A beautician says she can't leave the house without a balaclava after her steroid cream addiction has left her covered in a burning rash.
Karyn Flett started using the creams for patches of eczema when she was just 11 and has spent 40 years relying on it to soothe her condition.
But the 52-year-old claims she decided to quit using the creams after beginning to experience sweats and rashes, similar to menopausal symptoms.
Mum-of-three Karyn now says she has been left in 'agony' since going cold turkey in September, and has resigned to wearing a face when going out.
Her 'full-blown topical steroid withdrawal' resulted in a burning rash all over her body, as well as shakes and sweats, said Karyn.
The beauty therapist was housebound for six months and unable to work because of the withdrawals, saying water felt like "acid" on her scorched skin which became so itchy she felt like she could 'tear herself to the bone'.
Karyn even resorted to wearing a balaclava and full upper-body bandages at all times for three months to keep her weeping face from sticking to her pillow and to dull the relentless itching.
Now, she's sharing images of her swollen, flakey skin in bid to raise awareness of the potential dangers of long-term use of topical steroid creams.
Karyn, from Fife, Scotland, said: "At age 45 I started to worry about one thing, the only thing I thought steroids did to you, which was thin your skin. I started thinking, 'right, I need to use these less'.
"I was going into bouts of withdrawal and getting these severe symptoms, such as shakes and sweats. I had symptoms similar to menopause.
"I went away in September and decided not to take my steroid cream, and went into full-blown withdrawal.
"I had a burning rash from my feet all the way over my body.
"My face was on fire, it was swollen. My eyes were really hard to open, they were swollen. I went off my food, and then I started going into full-blown shakes.
"When I travelled home, my clothes stuck to my skin. I blistered from my calf up to the back of my thigh and I could feel fluid running down my leg.
"When I got home, my husband had to help me into the shower and I had to rip the clothing off of my skin.
"When I first got it, I couldn't bathe all the time, it was just too painful. The water was like acid. It would be every few days, and just trying to wash at the sink.
"I've always been a mum who likes to do my hair, makeup, get my lashes done, nails and look my best on a night out.
"That just left me. You lose all your self-confidence, and you just don't know how you ever get back to the person you were.
"The first four to six months is the worst - your body is just crying out for it. It's been likened to being worse than a heroin addiction.
"You get a deep, absolute bone itch with topical steroid withdrawal. It's absolute agony, you feel like you can tear yourself down to the bone.
"I didn't leave the house for six months, and the only time I did go out was late at night to walk the dogs."
Karyn has shared clips of her painful skin on TikTok to highlight her ordeal, describing herself as a 'drug addict'.
In the video she says: "Topical steroids, they are drugs. I wasn't a drug addict by choice."
Now, Karyn is sharing her ordeal to highlight what can happen after long-term use and is urging doctors to be stricter when prescribing topical steroid creams.
Seven months on, Karyn believes that she is healing well as she can now bathe daily and is looking forward to a day when she no longer has inflamed, painful skin.
Karyn said: "If you go to a doctor or dermatologist, they will say that you need more steroids. They put a band-aid back on it.
"You were only ever told it can thin the skin, so be careful of the amount they use.
"They didn't say 'don't use it for a month, don't use it for a year, don't use it for decades'. So, I used it for decades.
"I just don't think that it should be given to children or babies to put onto their skin.
"I'm waiting on a flare-up happening again and trying to keep my stress levels down, but it has destroyed me and my family.
"They have had to watch and be helpless, because there is nothing they can give me or do for me.
"I feel like I'm healing very well, but that's all I can say at this point.
"I can now see a future of not having inflamed, painful skin that will stop me from doing stuff in my life.
"Maybe the last part of my life is not going to be dictated by a skin condition that was caused by the drugs."
