Many of the symptoms that had disappeared are making, I dearly hope, a final appearance. The insane itching that had moved out to only my extremities now envelopes pretty much my whole body. The itching has evolved into something that is impossible to describe and nobody outside of the TSW sufferers world would understand. The feeling of, dare I say it, pleasure, has reached the point where it feels so damn good to rub and scratch that it doesn’t matter if I am tearing up my skin. It feels that good. But then, as the itch subsides, which it always does for at least a while, the itch is replaced with pain. The subsequent weeping of clear fluid has come back as well and the dry cracks have returned to the palms of my hands and soles of my feet. The worst part is that this itching affects, well, my privates. I can handle the hands and feet stuff, but dammit, that is really adding insult to injury.
I am also experiencing mild “creepy crawlies” again, where my skin feels like, well, just weird. I was up until 5:00 this morning, and even my old trick of listening to music on headphones as a distraction is not working. I have lost a few pounds and feel warm. I have swollen infected eyes and mild elephant skin has returned to my legs.
Thankfully, I have not felt any cold sweats or electrical jolts that I used to, and the edema has not returned. Knock on wood.
I was very reluctant to post this, as not only does it sound discouraging to those going through this, it looks like I m looking for sympathy. I am not. The cold truth is that TSW is a long process and I have been using topical steroids as long as anyone possible could. Hydrocortisone, and the subsequent steroids of ever increasing strength, were introduced when I was a small child over 50 years ago. It is was it is, I just have to trudge through it.
Hugs from Texas,
Dave
Hey Dave, good to see the update, but sad to see you are still suffering. The steroids have really done a number on us, I doubt.
ReplyDeleteLouise, you have been with me the whole way and served as a huge inspiration. It brought me to tears to read your latest blog entries. I send you support, love, and hugs from Texas. We will make it.
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