A woman has spoken about the horror she endured when her newborn son developed a severe case of eczema.
Mum Yun Yun, 37, gave birth to her son, Ander, now 7, in 2014.
After being initially overjoyed by the birth of her first child, one month in and that feeling turned into panic.
The mum from Singapore noticed that his skin was red, weepy and leaking yellow discharge, especially on his face.
She said: “At one-month-old, Ander had yellow discharge coming from his face and he was red, weepy and oozy - I didn’t know what was wrong, so I visited our local doctor, who diagnosed him with atopic dermatitis."
Immediately rushing him to the doctors, the doctors diagnosed him with atopic dermatitis and prescribed steroids and antihistamine.
She used the steroid cream on Ander for five months, however his skin showed no sign of improvement.
However, the doctors were adamant that he stay on the medication, despite Yun’s request to get an allergen test done instead.
Despite battling with medics to change his medication, it was not until she met a couple who were long-term users of eczema steroid creams.
They described to her that they fought through topical steroid withdrawal and achieved miraculous results with it.
Feeling convinced that this was her best route for her son, she went cold turkey straight away.
"I came across a couple who fought through topical steroid withdrawal after using topical steroids for twenty to thirty years, which convinced me to let my son go through withdrawal, too," Yun said.
“We stopped using steroids when he was seven-months-old, but symptoms of topical steroid withdrawal went full blown when he was nine-months-old.
"He was swollen, weepy and had oozing skin from head to toe and as we thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did."
However, after two months, Ander’s condition worsened and in March 2017, he contracted a staph infection - a bacterial infection that affects the skin.
He experienced yellow crusting on his face, and open wounds forming all over his body and face.
Upon visiting the doctor, they informed Yun that he was at risk of contracting blood poisoning and it could be life threatening.
Recalling on the terrifying news she was given, worried mum said: "I couldn’t let that happen, so they prescribed him antibiotics to treat the infection, but this didn’t clear all the bacteria."
Ander then suffered two more staph infections in May and July 2017 - both of which came back fiercer each time.
Determined to find an alternative, Yun and Ander drove six hours to see a traditional Chinese medic, who prescribed him herbal bath, flower spray and cream - which cleared the infection within three days.
The symptoms of the topical steroid withdrawal were gone within six months, adding: "It was after all of this, that we realised going cold turkey in the first place is what could have caused his condition to turn life threatening- but I’m just thankful that he has been given a second chance at life."
Although Ander hasn’t had a bad flare up in two years, topical steroid withdrawal has ripped Yun’s life away.
She was forced to quit her career as a Sports Development Executive, in order to take care of her son.
Speaking about trying to find a solution for her son, Yun said: “The recovery process has been dark and depressing, with lots of crying - nothing but blood, bandages and dry flakes.
"Steroid suppression has caused so many issues that weren’t even present in the first place - we could have just done an allergy test when he was one-month-old, instead of going on steroids.
“Although he hasn’t had a crazy flare up in two years, he still gets hives and we use ionic silver and diluted CTPG lavender and peppermint essential oil, as well as incorporating diet restrictions from the NAET to maintain this.
“Topical steroid withdrawal has taken away my career, as I have had to be home to look after Ander for many years and I’ve fallen into a deep depression, where I was even suicidal at one point.
“Although, I have met many friends along the way who have been great at providing encouragement and even just a listening ear whenever I’ve needed it."
