talkhealth Blog

Red Skin Syndrome is resulted from Total Steroid Withdrawal. I am currently going through it and it is like living hell. My neck, shoulder, chest and hands are the worse hit areas.

There are 7 things I have experienced during these period of time.

1. Hot Flushes
2. Itchy, broken and Painful Skin
3. Sleepless Nights
4. Edema
5. Sensitive to Aircon
6. Flaking Skin
7. Low Confidence

1. Hot Flushes

I would feel extreme heat around my neck and chest area. The heat can be unbearable that I had to take cold shower.

2. Itchy, Broken and Painful Skin

The itch becomes intense during the night time. Very often, I ended up scratching while I was asleep. The next day, I woke up having multiple broken and painful skin.

3. Sleepless Nights

Sleeping is one of the greatest enjoyments after a long and tired day at work. However sleeping is becoming a nightmare for me. It is a time when my skin got so itchy. The itch would wake up me and I spent last one month sleeping only 3-4 hours each day. I even popped in antihistamine tablet to stop the itch but it has no effect.

4. Edema

I started to experience swelling on my hands. The swell would contain fluid. Edema can be extremely itchy because of the toxic fluid. Once the fluid is being drawn out, the itch is less intense.

5. Sensitive to Aircon

Recently I notice a change in the reaction to aircon. I used to enjoy the air-condition during a bus journey or in a room.

Now I tried to avoid it whenever possible.

Air-conditioned room would dry my skin. Due to my broken skin, the cold air that penetrates those affected area would cause a sharp pain.

6. Flaking skin

As my skin become dry, the skin flake. The flaking of the skin is usually on my face, neck and shoulder area. Every morning when I wake up, I would see the bed sheet and the floor filled with dead skin. It is not a pleasant sight.

7. Low Confidence

The red, flaking skin greatly reduces my confidence. I would avoid as much people as possible. To hide the edema on my hands, I would cover it with arm sleeves whenever I am wearing short sleeve shirt. I hardly talk to people as I do not want them to see my face.

How I Cope With This

There is nothing much I can do except for managing the condition. It is a process when I have to go through. The only thing I can do is to keep believing and having faith that this nightmare will end soon.

The most important is to have the support of your loved ones and friends. I am fortunate to have a wife who is very supportive of me during this journey.

If you are going through what I am experiencing, lets encourage each other and go through what is ahead of us. I am sure you and me will overcome and regain our nice skin soon.

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Koh Ming Shao

Hi, my name is Koh Ming Shao. I am a sufferer of Eczema since the age of 6. It has been a physical and emotional roller coaster ride for the past 35 years. After reading the size effects of applying steroid, I decided to stop applying all together in April 2015. I had a horrifying outbreak in May 2015 resulting me to do some researches, and only to discover that I am having Total Steroid Withdrawal Symptom (TSW). I started to keep a journal on my journey on Total Steroid Withdrawal in my blog http://myeczemajournal.blogspot.sg/