‘My skin felt like it was concrete and I was trapped in my home for five months after using eczema cream'

‘My skin felt like it was concrete and I was trapped in my home for five months after using eczema cream' WARNING - GRAPHIC CONTENT: Isobel Stewart, 35, from Leeds, says she was left feeling like she'd been "boiled alive" with a "coating of concrete" on her skin after suffering topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), following eight years of using steroid creams for eczema A woman who relied on creams for years to manage her eczema was left feeling as though she'd been "boiled alive" and had a "coating on concrete" covering her skin after stopping the treatment. Isobel Stewart initially developed eczema as an infant before it vanished and resurfaced during her mid-teens. At first, the condition was fairly manageable, presenting as itchy areas on her calves, behind her knees, wrists and inner elbows. However, following eight years of applying steroid creams, the 35-year-old's eczema started behaving unusually. The customer service adviser claims every single part of her body was impacted. "It was just a patchy, blotchy rash all over my body, but eventually all the patches joined up and my entire skin was a uniform beetroot-red, like I'd been boiled in hot water," Isobel, from Leeds told creatorzine.com. "Every inch of my skin itched, and clothes felt rough and uncomfortable against it. My skin didn't feel real, like it had a coating of concrete over the top of it and, it was painful just to touch it. "At first, I thought that my eczema was just becoming unmanageable and I was desperately looking at what could be the cause. I had no idea what could have caused it to spread so drastically and in such a short period." Isobel believed she was suffering from topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), a serious reaction that can occur after ceasing long-term, frequent, or incorrect use of steroid creams. Her nightmare started after relocating to Edinburgh with her husband, Glenn, 41, who was serving in the Armed Forces. A GP refused to keep prescribing the cream, believing she had been using more than required, she said. Within days, Isobel says the redness started spreading across her body. She said: "I turned to the internet to see if there were any other natural treatments or explanations for this sudden explosion of eczema. I saw websites warning me of the dangers of steroids. "I thought it was ridiculous. I'd been using them for years and had never once been warned of any side effects. "I knew they could thin your skin from reading the patient leaflet, but it felt like a small price to pay to get rid of my eczema. I'd never heard of it before and was absolutely shocked that something I'd relied upon for so long, that I considered as something that was helping me, could actually be making things worse. "It terrified me, and I had a 'what have I done?' moment." At the peak of her condition, Isobel says her skin was so severely damaged that even the slightest movement could cause it to tear. She said: "It was hell. It's literal physical and mental torture. I woke up with my eyes stuck together. "Taking the scabs off just to open my eyes was like peeling your skin off. I had open wounds all over my body, and the skin was constantly cracked, tearing and bleeding. "Just moving and stretching was unbelievably painful and would cause the skin to split open. I had thick elephant skin on my knees that was so dry, it felt like being burned when I moved. "Any small movement would have me crying in agony. My skin would ooze a yellow fluid that smelled vile. "I would wake up stuck to my bedding with dried ooze from the night, have to peel myself off and leave most of my skin behind on the bed. The itching is on a different level. "It's like a living thing inside of you, moving and changing and growing, and the more you scratch, the deeper it gets. It's insatiable and never-ending. "I wondered if eventually I'd have no skin left. It was all over my clothes, in my hair, all over my house. It fell off me in thick clumps." Isobel lost her job and relied entirely on her husband's income throughout her recovery, remaining housebound for five months. Showering was completely out of the question, as water triggered excruciating pain. Instead, she would wash herself with a flannel whenever she could bear it, while her husband washed her hair over the edge of the bath. Isobel said: "I'd wake up at around 11am, peel myself off the bed. I could hoover up all my skin from the bed and floor. "On a bad day, I'd spend the first two hours crying and screaming in front of the fan. When I sweated, it felt like acid running down my back because the sweat stung all the open wounds, and the sweat drying caused my skin to dry so severely, it felt like being turned to stone. "My husband would come home for lunch and hear me screaming from the end of the street. He didn't rush home to see what was wrong, even though it sounded like I was being attacked, because he knew there was nothing he could do and I had to ride it out. "He'd hoover for me and help me get changed, as I couldn't bend to do it myself. I couldn't sit down as my skin would split open so I'd spend the afternoon standing at my ironing board doing things to occupy myself, or I'd be laid in the middle of the floor scratching and crying. "When he got home, he'd make our tea and I'd eat standing up. Every second of every day was pain, itching, trying to find ways to make myself more comfortable." At her lowest points, she avoided looking in mirrors altogether. Isobel said: "I developed a phobia of my own skin. I couldn't bear to look at it, touch it, feel it. If my hand grazed a patch of skin while I was getting changed, I would retch, feeling physically sick." She now considers herself physically healed following two years of withdrawal, save for a small patch on the inside of her foot that never fully cleared up. Yet the mental toll lingered long after her skin started to recover. Isobel has sought therapy and continues to battle anxiety. Isobel said: "The only thing that kept me going was knowing it was temporary. "I knew it could take years to heal, and I was prepared for that, but I didn't for one moment lose hope that I would heal eventually. I don't think my original eczema required steroids, and I feel this could have been prevented if things were handled differently. "My skin is the best it's ever been in my life. I can do anything I want, go wherever I want, and use anything on it without having to worry about a reaction." Isobel chronicled her ordeal in a personal diary, which she has since published as a book entitled The Trauma Diaries: A Journey to Healing, in a bid to shed light on TSW. She added: "For anyone suffering with TSW, try to find the cause of your eczema, reduce your exposure to allergens, try natural remedies like moisturisers and a clean diet before resorting to potent medication. Read the patient leaflet, always, before putting anything in or on your body. "I wouldn't wish this condition on anyone and it was hell to endure, but I'm actually glad it happened to me and I wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't be the person I am today if I hadn't gone through it. "The only thing I want to change is to stop it from happening to others."