Its been a while since I last posted so i'm breaking this post into three as I have a lot to say in the way of news and goings on...
First of all, about 5 and half weeks into my TSW recovery I felt strong enough to undergo moisturiser withdrawal. I've used heavy moisturisers for around 5 years. as well as the steroids, so was naturally apprehensive. When I say 5 years, that's after every shower and when I woke up in the morning/ went to bed.
Originally, for the first 2-3 days my whole body was fairly dry and flaky, however nothing too serious, and to my surprise every where except for my neck upwards became a lot stronger and stopped flaking after around five days.
My face remained very flaky and dry which is annoying as its the area thats most on show, but hey ho!
I'd seen a lot of people taking Dead Sea Salt baths so gave this a go on day 5 in the hope that it would toughen up my skin. However that night I literally went to town on my skin and awoke in the morning with the majority of my upper torso covered in scratches and dried blood. NOT GOOD! My scratches made me look like I'd been the victim of mugging by a bunch of cats.
Around a week into MW, I took a 4 day trip to Spain with some friends ( as you can see from the photo
) and the combination of a few beers, the air con on the plane, sea salt and sun really hit me hard and my skin went very dry and rough all over. I purposefully didnt pack any moisturiser so that I couldnt cave which I fully regretted! I did my best to avoid the sun and sun creams however I got to the stage where I couldnt hack it any longer so used olive oil to give my skin a mini break.The sea salt did help to quickly heal the scratches but my skin felt parched!
On return from the holiday I quickly found that any moisturising cream on my skin would result in an instant flare and itching, so since returning I have sucked up the pain and remained moisturiser free for the past 2 1/2 week. I've seen small improvements, but for some reason at around 2 weeks I tempted another sea salt bath which parched my skin terribly. I still feel as if I'm recovering from that now.
One thing I have noticed is that when I dry after a shower my skin goes all shiny and develops i think film which my makes my skin less sensitive. Not sure what this is, but it seems like my skin is slowly remembering how to look after itself so I will be keeping a close eye on that! Oh and I as a positive, During MW I haven't looked that red or flared up... just very dried out!
Couple of photos.. bit higgly piggly but here you go! Next blog is about Adrenal Fatigue...
Again feel free to drop a message with any questions or advice!
Jonny xx
Day 52 - dry skin on face ( 2 1/2 weeks of MW)
Day 52 - dry arm and neck rolls from swelling
Day 52 - Neck
Skin off one leg...
Day 4 of MW - looked normal... want that back!
Day 4 of MW
Day 4 of MW - red inner thigh and calf... hard to see on photo
First day of holiday around Europe ( week 1of TSW) - (middle)
End of Europe (week 4 of TSW) - a lot redder (far left)
