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A 27-year-old woman is speaking out about the horrifying withdrawal reaction her skin suffered when she stopped using steroid creams prescribed to treat her painful eczema.
Shortly after giving up on steroid creams altogether, Briana Banos went through a period of shedding so intense that she was ultimately able to fill up two large jars with her dead skin.
“At my worst skin would fall off wherever I walked, it was like being a human scab and one giant ball of crust,” Briana, an acrobat, told The Daily Mail. “I was shedding so much I had to vacuum my bed every morning to get rid of the dead skin.”
While steroid creams had been helping Briana in keeping her eczema flare-ups at bay, she soon realized that the treatments would stop working every time she took a short break.
For a short period of time, Briana tried to steer clear of the topical ointments and steroids her dermatologist prescribed to treat eczema, but she ended up suffering from Red Skin Syndrome, or topical steroid withdrawal.
“After quitting topical steroids it was unbearable, my eyes turned puffy and the redness was burning all over my body - I felt like a human tomato,” she said. “Then ooze started dripping off my face, neck and arms - I had to wrap myself up to stop it from getting everywhere.”
At one point, Briana actually had to shave her head completely because her hair wouldn’t stop falling out with large chunks of dead skin.
Still, Briana was so determined to overcome her eczema flare-ups without the use of topical steroids and ointments that she powered through the pain and discomfort.
It’s been six months since Briana quit using topical steroids and she’s pleased to report that her skin is finally on the mend.
“My skin is much clearer now, just occasionally flaking in areas and I've been able to return to teaching - I never thought I'd be at this position six months ago,” she said. “I feel extremely lucky and grateful for my husband and my family who were all so supportive, I looked disgusting but they would tell me I was beautiful.”
