A beauty therapist was 'addicted' to steroid creams for 40 years trying to tackle her painful eczema - only for them to leave her forced to wear a balaclava.
Karyn Flett started suffering with eczema patches on her face, hands and joints at the age of 11 and was prescribed topical steroid creams to tackle it. Ever since, the 52-year-old has diligently used the medication to soothe her itchy, oozing and inflamed skin.
But Karyn claims she decided to quit using it after beginning to experience sweats and rashes, similar to menopausal symptoms. The mum-of-three said she was left in 'agony' when she went cold turkey and stopped using the cream in September.
Karyn claims she went into 'full-blown topical steroid withdrawal' and developed a burning rash all over her body while enduring shakes and sweats. The beauty lover, who was housebound for six months and unable to work, said water felt like acid on her scorched skin and it was 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, 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 published shocking footage of her painful, oozing 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 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."
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