Lonely, Tired, Confused & Frustrated Eczema Sufferers

WANTED

Lonely, Tired, Confused &
Frustrated Eczema Sufferers

REWARD

We will transform YOU into
Victorious, Happy, Confident &
Empowered Eczema Warriors! 

Lonely Sufferer to Victorious Warrior!
Lonely Sufferer to Victorious Warrior!

Are you the one we are looking for? Are you experiencing loneliness, fatigue, confusion and frustration, not to mention insane itch and indescribable pain?

Most people, even our partner, spouse and family members, don’t fully understand what we’re going through beneath what is visible – the itch, wounds, bleeding and rashes.

Have you been

      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Callously avoided?
      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Brutally accused?
      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Fearfully stared at?
      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Painfully glared at?
      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Stressfully sold to?
      [icon name=”square-o” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Overwhelmingly advised?

I think you know what we mean but that is not the worst, yet.

Are you also going through Steroid-Induced Eczema or Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW)? If you are, then you know your suffering is so many times worse than when you only had eczema. (If you don’t know what Topical Steroid Withdrawal is, please read this article “What Is Topical Steroid Withdrawal?“).

If you don’t have TSW but have been using steroids, especially if you have observed that you need steroids more and more often or in stronger strengths in order to calm the rashes and itch, then you might be at risk of Topical Steroid Addiction (TSA) or perhaps you might already be addicted, which means the road ahead is probably going to be worse than before for you.

Join Us Now!

The Problem With The Conventional Approach

As we’re suffering, the people around us will, out of concern, push us to visit doctors as they cannot bear to see us suffer and they want us to recover faster. I believe all of us have already visited a doctor, a dermatologist or many, and you were prescribed some form of steroids? Steroids are very effective in suppressing rashes, redness and itch, so I’m sure you “recovered” very quickly but that’s where the problem begins because for most of us, the rash returned with a vengeance and even spread to areas that never had the rash before. In time, the doctor prescribed a stronger dose of steroids. In case you don’t know, steroids is a drug that come bundled with a wide range of side-effects, including the ones below, and many others not on this list:

[su_note note_color=”#d9e4b6″]- Topical corticosteroids can lead to thin skin, red skin lesions and acne.
– Clouding of the lens in one or both eyes (cataracts)
– High blood sugar, which can trigger or worsen diabetes Increased risk of infections
– Thinning bones (osteoporosis) and fractures
– Suppressed adrenal gland hormone production
– Paper-thin skin, easily bruising and slower wound healing[/su_note]

(Taken from http://www.mayoclinic.org/steroids/art-20045692?pg=2).

We have experienced for ourselves many of those side-effects so we know they’re real. Would you want to continue on this journey with stronger and stronger doses of steroids and increase your risk of getting those side effects? We did, but realised that it was not a sustainable treatment that would lead to any real healing.

We have sadly witnessed renal failure in our Members’ babies who were merely on topical steroids (ie steroid creams), and heart failures in adults who have used steroids for decades. Even with the judicious use of steroids, medical science has nothing else to offer you other than steroids.

With this treatment plan, it means that many of us who are on increasing strengths of steroid creams may end up becoming addicted to them. This means that what is ahead is Topical Steroid Withdrawal (TSW) or Red Skin Syndrome (RSS) and this sets us not back to square one, but a state much worse than when we started off, with regular genuine eczema.

What is the remedy for TSW/RSS? Stop steroids and let the body heal itself and this bloody, painful process can take from months to years. We’re not being rude. We literally mean the process is both bloody and painful.

What does this mean? We went one big round, applying and taking all kinds of steroids for short-term relief only to end up having to spend years weaning off the effects of steroids.

If you can help it, if it is not life-threatening, if your quality of life is not too severely affected, don’t start on steroids. Unfortunately, practically all of us on this page have read this too late. Right now, we have to decide if we want to

  • Continue using steroids of increasing potencies or
  • Stop steroids and start the painful healing process.

On top of that, most doctors are swamped with waiting patients that they cannot do much more than advise and prescribe. This might take care of the body but you know the mental and emotional torment inside are sometimes even worse than the physical suffering. Interestingly, many doctors also don’t believe in food cures or diet elimination to heal the body internally for long term healing, but we know from our own experience and so many other schools of thought that our food has a very direct impact on our well-being!

