Starting month 26

After recovering from my last flare, my skin has taken a turn for the worse. The rashy skin is slowly beginning to cover my face, now having spread to my eyes and around my nose. I have also developed patches on my temples and forehead that have been persisting for about 2 months now. Although diet may have little affect while in TSW, I can't help but suspect that something might be causing my rashes to get worse. From now on, I will try to only eat natural sugars from fruits and follow a low carb diet to see if it helps in any way. Sigh. It seems like my skin is back to being super sensitive.

Skin around my mouth is irritated and super dry/flaky 

Skin in general has a rough texture, especially eyelids

More pictures

I guess this is a real flare. I know that I am TSW flaring when I get cracks around my lips.

Hoping this passes soon...

Mini Flare

Sigh. Sadly at month 25 I am flaring. It's not too bad, localized to my arm crease, neck, and face, but a flare is a flare.

This whole month has been a month of bad skin for me and I'm not exactly sure why. Thankfully I'm on spring break at the moment so I can rest a bit. It's always so easy to look for things to blame in TSW, such as diet and stress. I admit my diet has not been too good this month and my stress levels were probably through the roof because of exams. I also initially thought it was a pre-menstruation flare, but it went on for an entire month so that was ruled out. Yesterday night I also had a lot of sugar so that could be another factor.

Trying to pinpoint the cause of flares is such a difficult thing to do! Hopefully this passes quickly.

2 years!

Wow...I can't believe I've hit two years off topical steroids!! It seems so unreal...while I was in the thick of TSW I remember thinking that two years was so far away. Today, my skin isn't 100% eczema free. I still have patches here and there, but I think it's safe to say that they are eczema patches and no longer symptoms of TSW. My skin no longer dictates my life as it had some months ago, keeping me from doing the things that I love. To those who are still suffering, know that it will get better. You are all so strong and please don't give up!

Month 23

Hello all, I hope everyone was able to enjoy their holidays and rest a lot! Coming into month 23 with a bit of a flare up around my mouth.

It started to get worse around the latter half of last month when I was taking my exams. Then, as I went on a vacation to Japan, it began to get worse and worse until my lips were cracked and split. I think this was because I had tried out a new lip balm, which I have since stopped using. I have switched to another lip balm, a vegan one with very little ingredients, and my lips themselves have improved slightly but not the area around my mouth. I will try stopping that lip balm also, but I have a feeling that this flare up isn't caused by the lip balm at all...I really hope that this does not get any worse and is just another minor flare. The rest of my body on the other hand is still improving, but not quite healed just yet.

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.