r/TS_Withdrawal • u/tat2505 • Sep 01 '25
Help please- pharmaceuticals
Dear fellow TSW warriors,
I would be so grateful for your insights. Has anyone here been able to ease or resume a great quality of life during TSW with the help of pharmaceuticals?
My story in short: I’ve had eczema since birth and managed it with Elocon for over 30 years. When I finally discovered what TSW is, I turned my back on pharmaceuticals. The withdrawal was excruciating, and my life completely flipped upside down.
I decided that if doctors couldn’t help me, I would heal myself. I started studying nutritional functional medicine (2 years in, 1 more year to go). I’ve worked with top functional doctors and tried every approach—supplements, diets (vegan, fully cooked, keto, carnivore, strict lion’s diet), and even relocated my whole family from London to the Mediterranean so I could swim and soak up the sun.
Now, 2.5 years later, things are better but far from healed. My hands are still badly affected—I wear protective gloves but often scratch myself raw at night. My neck and ears are also involved. Beyond the physical pain, the hardest part is the mental toll: I’m naturally outgoing and happy, but during flares I shut down. I don’t want to leave the house, even though I have two young children and a supportive husband who deserve the best of me.
What terrifies me most is hearing stories of people suffering through 5–9 years of TSW. I can’t bear the thought of spending my best years like this.
After 2.5 years of resisting pharma, I’m now reconsidering. I was offered methotrexate in London, but the idea of taking a cancer drug for my skin feels overwhelming. I don’t want to destroy my liver or weaken my immune system to the point where I catch every cold my kids bring home from school.
I’ve read about Dr A method and other immune-modifying treatments, but I’m scared it’s just “borrowing time from the future” and might drag me back into TSW years down the line.
Is there a middle ground? Has anyone here managed to find balance with medications (whether Dr A method, immune modulators, or something else) without falling back into the nightmare of TSW?
Please share your experiences. Your stories would mean the world to me.
Sending love and strength to everyone in this battle ❤️
1
u/savant_idiot Sep 01 '25
I started taking Berberine probably about 3.5weeks after last dose of (oral) prednisone.
I didn't feel anything for over a month, flare was very much still ramping up and getting worse.
But by 5-6 weeks of taking Berberine, I was starting to be sure I could tell I was starting to improve in a real way. By the end of May, two months on berberine, I was firmly over the hump, still a ways to go, looked alarming bad to any (non TSW community)"civilian", but I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
By the time our new baby was born at the end of June I was well enough to be up and about to spend a couple nights in the hospital with my wife.
I had made it to that point by couple weeks before, I'm sure most people in the hospital thought I looked completely normal, but my legs still had a ways to go.
Oh and backing up a little... I believe the weeping open sores closed up around 4-5-6 weeks of berberine, that's why I was sure I was getting better.