Discover the best Topical Steroid Withdrawal blogs

I am so thrilled to share that my blog has been voted in the Top 10 Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) blogs by Feedspot.

What is topical steroid withdrawal?

If you’re new to this blog you might not have heard of TSW, it’s an intragenic (caused by medication) condition that can affect anyone who uses topical or oral (the name it’s quite cutting it here) steroids, and sometimes it can happen after even a short time using mild topical steroids.

I am four and half years into TSW myself and slowly healing. After over 40 years or sporadic use of topical steroids I finally worked out why my rebound flares were just getting worse and worse and even strong steroids kept my skin in an unhappy but bearable state of moderate eczema. When I stopped using the topical steroids all hell broke lose, my skin was addicted, and withdrawal can take anything from six months to ten years.

What did TSW look like for me?

TSW was pretty gruelling. The hardest symptoms for me were the nerve pain in my face, arms and legs. That has not stopped. Also the aging, sagging and wrinkles has been tough to accept. Side effects of topical steroid withdrawal can be wide ranging from incessant bone deep itching, over heating, excessive flaking, inflammation and crusting, and so many more things. Visit ITSAN, the charity dedicated to TSW for more information.

I’m still healing and it’s been a roller coaster but it’s been the best thing I’ve done for myself, my skin and my mental health. I am in a much better place now, need zero medication from the pharmacy and manage my skin with minimal intervention. It’s truly blown my mind.

How do you know if you’ve got TSW?

It can be very hard to know and even harder to get a diagnosis. I still don’t actually have a diagnosis myself but had ALL the symptoms except the excessive weight loss one (go figure) so am pretty sure it’s what I’m experiencing. It has been recognised by the MHRA, BAD and National Eczema Society in the UK but doctors and dermatologists still struggle to accept it is happening and if they do, they say (hope and pray) it’s rare. To find out more visit my TSW FAQ for all the information and resources you need to find out if you have TSW.

The Top Ten TSW Blogs

Here’s a list of the top ten for all those of you wishing to find support or just expand your knowledge of topical steroid withdrawal:

1. ITSAN blog – https://www.itsan.org/blog/
2. Briana Banos, creator of the Preventable documentary – https://brianabanos.com/blog-posts/
3. Decoding Topical Steroid Withdrawal – Jing’s blog! – https://decodingtopicalsteroidwithdrawal.com/blog
4. Jem’s TSW healing journey – https://jembrown7.wixsite.com/top-steroid-withdraw
5. What Allergy – My lil old blog! https://whatallergy.com/category/topical-steroid-withdrawal/
6. Eczema Conquerors blog – https://www.eczemaconquerors.com/recent-blogs/
7. Balmonds blog – Topical Steroid Withdrawal – https://balmonds.co.uk/blogs/blog/tagged/topical-steroid-withdrawal
8. Julie Baezner’s blog – https://brwren.com/
9. Cara Ward’s blog (healed from TSW) – http://tswcara.blogspot.com/
10. TSW Journey to healing – https://www.tswjourneytohealing.com/blog

A couple of these are new to me, but most I’ve come across before and I would like to thank each and every one of them for continuing to share stories and help raise awareness. TSW is a very difficult and poorly understood and supported condition.

New bloggers I discovered from this top ten TSW blogs

Let’s just thank Feedspot for a moment, because as a blogger I love finding new bloggers, fellow writers, sharers and awareness spreaders. You are all amazing, keep up the good work. It also important to read other blogs, comment and share and help each other to increase engagement. Planning sharing some blog love after publishing this.

So new TSW bloggers now on my radar are:

• Julie Baezner’s blog, Found in Reverie is a great resource where Julie shares lots of blogs on TSW and links to other resources. It’s heartbreaking but also soul warming reading Julie’s writing about how she’s coping with TSW. If you need to hear from others going through this, follow Julie.
• TSW Journey to healing is Jen’s blog, she’s also sharing her TSW journey and also has a podcast. Let’s give her some love! She just started this blog in April so I’m really glad I found her.

I hope you’ve found this blog useful too. Let’s share the love and help each other.

How many blogs have I written about TSW?

To date I’ve written over 50 blogs directly about TSW and over 100 that reference it in some way, so if you want to do a deep dive into this condition you’ve come to the right place. Topics range from: How I got addicted to topical steroids, what it’s like to be a long haul healer, how to clear ear TSW and blocked ears, sleep tips and so much more.

Click here to read all my TSW blogs!

You may also be interested in:

• The Shape of Skin – The poetry book written for people with eczema and TSW. Full or weird and wonderful poems that will make you see your skin differently.
• Paraffin is the worst thing for eczema
• Can Collagen help eczema and TSW?
• Best washing powder for eczema and TSW