What Do Eczema Sufferers and TSW Sufferers Really Need?

Eczema sufferers, especially those going through TSW, go through a lot of suffering every day, every moment. If you’re going through TSW, there are many things we do to help our body heal internally, as well as make ourselves more comfortable. However, from our family and friends’ point of view, it seems that all we do is basically wait it out, while our condition appears to be getting worse and worse. People around us will be more critical and more pressurising and every now and then, we fall into self-doubt and wonder if we made the right decision to stop steroids, and whether we should continue with this decision. As a result, there are some of us who were on TSW who had given up and gone back to using steroids.

[su_note note_color=”#ebd9ba” radius=”10″]So what do we really need?
– We need a community of people who will accept, understand us, and not judge, ostracise nor look down on us.
– We need people whom we can be allowed to vent and rant to, to confide in and grumble with.
– We need people who can encourage, inspire, motivate, comfort and support us when we’re feeling down and helpless.
– We need to take charge of our situation, learn more about our body and about eczema and other related conditions.
– We need to learn how to take care of our bodies using food, water, herbs, supplements, how to dress our wounds etc, to heal our bodies in a sustainable way.
– We need someone to guide us, to counsel us, to point out the way to us when we feel lost and confused.
– We need to save money on the creams, supplements, herbs and organic food supplies.[/su_note]

Who Are We and Why Should You Listen To Us?

My name is Grace Ng and together with my team, we run one of the biggest eczema-related groups (Eczema & Allergies – Go Natural Health Champions Support Group) on Facebook.  I am a fellow eczema sufferer-turned-warrior who’s not just “been there, done that” but “still here and doing it”.

[su_box title=”This is my story” style=”bubbles” box_color=”#097dc6″ radius=”6″]- I had eczema since I was a young toddler,
– Grew addicted to topical steroids, and
– Struggled through Topical Steroids Withdrawal (TSW) on my own without knowledge of any support group in 2008
– In my 3rd year of TSW, my younger son Percy also became addicted to topical steroids as I did not know that the wonder cream prescribed for Percy by the paediatrician was actually a Class 3 potent steroid cream and had been applying on him for more than a year and therefore,
– We had 2 of us in the family who had to struggle through TSW without support or information, and life was really dismal because I did not know that we would eventually heal from TSW.
– I craved for understanding and support from people who could understand what I was going through, and how itchy I was, and
– Would have done so much better if I had access to dependable information on eczema, Topical Steroid Addiction and Withdrawal both of which I know nothing of back then.
– I also had allergies which were the main reason for my 12 surgeries, mostly failed ones, and some a direct consequence from applying topical steroids.

At present, I have
– Lost all my 3 hearing bones in my left ear from a growth that came about from 6 earlier failed surgeries in that ear
– Lost 80% of my sense of hearing in my left ear (after the 7 surgeries)
– Had retinal detachment in my left eye
– Had a cataract removed from my left eye
– Still a cataract in my right eye that has not been removed yet
– Lost partial vision in my left eye as the emergency for retinal detachment left its side effects and the 2 reconstructive surgeries done after that failed to restore my vision and
– Lost my ability to remember things well as a side effect from the General Anaesthesia used for all 12 surgeries so I am always forgetting who I have spoken with, etc[/su_box]

So you see, I know first-hand the pains and difficulties or eczema and I have experienced and am still experiencing the catastrophic consequences, complications and side effects that come from misinformation and mistreatment. While I’m not saying at all that I know better than the professionals on what you need to do for your eczema, I think I can speak with some authority on what you should avoid and what you should look out for to make your healing journey less painful.

If Away With Eczema is just about me, it would not be as valuable as what it is. Besides me, we also have a dedicated group of passionate and knowledgeable volunteers, most of whom are suffering from eczema / TSW or who are caregivers of a loved one who is suffering from eczema / TSW.

For years, we’ve been trying to help people like you who are suffering from eczema and steroids-induced eczema but we’ve found Facebook to be a terribly difficult platform to help eczema sufferers because it is impossible to organise important information on healing in an easily accessible way, or to conduct teaching and education on this platform.

