A young mother claimed her hair fell out and skin began to ‘ooze’ after using eczema creams.
Emily Gardiner-Walsh, 21, from Southampton, Hampshire, has suffered from the skin condition since she was a baby and was given topical steroid creams to treat it.
But it wasn’t until 2022 that the nursery practitioner started to suffer from the ‘painful’ side effects of the medication just three months after giving birth to her son.
She experienced red blotchy patches of skin on her face ‘like sunburn’ which spread across her entire body.
A young mother (pictured) claimed her hair fell out and skin began to ‘ooze’ after using eczema creams
Emily went to the doctors and underwent blood tests, which found the cause was the creams she had been using for two decades.
After she stopped using them she suffered from topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), where her skin started ‘oozing and weeping’, becoming cracked and dry as well as swelling up.
Emily said: ‘The pain was like my whole body was on fire.
‘The nerve pain was the worst – it felt like loads of electric shocks running through my body and I couldn’t keep still.
Emily Gardiner-Walsh, 21, from Southampton, Hampshire, pictured before her skin began to ‘ooze’ and inflame after withdrawing from her topical steroid creams
Emily started to suffer from the ‘painful’ side effects of the medication just three months after giving birth to her son
‘It was difficult to look after my son when I was in so much pain as I didn’t want to move.
‘Every movement I made hurt so badly, and I would have to be wrapped up warm as the cold air would burn me and sting.’
As well as battling her physical symptoms Emily’s self-confidence was shattered after her changed appearance.
She added: ‘My whole face looked like a different person and my skin was covered in cuts and lesions, and would shed so badly. My self-esteem wasn’t great.’
She experienced red blotchy patches of skin on her face ‘like sunburn’ which spread across her entire body
Emily claimed it was difficult to look after her son because she was in so much pain and did not want to move
She said her self-esteem hit rock bottom after her skin was covered in cuts and lesions and started to shed
Emily wants to raise awareness of the dangers of TSW after claiming it has ‘destroyed so many lives’.
The symptoms may occur in people who apply topical steroids for two weeks or longer. For Emily, there was two decades of use that her skin had become accustomed to.
She said: ‘When I was first prescribed the creams at three months old, we were told to apply them wherever and whenever we needed to.
‘My skin was so bad that I would have to be wrapped up in bandages and smothered in creams.
‘As I got older I only had trouble with the creases of my elbows and back of my knees. It got better and pretty much completely cleared after leaving school June 2017.
Emily wants to raise awareness of the dangers of TSW after claiming it has ‘destroyed so many lives’
Emily’s symptoms (pictured) may occur in people who apply topical steroids for two weeks or longer
As she got older she only had trouble with the creases in her my elbows and back of my knees, and her condition ‘completely’ cleared after leaving school June 2017
‘In October 2017 my skin started to get so bad I was bed bound for weeks with red, oozing skin and found a lot of my hair fell out.
‘The doctors gave me tubes full of steroid creams and tablets and it went away. I didn’t know it was TSW at the time.’
Her skin was ‘amazing’ until she gave birth and noticed the redness reappearing.
Emily said: ‘It spread to my chest and slowly covered my whole body with only a small patch of normal skin on my back.
‘My lymph nodes in my neck were very swollen and I could hardly move my neck left or right. My skin started to get very dry and flaky – I tried every type of moisturiser and it would just be dry again after five minutes.
‘I had countless doctor appointments, blood tests, going to the hospital as I was worried I had something seriously wrong with me – only for them to tell me it was just my eczema.’
After researching online Emily learnt more about TSW and the creams and stopped using them in August 2022.
The symptoms, which quickly kicked-in after stopping the creams, was extreme dry skin, red skin syndrome, swollen eyelids, skin infections, hair loss, insomnia and bruising under the skin.
It took her skin five months to heal, but she wishes she had known more about the side effect prior to using the creams.
Emily’s hair began to fall out in clumps three months after giving birth to her baby boy
After researching online Emily learnt more about TSW and the creams and stopped using them in August 2022
The symptoms, which quickly kicked-in after stopping the creams, was extreme dry skin, red skin syndrome, swollen eyelids, skin infections, hair loss, insomnia and bruising under the skin
Emily claims she is now doing a lot better and has seen ‘amazing’ improvements in her skin and sleep
She said: ‘I kept very positive during it all because I knew it wasn’t forever and I had amazing support from my family and friends.
‘I’ve been on maternity leave while going through it so I did keep myself away in my house at my worse points and it would upset me that I couldn’t go out and do fun things with my baby.
‘I was lucky enough to go through this for only just over five months and I know many more people have gone months to years until they see improvements.
‘I am now doing a lot better and have been seeing amazing improvements in my skin and now have my sleep back.
‘I still get small flares of red skin every now and again but nothing like before.
‘Having to go through this has been very difficult and painful and I’ve had a lot of anger as I wish that this condition was looked into more as it has destroyed so many lives.’
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