Creme complete - 2 Week Follow-up
I said I'd follow up after a week but I was a little slack. Anyway, here I am now after two weeks of using Creme Complete.
Peeling is not really evident these days, but Creme Complete seems to be good at helping the skin to return to it's normal, dark/pink and elastic state. A magnifying glass is a useful tool for me now, as I can see the patterns beginning to form on the surface of the skin that once had thick white BXO skin on it. Peeling obviously still occurs, because the few areas of white skin that remain are thinning out slowly and returning to normal tissue colour, but it's certainly nowhere near the days of old when skin would peel off in layers so thick you could actually make yourself bleed by forcibly peeling them off.
I'm not certain, but I feel like I'm at the stage the medical industry refers to as 'some scarring may remain'. As I'm sure I've said before, that is complete nonsense if you use the correct treatment.
I can no longer tolerate Tea Tree Oil. if I put it on, I end up getting itchy, and the itch can take days to fade. I wonder if that's a sign the disease has gone into remission? I used to be able to wear it night and day when I had thick layers of BXO skin, but now I can't use it at all. I came to the realisation a short while ago that I needed something more healing and restorative, so dropped all treatments except for Comfrey and Creme Complete. I think the results I'm seeing speak for themselves.
I believe I'm about 67% healed. There's nothing scientific gone into that, but I figure as nothing scientific appears to have gone into understanding BXO/LS before, it's ok for me to be as unscientific too! I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the 12 month period from when I began treating my BXO, and I've got my sights set on June (12 months) as the time when I believe I'll be back to normal, or very close to. It could happen before then, but I'm keeping my expectations far off to avoid disappointment.
I expect to be healed in June, and I expect I'll make a full recovery. My skin continues to heal back to normal looking and functioning tissue, and I see no reason why this shouldn't continue. The issue I have is that I don't know what 'normal' looks like, as it's been so long since I've seen it. So I don't know how far I am from being there. The glans, in particular, looks a lot more normal, but is still quite dry and papery in places. It doesn't seem like how it used to be. I've only got one photo of my penis pre-BXO but the resolution is terrible and it was taken under incandescent lighting, so isn't a great reference.
There's also the issue that it's very difficult to measure progress. Even photographs are extremely varied. To a large extent, though, it doesn't really matter. I'm at the point where I can almost have a normal sex life (I say almost because I still prefer it under low light to avoid it being seen and me having to explain).
It you take one thing out of this post, make it this: you can recover from BXO. I am, and I will.
Peeling is not really evident these days, but Creme Complete seems to be good at helping the skin to return to it's normal, dark/pink and elastic state. A magnifying glass is a useful tool for me now, as I can see the patterns beginning to form on the surface of the skin that once had thick white BXO skin on it. Peeling obviously still occurs, because the few areas of white skin that remain are thinning out slowly and returning to normal tissue colour, but it's certainly nowhere near the days of old when skin would peel off in layers so thick you could actually make yourself bleed by forcibly peeling them off.
I'm not certain, but I feel like I'm at the stage the medical industry refers to as 'some scarring may remain'. As I'm sure I've said before, that is complete nonsense if you use the correct treatment.
I can no longer tolerate Tea Tree Oil. if I put it on, I end up getting itchy, and the itch can take days to fade. I wonder if that's a sign the disease has gone into remission? I used to be able to wear it night and day when I had thick layers of BXO skin, but now I can't use it at all. I came to the realisation a short while ago that I needed something more healing and restorative, so dropped all treatments except for Comfrey and Creme Complete. I think the results I'm seeing speak for themselves.
I believe I'm about 67% healed. There's nothing scientific gone into that, but I figure as nothing scientific appears to have gone into understanding BXO/LS before, it's ok for me to be as unscientific too! I'm about 2/3rds of the way through the 12 month period from when I began treating my BXO, and I've got my sights set on June (12 months) as the time when I believe I'll be back to normal, or very close to. It could happen before then, but I'm keeping my expectations far off to avoid disappointment.
I expect to be healed in June, and I expect I'll make a full recovery. My skin continues to heal back to normal looking and functioning tissue, and I see no reason why this shouldn't continue. The issue I have is that I don't know what 'normal' looks like, as it's been so long since I've seen it. So I don't know how far I am from being there. The glans, in particular, looks a lot more normal, but is still quite dry and papery in places. It doesn't seem like how it used to be. I've only got one photo of my penis pre-BXO but the resolution is terrible and it was taken under incandescent lighting, so isn't a great reference.
There's also the issue that it's very difficult to measure progress. Even photographs are extremely varied. To a large extent, though, it doesn't really matter. I'm at the point where I can almost have a normal sex life (I say almost because I still prefer it under low light to avoid it being seen and me having to explain).
It you take one thing out of this post, make it this: you can recover from BXO. I am, and I will.
Hi, just come across your blog and your results look positive. Fellow kiwi here suffering in a similar way (glans based LS since 17, now 26). I tried Creme Complete many years ago but did not persist with it. In fact i think I followed up with use of the grape one and had a very bad itchy reaction. Interested in the concept of peeling as multiple Auckland Derms have suggested all layers are most likely affected. Anyway good luck and I look forward to more posts. S
ReplyDeleteA dermatologist is the one medical professional I wouldn't mind talking to about LS. I'm not sure what you mean by all layers are most likely affected. Did they mean it goes right to the base of the skin layers, or were they implying that peeling is impossible as the thick, white skin would be permanent?
ReplyDeleteI can certainly vouch for the fact that peeling is possible, as is a gradual reduction in the thickness of the white skin and a return to the more elastic nature of the skin. Now, whether or not that extends down to the base layers I don't know. The absolute worst-case scenario I can see for me is that I will always 'have' the disease, but won't have symptoms once my skin has fully healed back to normal look and feel, provided I keep it dry and remain free of intense levels of stress.