Introducing Away With Eczema

We know what you need and we know some of those needs are hard to be met elsewhere, and this is where Away With Eczema comes in. We’re here to provide you

  • Support / comfort / guidance / motivation / inspiration / encouragement
  • Education and teaching / demonstrations
  • Discounts and Savings on products you need

Education & Teaching / Demonstrations

Here, you will find resources that we have prepared lovingly for you, and we are always preparing for and making fresh, new materials monthly.

As eczema- and allergy-warriors ourselves, we carefully curate essential knowledge from the sea of information out there, because we believe all eczema Warriors should be equipped with the knowledge that you will need, so that YOU are empowered to make the right decisions for yourself, and your loved ones.

We have chosen to re-present the sometimes very medical-sounding information

  • Into Easy-to-Understand, layman-friendly materials,
  • Bite-Sized Nuggets so it the materials are not heavy (we hope!) and you can learn something even in the little pockets of time you can spare on your busy days (especially for the fatigued Caregivers with hectic schedules)
  • On Various Media Types (such as in an online lesson, as well as explained with motion in a video, or written about more in depth in an eBook, or explained face-to-face in a teaching web seminar), and with our background as educators, we have chosen to reiterate some more difficult-to-grasp concepts across various media platforms so that bits of essential can be grasped more fully than if it were taught from a textbook setting.

We have done this so that the massive and complex information on eczema and allergies becomes a lot easier to get a grip on, digest and then apply to daily life, to help you in your journey to healing naturally. Here are the various resources that are built for you, and we will continue to listen to you in all the channels available on AWE, so that we can put together materials that will meet your needs.

Resources Built For YOU

The following resources created on different types of media contain topics that are pertinent to eczema, TSW and allergies, and we have selected these topics through our experience from leading the Support Group in the last 4 years. Once again, even though we have a curriculum of essentials that we have planned for you, we welcome and look forward to your input on the topics you would like to see covered.

AWE eBooks AWE Teaching Videos AWE Online Lessons with Quizzes
AWE eBooks – Read them on your desktop / laptop, or mobile device! AWE Teaching Video Series AWE Online
Lessons with Quizzes

AWE eBooks

AWE has written and will continue to prepare eBooks on topics pertinent to eczema, TSW and allergies, and these are meant for us to take a longer look at these topics. Our first eBook series is a 3-part Book on Eczema, Allergies & Inflammation – What Eczema Warriors Must Know About Inflammation & The Ways To Reduce It, a topic that affects all of us because less inflammation means less itch, less pain, and less redness. These eBooks, like our educational materials on other media, are flexible in that we will cater and evolve the books to meet the needs of our Warriors as we listen to you on the various platforms and continue to write materials pertinent to your needs.

AWE Online Courses: Mini Lessons with Quizzes

These are short, bite-sized, mini lessons that address crucial points that every TSW / eczema warrior should know, explained in a layman, easy-to-understand manner. Our first Module of the Online Course that we have rolled out is on the Basics of Topical Steroid Withdrawal, an important topic we should nail down as eczema warriors because steroid creams are where most of us begin our eczema journey on. At the end of each Lesson, look forward to a short Quiz to help you nail down these concepts so that you have your take home points securely grasped. Often, it may be the Quiz questions that help to firm up our understanding, especially of some essential medical knowledge behind what is happening in our body.

AWE Teaching Video Series

The AWE Teaching Video Series are designed to be short videos to bring across concepts across to our Warriors in an easy-to-understand manner, employing both the auditory and visual senses to enhance learning. We notice that there are essential nuggets that often are misunderstood or not properly grasped by our Members and therefore decided to use this media in a more interesting manner to share these pieces of important knowledge.

