how I managed stress & experienced HOPE during Topical Steroid Withdrawal #video
8th thing I did and kept doing: BREATHE & TAKE LIFE ONE DAY AT A TIME!
If one day is too painful to bear, then take life one hour at a time, if one hour is too much , then take life one minute or even one second at a time.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR STATE OF MIND
Our first natural instinct to difficult and painful times is denial and resistance. I talked about that in Part 1. We don’t want to deal with the situation. We want the TSW symptoms to disappear quickly. We want things to be back to normal. We want an immediate solution right away.
This is the state of mind where many businesses get us, they know our pain points, and they market to us the impression that if you buy this product or service, your TSW symptoms will disappear. Sometimes, reviews can make us feel that way as well.
If you have spent lots of money on creams, supplements, natural solutions hoping your TSW would disappear quickly. You probably realise by now that there is no such thing as a miracle product. Perhaps with the placebo or nocebo effect, we might feel slightly better, but after a few weeks, I can’t speak for everyone, but in my experience, I was back facing the same excruciating TSW pain and intense itch again.
WE HAVE CHOICES!
We have choices – we can choose to:
• BUY HOPE from false promises, or
• we can choose to EXPERIENCE HOPE ourselves (takes a longer time)
START YOUR HEALING FROM THE RIGHT PLACE
To find the right solution for my TSW and life situation at that time, I had to be in a frame of mind that was not controlled by fear and anxiety.
I had to breathe – take life one day at a time. Try not to make important decisions or large financial purchases when feeling fearful, stressed or anxious.
HOW I MANAGED WORRIES & LIFE BURDENS
Taking one day at a time was a foreign concept to me at that time. I had many worries and burdens. But here was what helped me:
I told myself, I will worry about tomorrow’s worries tomorrow. Today, I will only worry about the worries of today. The worries of right now.
What are the things that absolutely need to be taken care of today, if not there will be repercussions?
I had to learn to discern, prioritize and narrow down to the key things that cannot wait until tomorrow – and those would be all I would focus on for the day. One thing at a time. At my own pace.
And after that – all the bonus time goes to my rest, comfort and relaxation. When the worries of today have been taken care of, our mind, body and skin can fully rest and heal.
Of course, there will be times when the physical pain and intense itch of TSW will be so overbearing that I will not be able to think and in those times it’ll be very clear to me that the worry of “right now” is: “I need to rest”
I’ll rest first and take care of those things when I’m feeling better. That’s the prioritization.
So – apart from incorporating the other 7 things into my lifestyle, it was equally as important for me to BREATHE – take life one day at a time
EXPERIENCING HOPE DURING TSW
If you are going through TSW, try to see this TSW healing time as a temporary period to let your mind, body and skin rest. Go at your own pace. Do things that you are able to do and enjoy. Stay comfortable. Stay clean. Schedule sleep days if you need to. Watch YouTube videos that make you laugh – look into the direction away from TSW, the direction that brings you joy, peace and laughter.
POWERFUL, EFFECTIVE PAIN & ITCH RELIEF FOR $0
During my worst days of TSW, I found myself watching comedy. Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Steve Harvey, James Cordon – I didn’t use to watch comedy before TSW because I didn’t have the time to watch YouTube, but when I was bed ridden in TSW pain and all I could do was to use my phone. Comedy took my mind and focus off the TSW symptoms. I laughed a lot, and laughter is an example of something intangible that can boost your mood, mental health and well being.
When you are laughing, enjoying yourself, your mind is not preoccupied with TSW related stuff – your outlook starts to change. And that had a physical pain relieving impact on my skin.
I did not make the TSW symptoms go away – they were very much still there. BUT, it certainly did not make the symptoms worsen and TSW symptoms not worsening is a good thing!
WHAT DOES THIS “PAIN RELIEVING IMPACT” FEEL LIKE?
When you experience that pain relieving impact, which I describe as a burden of the stinging pain, intense itching, lifted up by a notch. When you experience that – it will bring you a little more hope, a little more confidence each time.
And all of these do not cost a single cent.
GO IN THIS DIRECTION TO EXPERIENCE HOPE
You don’t have to watch comedy – Comedy was an example of what I started with and it evolved to other types of content that sparked joy. This is a self exploration period on finding out what I enjoy which I didn’t have time to do before TSW. If you love football or NFL, you can watch the Pat McAfee show which may take your mind off things, if you like history – go in that direction.
Watch something or do something that:
- you are able to do,
- sparks joy, and
- takes your mind off TSW.
So – Breathe – take life life one day at a time, and take time to do things that you enjoy. And go at your own pace.
THESE 8 THINGS CHANGED MY LIFE & SKIN
I hope this helps. These 8 things I have shared in this series are absolutely what got me out of TSW. Most of them don’t cost a cent – and because of these 8 things, not only did my skin heal, it led me to learning to live my best life ever each day – and it started during my worst days of TSW. It will take effort, work and discipline to keep doing these 8 things.
MY THOUGHTS ON MY TSW RECOVERY JOURNEY & MY CHALLENGE TO YOU
To me, TSW was like an unexpected opportunity to rebuild my life.
Do you want to rebuild your life based on supplements, expensive foods and non essential alternative healing programs and regiments?
OR do you want to rebuild your life from within. To regain control over your decisions, life and happiness. To build resilience within yourself to prepare for the future, and as part of all of that, your skin also heals?
The choice is yours – thanks for reading, I will see you next time!
