454 Days Off Topical Steroids

Oh, hey!

What's up?

Haven't been in here a while.

I guess that's a good thing. :)

So since the last time I wrote anything, my little bits of rashiness have slowly faded away. Now I just get a teensy tiny barely bit of a flare around That Time of the Month and that's it. Barely anything and is less and less each month so I'm sure eventually it will be nothing.

I have gotten back to working out, which makes me really happy. About two months before I started TSW, I had started going to a bootcamp-type gym and, well, obviously that ended once I started TSW. As most people who go through TSW know, the last thing you feel like doing is a work-out! So although I did not gain any weight during TSW (yay! although seriously the LEAST of my concerns during TSW), I still have my pre-TSW weight to work on. I am signed up for a 5k at the end of this month and I've been using the Get Running app. I ran! And got sweaty! (Which, as most TSWers know, is a miracle in itself!) My skin does get really really red during my runs but to be honest, I am very pale and very out of shape, so I think it probably has more to do with that than corticosteroid damage. I am also working on eating healthier which I will be posting about at my other blog (link if you're interested).

My skin is a tiny little itty bitty bit drier on my arms than a normal person, but the rest of my skin is perfect. My arms are less dry than they were a couple months ago so I'm sure they will catch up. And honestly, it's barely anything. I'm probably the only one who notices and that's just because I'm so used to examining every detail of my skin!

A random little thing I've recently realized is that I don't have dandruff anymore. I actually forgot I had dandruff, since TSW turned my whole body into a flake-nado! But in retrospect, I don't think I ever had dandruff. It was just dry skin caused by all the TSA nonsense. I had a flaky scalp for as long as I can remember, no shampoo helped, not even the medicated stuff. Super embarrassing at the salon! Now it's gone. Oh and I used to get really bad scalp itch on the back of my head. Not anymore.

I do not use any moisturizer. I do not need any moisturizer, lotion, potions, creams. This is crazy to me. If you knew the number of moisturizers and lotions I've tried on my face since I was about 12 years old...! All with no success, no help to tame the dry desert that was my skin pre-TSW. The only products I use on my skin are some makeup (normal drug store brand, just concealer under my eyes, blush, and eye makeup) and EVOO to wash off the makeup. None of it stings or bothers me. My makeup doesn't flake off, either. And when I don't wear makeup, it's okay, too!

It's freeing to walk through a store, to see all the ads and commercials for skin products and now that I don't need any of them!

Oh and I wore a strapless dress in public. No big deal...

Look! Normal skin! You just have to go through hell and back to find it.

My normal pasty pale ghost white skin is back! Oh, and you may not know this about me, but I am TAN right now. I know. It doesn't look like it, but I am! I also wore a (different) sleeveless dress to a wedding two weeks ago and did not even realize or think about my skin until a couple days later when I did laundry. I wore a sleeveless dress in public without a sweater! And without any worries! And with NO ITCHING.

This time last year, my wardrobe was a bit different...

Despite the summer heat, I was freezing all the time all the time. I was wearing several shirts (1-2 tank tops, a short sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt, and sometimes even a sweater or hoodie) AT THE SAME TIME, a scarf, a pair of heavy jeans, knee socks or tights, wraps or bandages around my arms, hair up so it wouldn't tickle my neck and make me itchy...oh, and about 6 lbs of moisturizer a day! Wearing all those clothes also helped me try to avoid scratching. (Try being the keyword since it was impossible to avoid it, but it definitely slowed it down!) And of course, long sleeves and jeans hid my awful skin from the world.

I have tons of pictures that I need to sort through and upload so hopefully I will get that done soon. I think I am mostly almost all the way healed. I'm not ready to call it yet, though. I am concerned about the autumn/winter, since cold weather makes even normal skin act up. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Until further notice, I am back to my normal life! (Or as normal as it gets, anyway. :) )