Sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease.
That’s the message from a B.C. woman who believes a topical cream that was supposed to relieve her mild eczema instead put her through wave after wave of increasingly unbearable rashes.
Kamloops resident Janelle Norman’s problem started years ago in the form of minor inflammation on her ankles. She went to a doctor and was prescribed a steroid cream, which worked for a while – until the issue came back even worse.
“It was bigger and a little itchier so I went back and he gave me another cream,” Norman said. “This cycle kept happening, and it kept growing and it kept spreading.”
The problem eventually got so severe Norman couldn’t work. She ended up covered head-to-toe in a burning, itchy rash.
She started to research, and found a support group that convinced her over-use of steroid creams was the problem. She decided to quit and braced for a painful withdrawal.
“My face, it was swelling like somebody had beat me up. My eyes were swollen shut, I could barely breathe through one side of my nose,” she said. “You could barely move as well because feel like you’re burnt.”
Dermatologist Dr. Carmel Anderson said topical steroid creams can work very well, but there can be a rebound effect, and in rare cases it can be severe.
It’s been a year-and-a-half since Norman quit, and though she still has flare-ups, they’re not as severe. She said she wants to make sure no one else has to suffer like she did.
“I believe people are over-prescribed these creams and I believe not enough is known about the secondary effects of using them,” she said.
With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Kent Molgat
