Update, Month 22!

Hello everyone, long time no update! Really sorry for not updating for so long, but school has been keeping be pretty busy. As for my condition right now, I would say it's great! Here are some pictures of my face:

I can't upload pictures of my shoulders and arms at the moment, but they are in good shape. My skin at the moment is mostly calm EXCEPT before menstruation when I notice flare ups. The flare ups are nowhere near the ones I have had before, but they are just simply exacerbations of my affected areas. No oozing, burning, minimal flaking, and no insomnia :) The areas that I have now feel like regular eczema due to scratching habits and stress (exam periods especially, sigh)

Also, I have noticed that all of my past pictures have been lost somehow, and I think that is because I had to replace the hard drive on my laptop and therefore lost all of my photos ): It's saddening that I can't see before and afters anymore, but I think it's a way to help me let go of the past! 

I hope everyone is doing well!

Month 20!

Another month has come and gone! This month has brought a lot of changes, as I have moved out of my home and am now living in a college dorm! I think that as a whole, living outside of home and with other people has been beneficial to my skin. I scratch dramatically less that I had while living at home, and thus some of my stubborn patches are healing. I think that I flared a bit last week, but it was so mild that I wasn't even sure if it was actually a flare. Also, I am 99% sure that it was caused by my period starting the week after. The flare has pretty much died down now, and I'm looking forward to more improvements.

For those of you still in the thick of it, just have hope that YOU WILL HEAL! Like countless others have said before me, time is the biggest healer. I was just like all of you, questioning why TSW happened to me and letting the depression wash over me over and over again. It's completely normal and okay to feel depressed, but I would say to just make yourself as happy and comfortable as possible in this hard time. You all deserve all the rest and time off in the world, as only a few in the world have as much strength as all of you going through TSW.

Month 19

Just checking in for another update! Still doing good, seeing slow but steady progress. My rashy areas are getting smaller and smaller, when I can manage to not scratch. However, I notice that I still get weird heat rashes/hives after exercising which is quite bothersome. This is what happened after I went biking in the sun the other day:

It went away after an hour or so, but it never fails to happen after I sweat. I wonder how long it will be until my skin is no longer hypersensitive? Or will it be like this forever? Hopefully not....

Month 18 and doing well!

Wow! Month 18 already....time has really been flying by this summer. I'm happy to report that I'm seeing steady improvement in places I thought I'd never see any.

Please excuse the towel turban...

Eyelids are doing better overall, they usually look much better but are acting up a bit today.

Wow this camera really accentuates the dryness....but overall my perioral area is significantly less red!

Shoulders are slowly, SLOWLY getting better.

Inner arm is on and off most days because of scratching

Wrists are...somewhat better

Neck is still the most problematic area, but I can deal with this much.

The song "Started From The Bottom" by Drake just came up on my Spotify...and truly, I started from the bottom, now I'm here! 

Month 17!

So far month 17 has been ok! Mostly the same, but a few improvements to share!

Still very flaky and dry in some areas 

Neck is still the worst area for me

Shoulders aren't so great as well (mostly due to scratching)

Now for the grand reveal!

Wrist before:

Wrist after:

Completely back to normal, no trace of a rash or scars or anything!

Forearm perfect!

Inner arms still giving me a bit of trouble, but they're getting better!

Wrist still horrible.

Hope everyone is doing well! If not, just keep in mind the fact that you will heal!

Doing a lot better!

So happy to say that my recent flare has disappeared. It seems like most traces of tsw on my body are slowly fading, and it's just my scratching habit keeping things a bit rough. Also, happy to say that I will be attending University of California San Diego in the fall majoring in molecular biology. I'm not exactly sure what my career goal is yet, but perhaps topical steroids will come into my research someday? But, that will be very VERY far in the future. It would be a great way to thank ITSAN for everything it's done and contribute to this cause. Bye for now!

Month 16

Sorry to bear bad news, but month 16 has brought one of my worst flares since starting tsw. I finally know what it was that made me flare: vitamin E oil from the capsule. I thought it was that I had consumed too much sugar, or that it was my pre-menstrual cycle flare, but it was indeed the vitamin E oil. I used it again a few days ago, thinking that it was safe because I had used it before with no reaction. Then the day after, I could barely open my eyes because they were so swollen, I was oozing and swollen from everywhere that I had applied the oil, and my other tsw areas that I hadn't applied the oil were flaring as well. The swelling is going down very very gradually, but even 2 days later it still looks bad.

This flare was just so alarming to me because my face has never become so swollen before. When I looked into the mirror, I could not recognize myself at all. I know that I will get better and this will all go away, but in the meantime it is quite difficult to just put my entire life on hold. I've already missed 2 days of school, and am probably going to miss tomorrow as well. Hopefully I will have the strength to carry on for a few more days and see myself heal.

To anyone who has had eye and facial swelling, how long does it usually take to go down? The info would be very much appreciated. I hope that you are all faring well, and if not, we can wait it out together.

Note to self #2...

Cut out sugar! Flaring again....a bad one with ooze and swelling and everything. I'm 99% sure it was because I consumed so many sugary foods yesterday, way more than normal. Sigh, another lesson learned.

