00:00I oozed lots and lots last night because of my flare-up that I had and now I feel disgusting
00:10and I look disgusting.
00:12I was not warned about the risk. It was just intense itching and it's not just a bit of scratching,
00:20it was bone deep. I was always covered in cuts.
00:24This is Sophie. She lives in Canterbury and has struggled with eczema since childhood. In 2023 she was prescribed topical
00:32steroids but she says she wasn't made aware of the potential risks of long-term use.
00:38So this is what Sophie was initially prescribed and inside is the leaflet which contains the warning which as you
00:44can see here doesn't even take up a quarter of the page and this is what ruined Sophie's life.
00:50She later developed topical steroid withdrawal or TSW and has been living with extreme pain ever since.
00:58After building a following of more than 16,000 people she's launched a petition calling for people to be better
01:05informed about the risks of topical steroids and for more research into eczema.
01:10It's taken my life from me. It's honestly, I haven't been able to live a normal, normal 21-year-old
01:17life.
01:18The doctors should definitely be telling you about TSW. There should be guidelines in place for diagnosis because there's not
01:25any guidelines for diagnosis at the moment and there should just be a warning rather than a tiny leaflet in
01:32a box.
01:32It's not recognised at the moment so this is why we want to change it and help prevent this awful
01:39condition from happening to everyone, especially children because mums are being prescribed this to use on their children because eczema
01:47is a very common condition to have as a child and a lot of children are getting this TSW.
01:53She's also created the Broken Skin Project, a community for people with similar experiences to remind them that life can
02:00be about more than just managing their condition.
02:02Mazie Walker for KMTV, Canterbury.
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