AWE LIVE Web Teaching Seminars

We have planned for healthcare professionals, natural healthcare practitioners, Support Group leaders, veterans and other leaders in the natural health arena to address us in these Webinars. The LIVE Web Teaching Seminars are usually 45-min long, and will end with a Q&A Session so that YOU are able to interact with the Speaker and all Questions that are not able to be answered will be attended to after the Webinar ends. Again, please let us know what you would like to learn more about and we will try to arrange for relevant Webinars as far as it is possible to. Our first LIVE Web Teaching Seminar will be held on 

[su_box title=”AWE First Web Teaching Seminar on 17th Nov 2015″ style=”bubbles” box_color=”#86b515″ radius=”6″]Singapore (Singapore) Tuesday, 17 November 2015, 10:00:00 SGT UTC+8 hours
Detroit (U.S.A. – Michigan) Monday, 16 November 2015, 21:00:00 EST UTC-5 hours
Corresponding UTC (GMT) Tuesday, 17 November 2015, 02:00:00[/su_box]

and we are privileged to be able to learn from Joey Brown, President of ITSAN, International Steroid Awareness Network, on The Blessings & Pitfalls in The TSW Journey with a Q&A Session after Joey’s lecture. Join us!

In the pipeline, we have planned for a webinar

  • By Dr Teoh Mei Shi
  • On Wound Management and Preventing Infection, and
  • A series of webinars on A Systematic Approach on How to Reduce Inflammation.

More details on how to log into the LIVE Webinar will be posted later.  Accessible from anywhere worldwide

Classroom Courses

We have planned for and prepared a 15-hour Caregiver & Warrior Course that addresses all the pertinent points that a Caregiver to an eczema or TSW warrior would do very well to know and be armed with for your caregiving journey, and have also prepared segments in the Course to take care of the Caregiver, who is often a forgotten member of the household but in your giving, you may have given of yourself to the point of fatigue. More details of this Course will be released later. Currently, this Course is only available in Singapore as it is a physical, sit-in classroom course with some hands-on elements. If there is a need for it, we will consider holding this Course outside of Singapore. More details for the Caregiver Course will be posted later.

Support, Comfort, Guidance, Motivation, Inspiration & Encouragement

Through our LIVE support calls, forum discussions, workshops, outings, blogs and social media, we will provide support, comfort, guidance, motivation, inspiration and encouragement to help you stay positive and strong.

AWE Online Forum

Just like our Support Group that was run on the Facebook platform earlier, our AWE Forum is also actively moderated by the AWE Coaches and Moderators. It is our strong belief that the Forum has to be moderated actively so that we share the right knowledge, knowing that there are many who have no time or desire to participate visibly, but are silent readers, so moderation is essential to keep the Forum relevant, supportive and comforting, as well as as factually correct as we are able to maintain it.

[su_quote cite=”Yun”]I have never knew Eczema and somewhat it was affecting the quality of our life, our first child and which parent would not want the best for their child? Without knowing the danger of topical steroids, we applied it 5 months on our little one. Been to many doctors but was given nothing but steroids. Higher and higher dosage of it.

By chance, I found a Support Group from Facebook that encourages natural remedies to help people with eczema feel better. I remember coming to a stage where I slap my son so hard in the middle of the night because he wouldn’t stop rubbing till his skin breaks. I was afraid of injuring him and wanted to see a psychiatrist.

Thank God, I met Grace (the Admin who founded the group), who reached out to me, pray for us and most importantly, supporting and guiding me everyday. Time is the best gift because it is something they never get back. The Admins could have used their time to do something else but instead they used it to help many other people who don’t know the danger of steroids. but still.. My son was not getting better and I was stressed out.

Until Grace introduced Ben who helped me with his (my son’s) diet. Everyday without fail they try to provide answers and recommendation so that my son has a variety of food. So instead of being stressed to purchase products, they made everyday life easier and yes. You see that my son is healing. Words cannot express how thankful I am.[/su_quote]

LIVE Support Calls

These are online support sessions that we will hold because each time we had a get-together in Singapore in the past years, whether it was a support session or even if it were a gathering of eczema warriors for a work meeting, the very essence of meeting together brought all the warriors that much more comfort, and the strength that we borrow from one another from these sessions help nudge us along in our difficult journey. However, we would like for our friends from all over the world to join us as well, and understanding that not everyone is well enough to travel, we decided on cyber Support Sessions! So now, you can join us from the comfort of your own homes, without having to shower or dress up first, because your webcam will not have to be turned on (don’t worry!). We pray you will be so blessed through these LIVE Support Calls.  Accessible from anywhere worldwide

[su_quote cite=”Sue”]I was granted access to this Facebook support group by Felicia Jos. Very quickly, I started my TSW journey with many fears, concerns, worries, addressed quickly by Felicia, Olive and Alvin. Everytime I post a question, one of them will answer me. There was this one time I needed a remedy to help my constant itch. Olive offered to pass me Coleus leaves and came to my home as I was in such bad state I did not want to leave the house. I was touched she came. That was the first time I met Olive. I came to contact Grace as she shared her TSW incredible ordeal, and inspired me. First impression of her was how harsh she is on herself….

