Juli-Anne pictured when her skin was at its worst after withdrawing from topical steroid creams (Picture: Collect/PA Real Life)

A woman was left looking like she had been skinned alive because of her addiction to steroid creams.

Juli-Anne Coward, 50, suffered flare-ups of sore and cracked skin every time she tried to wean herself off steroid creams.

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They were prescribed to her to treat her eczema as a child, but now she suffers from topical steroid withdrawal that leaves her in too much pain to wear clothes.

At her lowest ebb, the artist, from Leominster, Herefordshire, said her entire body was covered in raw patches and oozing boils.


But now, she has finally quit her dangerous ‘habit’ for good and, no longer using the creams, is slowly making progress.

The amount of skin that she’d shed in a day and need to sweep up after coming off steroid creams (Collect/PA Real Life)

‘The longer I am without them, the better I become. I’m definitely seeing progress. I managed a four mile walk the other day, which is something I haven’t done in years,’ she said.



‘When I first came off them, my body went through hell but I finally feel like I’ve turned a corner.’

Juli-Anne was first diagnosed with eczema when she was just three months old and was prescribed a topical steroid cream to calm her itchy skin.

She continued: ‘My mum Patricia, being a caring parent, applied the cream to my skin for me, without any idea of the problems it would go on to cause.

‘She was only 19 when she had me so, being so young, she didn’t question what the doctors had told her to do. She just wanted to help.’

Juli-Anne’s hand after she began to shed skin when she came off steroid creams (Collect/PA Real Life)

Throughout her childhood, Juli-Anne was plagued by various illnesses and viruses.

Then, when she was around nine, she had an allergic reaction to penicillin, causing a build-up of fluid in her lungs.

Prescribed a six-month course of cortisone injections – a type of steroid hormone – to help her regain her strength, as soon as they stopped, her skin went ‘completely haywire.’

‘My eczema went absolutely crazy, and I developed the worst acne you’ve ever seen,’ she recalled.

‘The spots were almost like boils – far beyond typical teenage blemishes. They’d crack and bleed.

Juli-Anne now uses natural creams to treat her skin (Collect/PA Real Life)

‘I had one on my leg which was so painful, I couldn’t even put my foot down. My confidence was absolutely gone. I hated PE at school, hated showing off my legs. I missed out on a lot.’

By the time she reached her 20s, Juli-Anne was using a low dose steroid cream every day. It cleared her skin and, slowly, her self-esteem began to improve. But if she ran out, or forgot to apply it, her skin would flare up again.

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‘I lived in fear of running out of cream. I could never go anywhere impromptu just in case,’ she said. It almost felt like an addiction. If I didn’t apply it, my skin would start to burn.

‘The only way I can describe it to people is that it feels like my clothes are made of nettles and full of wasps.’

In her 30s, Juli-Anne had a particularly bad episode, when doctors suggested she try a cream commonly used to treat scabies.

Juli-Anne’s skin bleeding through a bandage and her swollen foot after stopping treatment (Collect/PA Real Life)

Triggering an agonising reaction, it saw her skin shed, peel and bleed, to the point where it was too painful to even wear clothes, leaving her virtually housebound.



Over the next few years, she was banded around various doctors – but none seemed to have a permanent solution.

Losing hope, she worried that she’d have to use steroid creams for the rest of her life.

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Then, taking to the internet in 2016, she stumbled across an online support group called ITSAN – the international topical steroid addiction network.

Reading through posts, she became convinced that she, too, was suffering from the condition.

‘It was really emotional. I sobbed and sobbed, because I couldn’t believe this was happening to me,’ she said.

‘I was terrified at the prospect of what was to come, too, but I knew I had to come off the creams to stop this once and for all.’

After slowly lowering her dose, Juli-Anne stopped using steroid creams for good in September 2016.

At first, her skin was in agony, but she slowly began to improve and is now feeling positive about the future.

At the moment, she still wears her clothes inside out, so the seams don’t irritate her, and wraps her skin in bandages every day, which can take about two hours.

But she sheds far less than she used to, her skin does not weep as much and it is less red.

She has also altered her diet, eating fewer wheat and dairy products, which can trigger flare-ups.

Juli-Anne, who has been with her partner Carolyn, 54, for 20 years, uses gentle, natural products, too, like Epsom salts and herbal infusions, which she puts in her bath water.


Around two weeks ago, she was also told by doctors that her health woes have caused osteoporosis, so she’s currently taking calcium and vitamin D.

Addressing other TSW sufferers, she said: ‘I want to say to others that I understand coming off steroid creams is scary, but support is out there.

‘Arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can, listen to your body and do what’s right for you and your skin.

‘I’m so grateful for the support groups. If it wasn’t for them, I’d still have no idea what was happening to me.

‘I wouldn’t have got through this without Carolyn too. If I was on my own, I don’t think I’d have had the courage, but each day now, I’m feeling better and better.’