer would just sit in a layer on top of my dry, rough, skin, and disappear 30 minutes later. After reminding myself of my experience with moisturizer, and reading the countless success stories of people going through moisture withdrawal, I finally decided to give it a shot. I’m still flaky, BUT I can tell that my skin is slowly but surely healing. My face, which flakes the most, is going through cycles of drying out, flaking, and shedding, but each time it dries my skin is a little smoother than the time before, and there’s less shedding, so I call that progress. My skin also seems to be tougher. I still itch, but before I would scratch my hands and they would immediately crack and feel raw. Now they look like somebody’s grandma’s hands, but they crack a lot less. I’m hoping for more improvement in the next few weeks before I have to make my way on stage again. I've added more progress pics below. You can really see the cycles of flaking and shedding that I was talking about. As I said, it's slowly getting better, and I even leave the house again. The first two weeks I was the biggest homebody, because I could not deal with the flake-age. It's better now so I'll be sure to post more progress pics soon. Much love and until next time!
18 Comments
Janelle
11/5/2015 11:33:16 am
Love the progression pics. I thought about withdrawing from moisture but was hesitant. I have stopped moisturizing after my baths. If my skin is tight, I do lightly. I see some progress. Keep posting!
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Lauren
11/10/2015 11:10:51 am
It's hard to withdrawal completely, so easing into it is a great way to go. I hope you keep seeing progress. It's uncomfortable, but it definitely makes the skin stronger.
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What about using like a little jojoba oil or olive oil in the bath & that's it. I'm going through moisture withdrawal myself & after 2 weeks part of my skin looked good nut my face was dry flaky & it put a little jojoba oil on my cheeks & they turned red. Thank God I didn't use it any place else. I think what's drying my skin is just the plain water & I have a water filter hooked up to my shower. Doesn't help. Next time I take a shower I'm not going to get my face wet & I'm going to cut back on them like maybe 2 or 3 a week
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Lauren
7/8/2016 12:56:49 pm
While I was going through moisture withdrawal I didn't use any type of moisturizer. I went through some really ugly stages, but overall I got best results when I didn't use any creams or oils. I took Dead Sea salt baths about every other night and I used witch hazel to try and get rid of the flakes and to soothe my skin when it itched or stung. I actually have stopped moisture withdrawal and have started a different regimen. I need to put up a new blog post about what I'm doing now and why I stopped. I hope you're seeing results though! I'll get the new info up soon.
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Millie
11/26/2017 01:55:02 pm
Do you need to withdraw moisture from every part? I am having tsw on my face and wondering if I can just stop moisurising my face? Or do I have to stop everywhere?
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Lauren
12/7/2017 12:32:37 pm
Hey Millie. I did withdrawal from my whole body. I’m no expert, but if I were in your situation I would withdrawal just from that area first to see if it makes a difference. Hope this helps.
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Vuyo
2/19/2018 07:20:18 am
Hi I just started tsw, I'm on my 5th day today. My eczema is on my face. I have a gel and lotion from Apioderma. It seems like my face stings alot after I apply moisturiser. Should i start the mw? I am really keen for this to work
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Lauren
2/26/2018 11:53:13 am
Hey. I would say do all the research you can and make the best decision for you. I did find relief from moisture withdrawal, but I also had some really nasty and uncomfortable periods of flaking, itching and broken skin. I’m not a medical professional so I can’t tell you what to do, but if the moisturizer is stinging I would try something else. Maybe something more natural or moisture withdrawal.
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Helen Chan
3/20/2018 08:06:45 pm
I have just started moisturizer withdrawal for 3 days, I can see a noticable improvement on my face and neck. Though it is still very dry and red, I do not feel itchy any more and I can sleep well at night. However, my body, which has always been fine, suddenly got so dry and itchy since the withdrawal. Should I stop the withdrawal on my body and only partially do it on my face and neck?
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Lauren
3/29/2018 11:43:51 am
Hey Helen. I’m so glad you found some relief with moisture withdrawal. I am not a medical professional so I can only share from my own experience. Moisture withdrawal worked best for me when I didn’t moisturize at all. I experimented with moisturizing sometimes or just in some areas, but I always went back to complete moisture withdrawal. However, your body may be different. You could try moisturizing some areas and see if that helps. If not, return to full moisture withdrawal. I hope this helps
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Elli
12/7/2018 09:34:23 pm
I have tsw on my face. Iam going through moisturizer withdrawal and find some progress. Can you tell me from your experience, how many times should I need to wash my face and from which face wash??
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Angela
1/30/2020 02:29:02 pm
Hello
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Lauren
1/30/2020 05:08:52 pm
Hey Angela,
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Angela Elliott
9/4/2020 12:03:23 pm
Hello I can’t open the link.... just wondering how you are now? xx
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Sorry you weren't able to open the link. I added another this time which will hopefully work out. I'm doing a lot better. Spending time in the sun, sleeping well, eating well and doing meditation and yoga has made a huge difference. I'm not flaking like that anymore and a lot of the light patches all over my body have started to even out. I still have visible eczema, but I've improved immensely. I hope you're doing well.
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Lauren
9/4/2020 02:51:46 pm
You should be able to see my most recent update if you hit the arrow above my other comment. Or you can just go to the blog section of the website. I give an update in my most recent blog post.
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Malorie
9/7/2020 06:49:57 am
Hello.
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Lauren
9/9/2020 01:40:38 am
Hey Malorie,
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I'm Lauren, aka Just Du Pree, and I want to thank you for reading. This is a space where I share my very personal journey healing from eczema and topical steroid withdrawal (among other things), life lessons I've learned along the way, and occasionally the thoughts of an awkward Black girl (no Issa Rae). I'm a performer and filmmaker, so if you feel so inclined, pop over here to see what goes on in my mind on the regular. If you like what you see, you can stay up to date with my work here. Much love, friends!
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