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Topical Steroid Withdrawal Recovery Fundraiser

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CW*PHOTOS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY ARE PRETTY GRAPHIC AND GROSS, DON’T SCROLL ALL THE WAY IF YOU DON’T WANT TO SEE THEM!


I’ve avoided starting this campaign for as long as possible as I hate not being able to be independent and support myself through this process, but it seems to be that if I want to pay my bills and survive financially, it is a must do. 

I’ve suffered from eczema for my entire life, and the main treatment for this is topical steroids, which I had been given by doctors for most of my life. First, over the counter hydrocortisone and then later a prescription strength steroid called Triamcinolone. The risk of these medication creams was never fully explained to me or my mom past “they could cause skin thinning.” By the time I turned 22, these creams were no longer working as effectively as they had in previous years leading me to believe I needed stronger steroids to combat my eczema, when in reality my body had begun a process called Topical Steroid Withdrawal. The use of these medications only suppressed my body’s natural healing reactions for so many years, causing it to become unable to heal on it’s own and worsening my skin condition tremendously. Topical steroids are NOT a cure, but a bandaid used to stop inflammation and make eczema APPEAR to go away, when in reality my body was becoming more and more reliant on the medications and in turn, worsening as soon as they left my system, requiring constant application and further damage each time. Looking for answers as to why my skin was getting progressively worse despite the use of these creams, I joined an Eczema support group on Facebook where I learned about Topical Steroid Withdrawal via people whose stories mimicked mine EXACTLY. Suddenly, everything made sense. The topical steroids that once masked my condition had been damaging my body and the only way to fully heal would be to stop the use of them completely. On December 5th, 2019, that’s what I did. Since then, I have been experiencing extreme symptoms similar to those of hard drug withdrawal such as heroin. Nerve pain, insomnia, loss of appetite, weight loss, feeling freezing cold but being hot to the touch, tremors, exhaustion and fatigue from even the most basic tasks, prolonged menstruation (being on birth control for multiple years had my body in a cycle of only menstruating 1-2 times per year for about 1-3 days at a time, and since stopping the steroids I’ve realized how badly it had effected other body functions such as this. My reproductive system is trying to reconfigure, causing a period for over 3 weeks during this time) and of course the obvious physical symptoms like extremely dry, flaky, and itchy skin, oozing as my body detoxes the drug from my body, cracked skin, hair/eyebrow loss, and infections are just some of the symptoms I’ve experienced over the last 40+ days. I was even put on Norco for a period of time at the beginning to combat the pain I’ve been experiencing. There is no definite timeline of healing TSW, someheal in a couple months, some take multiple years. I was seeing some great progress at first, but now have seemed to plateau, making me wonder how long it will really be before I can go back to my normal life. 
These extreme symptoms had kept me from work for over a month, and even now that my energy levels seem to be increasing, I cannot return to work full time because I do marketing for a restaurant and my open wounds are a huge health and sanitary concern. So, I have to rely only on the hours I am able to obtain by working at home, roughly 10-15 vs my normal 40 hours I was working prior to this process. When I was working a full 40 hours every week, Istill had to rely on working here and there for a food delivery service to supplement my income and make sure 100% of my bills were paid each month. That being said, I will not be able to afford my living expenses for the upcoming months until I am able to 1) find a job where I can work entirely remotely or 2) return to my job full time - which could take a long time as I legally cannot enter the building in my condition. I have considered moving home to save money, but my boyfriend and I are in a lease until the end of the year and he has a great job here thatalthough pays well, wouldn’t be able to support him without me paying my half of the expenses. Also,the change in environment from dry Colorado to humid Illinois could further complicate my healing, especially when I would eventually move back here again anyway. 

On top of this, I already have thousands of dollars in medical bills waiting to be paid from December since I’ve had to max out my credit card to survive already. I’ve applied for charity on these existing bills with no luck so far. And as you know, new year means new deductibles to reach, so my doctor appointments moving forward will have to be paid out of pocket until those amounts are reached and insurance kicks in. I’ve had to push back appointments and blood tests that I need because they are simply unaffordable at this time.

All I truly want at this time is for my life to be normal again, to work full time and be able to support myself. I hate being homebound and feeling so helpless. But unfortunately, the situation is completely out of my hands and I’m becoming desperate. I’m asking for donations so my expenses for February can be paid as well as my medical bills from last month and the ones I’ll be getting moving forward. Thank you to all who have already provided me with emotional and financial support prior to this campaign, and thank you to those who choose to donate now. Attached photos are gnarly, so I apologize in advance.

For more information on my condition, visit https://www.itsan.org

This documentary was created by someone suffering the same condition. I encourage you to take the time to watch and learn about this little known issue that plagues so many people and is truly preventable with the right knowledge and education moving forward: https://youtu.be/RMbtf3C8BZk

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Donations 

  • Melissa Limberopoulos
    • $25 
    • 4 yrs
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Organizer

Skylar Brinkman
Organizer
Denver, CO

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