Note to self...

Never use olive oil ever again.

 

But other than that, my arms are great! My inner wrist is beautiful!

Outer wrist still needs work 

I still have the habit of scratching...which explains those cuts.

 Neck is still not good...lately each night I've been having scratch attacks and my neck ends up oozing. It's not the typical TSW yellow ooze, but more like the watery clear ooze you get from over scratching. I've tried wearing scarves and gloves but still end up scratching at night. Undoes all of my progress ):

 Hopefully I can break my scratching habit for good!

Update! Month 15

Long time no talk, everyone! I'm about to hit month 15 and things are just going ok. My neck is the worst problem area right now, being constantly itchy and still red. It goes through a lot of mini flares, for example today it was very very slightly bumpy which is a telltale sign of a flare. However, I haven't had a major neck flare in more than a month! My arms have gotten WAY better but I tend to scratch them a lot which sets me back. I no longer see that burning tsw redness on my arms, wrists, and shoulders, but again my habit of scratching is apparent with all the scabs...I tell myself not to scratch but at times you just can't help it. My face is doing pretty much the same: clear everywhere except for in between the eyes/eyelids and around my mouth. These areas are ok to handle some light makeup, but I am unsure if it is only aggravating the redness.

Living in SoCal, the ninety-degree weather has commenced. One of the most annoying things about tsw for me is having to cover up my arms, which means no t-shirts or tanktops whatsoever. This is especially troubling when I walk a mile home after school each day when the sun is the strongest. It just gets so. Hot. If anyone has any recommendations for lightweight longsleeve clothing, please let me know!

Feels like month 4 all over again...

I truly feel my skin regressing and undoing progress. My neck has started to itch like crazy again, that deep itch that originates from the nerve. I also scratch it unknowingly in my sleep, which is impossible to stop and undoes all my efforts to let the cuts heal. Also, entire face has flushed red today, which it hasn't done in a long time. It's strange, I feel like I am having similar symptoms to this time around one year ago. One year ago, I imagined that at this point I would be way better if not fully healed. Boy was I wrong.

Month 14

Things are back to stagnant ok-ness. However, my face is doing worse than usual which is always a bummer.

Sigh. I hope things start clearing up soon.

Feeling Down

Sorry for sounding so depressing lately but things have been going downhill for me. Apparently I'm back to flaring once a week with the whole package: oozing, raised bumps, redness, deep itching and all. I think I also had insomnia tonight as well, something that I haven't had for 6 months now. Plus, I have a ballet recital that I have been working on for months coming up in a few days and God knows if I'll be able to do it..I'm especially discouraged this time because I have desperately tried not to let tsw interfere with one of the only things that make me happy, dance. All this time I have worked so hard to be able to perform in this show, trucking on despite how horrible my skin was making me feel. And today, waking up to oozing and painful skin, having a 5 hour rehearsal to go to, I just couldn't do it. If tsw is supposed to teach me some sort of lesson or turn me into a better person, I'm not seeing how. It is ruining my senior year and the last times I will probably ever perform on stage...things I will never be able to relive. Please pray for me as I will be for all of us suffering.

Month 13

...is not looking good so far. I've just started flaring up today, which makes twice in one month already. I knew I was flaring because I could feel the raised, red, bumpy skin form around my neck that oozed a bit. Also, all of the tsw affected areas on me just seemed to get redder and radiate heat. I am really disheartened that I'm still flaring like this because I thought I would be healed at this point...it just makes me wonder when I will ever heal. Will I be walking for graduation with a red face? Will I start my first day of college still itching and flaking? I pray not, but it seems like this is what the future holds for me.

Not again...

 I guess this flare was not so mild after all...

The redness around my shoulders is slowly creeping back toward the center of my chest which I thought had cleared up...

Arms/wrists are bad as usual...

Hopefully this is just a phase and everything will return to normal. I so wish that I could simply do a system restore on my skin and revert it to how it was 2 years ago.

1 Year TSW Anniversary!

I have officially made it to one year!! Honestly I thought I would be healed by now, but that's ok. I have made a lot of progress and have recently had a flare, but it was way milder than my previous ones. Overall my condition isn't too good, but there are many good things as well. My entire front chest, which used to be covered in rough, red skin has returned completely to normal! It is so smooth and soft that I can't even believe it used to be affected. This has given me hope that some day my entire body will return to such great skin. Also, I don't flare often. Most of the time I have a period of calm skin that is still a bit pink, but manageable. One year down, and hopefully a very short time more to go. Keep on going everyone!

Update

Long time no talk! I hope everyone had a great holiday and new years and are ready to make some more progress! My condition has been pretty stagnant for the past 2 months, and while things are bearable there is still a lot of room for improvement. My armpits have begun to flare, and my neck has been quite bad lately. No ooze (THANK GOD) but my skin is still extremely dry and flaky. Also, my scalp has been flaking quite often like it has been 2 years ago.  I somehow got rid of that by using Neutrogena's T-Sal shampoo, so I'm going to try that again. The areas between my eyes and above my lip have been constantly red and flaky, and I haven't seen any "breaks" in this flare. Hoping that my TSW year anniversary will bring more change for the better.