Eczema sufferers- You need to read this! Janelles Story!

For those following my story, you will know I've been going through a difficult time with my eczema in recent years. My skin was unbearable, red, itchy, dry, flaky and incredibly painful. It affected every area of my life, greatly reducing my quality of life. The only option given to me was to take immunosuppressant drugs (which I refused for 4 years). I finally got to the bottom of my problem - an addiction to Topical Steroid Creams!! After a 5 1/2 month detox, my skin is finally looking great and I feel well again.

I would never be where I am today if it wasn't for todays guest Janelle! I had never heard of a steroid addiction and I always used them according to doctors directions. The only warning I have ever heard was that they  could 'thin the skin'. I am on a mission to raise awareness of TOPICAL STEROID ADDICTION (TSA) to the many people who have eczema. It's my pleasure to share Janelle's story with you today...  By reaching out to me when I needed it, and sharing her story, she has changed my life. I consider myself extremely lucky to be able to share this blog post with you today. If you suffer from eczema you need to keep reading!

I have had a lifetime of allergies. As a very young child, I had horrible asthma spending hours on the nebulizers, stints in hospital, sneezing fits at school and breaking out in hives at friends houses from cats and dust. The signs were always there. Pizza made me sick. Fur gave me hives. Dust and pollen sent me into sneezing fits and God forbid I run or sit on grass; Asthma episode here we come! But I seemingly grew out of it. Until I was about 21.

Over the next two years my symptoms became worse. I had constant chronic hey-fever. I could only find relief through Phenergan. I couldn’t walk up a flight of stairs without needing ventolin. And little red blistery bumps started coming up on the backs of my legs and around my mouth.  Numerous trips to the doctors led to nothing except more anti-histamines and stronger doses of preventative asthmatic medications (which are steroids by the way).  In the end I convinced my GP to refer me to an asthma specialist. Tests revealed there was nothing wrong. My lung function and capacity was well above average for a woman my age and weight (I was about 68kg and only 23 years old). So why did I need so many asthma preventatives? Why was I so sick?

The specialist sent me to a dietician who asked me what I ate and it read like this… ‘Cheese, tomatoes, chilies, olives, avocado, chilies, more olives, bread, yoghurt, and more chilies’. I couldn’t get enough chili. So over the next 6 months I went on elimination diets and she helped me monitor the re-introduction of foods to find my trigger, which turns out to be salicylates. Salicylates are a naturally occurring chemical found in plants and in foods in various levels. They are changed to benzoates and used in skin and hair care products as preservatives. Nightmare begins. I spent hours reading labels, taking lists of chemical names into chemists (who knew NOTHING by the way) not to mention fighting the intense cravings for all the foods that made my feel bad. I found a website that saved my life and was able to eliminate foods from my diet and find suitable skin and hair care. Within 3 weeks I noticed a difference in my skin. And within 6 weeks my hay-fever had almost gone and within 2 months my breathing had improved.  Initially I would eat trigger foods and see a reaction within 12 hours. However as time passed my tolerance improved and now I can eat a few olives and chilies.

8 years later, during my second pregnancy all my allergies disappeared. Every day the only foods that calmed my morning sickness were grapes and fresh orange juice. I ate so much it wasn’t funny. Previously I would have been so itchy and sneezy but not one spot of eczema.  Not one sneeze. I suffered from terrible pregnancy asthma and at the time thought nothing of it. Now I know what I know I am convinced the trigger foods contributed to my asthma. But doctors assured me that pregnancy asthma was normal for asthmatics.

When baby was 3 months old, out of nowhere I get this rash on my stomach. It’s as itchy as hell. It spreads. Rapidly. Within a few hours. Across my stomach. Under my arms. On the tops of my legs. I scratched so hard patches began to bleed. I went to the doctor who took a quick look and prescribed a class 4 steroid. No questions asked. No tests. No follow up. Like magic, the rash disappears. But, the rash returns. So, back on with the steroid cream. The rash disappears. I go back and forth, more cream, no rash. More cream no rash. I turned into a bit of an addict and would go to different doctors to make sure I had enough cream, as the tubes are small and there are prescription limits. God forbid I should run out and become itchy.


After about 2 years, the steroid cream is not working. In the end I had tried about 5 different steroid creams. One doctor even prescribed me a cream for my face! One night I didn’t put the steroid creams on after my shower as I felt guilty about frequent use when it says to only use for a few days. All hell broke loose. My face started burning. I thought I was sunburnt but then little bumps started appearing. Within about 40 minutes my face was fire red covered in tiny hot itchy stingy blisters. My husband and I goggled. We looked at what I had eaten that day and thought I was having an allergy to cabbage, as it is my ‘safe’ food and I live on it. In the end I plastered my face with steroid cream. It took 3 days for my skin to subside and return to normal. And then I stopped the cream again. My face went mad again. The pain is indescribable. It’s hot. It burns. It’s itchy. It hurts. It throbs. So I got onto Google again. This time I typed in steroids and red skin. Oh boy, was I shocked at what I uncovered. Steroid addiction. My skin was having withdrawals from the steroids.

About 4 weeks into withdrawals. Everyday I used paw paw ointment to help heal and keep it moist.  Zinc cream to help heal and stop the itching. At this stage my face stopped producing the top layer of flaky skin but still was very painful and sensitive.

Asthma and allergies are linked
Asthma preventatives in particular are types of steroids and they have the same effect on the alveoli in your lungs as on your skin. Once I found this out, I stopped using my preventative to see if I really needed it. Initially I felt lost, like I couldn’t breathe without it, however I have since understood this is mental and have given my lungs time to heal. I still need ventolin from time to time as I am an asthmatic and my chest gets wheezy with triggers like dust and pollen. But ventolin is not a steroid. I haven’t taken asthmatic preventatives for about 6 months, like I had been advised since I was about 13 and steroids for asthma really came on the market. My lungs are better than ever. I can run 5km for the first time in my life. I go out for exercise without my ventolin tucked in my bra and without the fear of having an asthma attack while running or riding. I don’t panic if I get to work and realize I have left my pump at home.

Find your trigger. This is hard and can be time consuming but it’s worth it. Allergy tests and elimination diets take perseverance and patience. Once you find your trigger, eliminate it. Heal your gut. Heal your skin.  Heal your lungs. Empower yourself with knowledge. If you use steroids, google steroid addiction and ITSAN and you will find blog after blog of other’s journey. Everyone has different triggers and remedies. What works for one doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you but it’s worth a try!



Feel free to email me at raindrops23@yahoo.com if you want any more information on my experience.


Hope this has helped shed some light on steroid use - what we aren't told! A huge thanks to Janelle for allowing me to share her story with you. More information can be found here..

ITSAN - International Topical Steroid Addiction Network

Please share this with anyone you know who suffers from eczema or who uses Topical Steroid cream. You could change their life!