In my 9th month, things got worse. I was hospitalised for herpeticum. Irony was that the TCM sinsehs I was with for hand holding my TSW progress n preventing infection failed to recognise the condition completely. It was posting my pictures online thst had mothers of TSW children and caretakers of TSW sufferers that recognised the condition. Olive was so sweet as she kept messaging me throughout my whole anxiety episode, going to clinic, A&E (emergency room), hospitalised, getting swabbed and dripped anti viral (IV). She contacted Grace who gave step by step exact instructions where to go, what to say exactly. Come on, how will I know what herpeticum should be or to ask for swabbed. No one could help out. And these angels spent like 6 hours guiding me. At the hospital, Olive came visit. Not fazed by my ugliness. When in hospital and depressed, Stephanie, Grace and Olive kept praying for me. I was discharged 10 days later.

Grace is aware of my heightened tension with my parents due to TSW and more strained now with the hospital episode. I know her strong testimonial to her own healing will really convince my parents, if they see her in person. I was breaking under stress by their uninformed assumptions. Alot of pressure. I plucked courage to shamelessly ask Grace to see my parents in person and speak to them about her and her son’s healing. I was so touched when I saw her at my living room. She had not hesitated at all when she agreed to the visit. She talked to my parents for nearly 3 hours.

This visit did more than convincing my parents. I never thought how much relief I could have, having a veteran assure me of my state of healing. I needed so much for a healed warrior to see me and tell me I am on the right track. All my doubts cleared. You must realise, these angels did all this for a STRANGER and for NOTHING in return. They are doing this simply because they know the pain of TSW, the consequences of topical steroids application through no fault of our own. Just pure empathy n compassion made them do this passionately. I am EVER so grateful, they are here, and STILL hand-holding me in my continuing journey.[/su_quote]

Ad-Hoc Workshops and Outings

Currently, AWE organises Workshops and Events in Singapore. We have plans to have Events held overseas depending on the demand for them. These are organised on an ad-hoc basis and AWE Super Warriors enjoy priority to seats in these events.

TSW Personalised Coaching Programme for the TSW warrior and their families

TSW Personalised Coaching Programme - Let's walk through the valleys together to reach your mountaintop!

Beyond the Education and Support provided on our AWE Super Warrior platform, we have an separate, personal hand-holding, one-to-one programme for those who may need more help in your journey, especially if you have been applying steroid creams on your skin but find that the rash is worsening, you may wish to consider our TSW Personalised Coaching Programme. Accessible from anywhere worldwide

This is a hand-holding service that AWE provides so that in addition to the support from the AWE Community, you have a Personal Coach to walk with you through your TSW journey, Withdrawal from the addiction to the steroid creams and into healing naturally, even though the road ahead may be a very arduous one.

This Coaching Service is provided on a 3-month basis. At the end of every 3 months, we will review your progress, and if you feel you need more coaching, you can opt to continue as the need arises. This Programme is designed for

  • TSW warriors already in TSW
  • For eczema sufferers on steroids wondering if they should embark on TSW, and need the full, big picture on TSW

Let’s walk through the valleys together to reach your mountaintop

[su_quote cite=”Ben”]I first spoke to Grace 10 months ago. At that time, I had been using more frequent and higher doses of steroids to calm the eczema but to no avail. Nothing was working and I was desperately looking for natural creams to bring down the intense rashes. So I happened to call her shop to enquire about this.
This call changed my life.
Grace spent an hour talking to me over the phone though she was out at a roadshow. She selflessly straddled between assisting customers and giving me sincere and frank advice about the documented side effects of topical steroids. This was a turning point. I made the personal decision to switch to natural methods of healing through diet, supplements and herbs. Grace provided invaluable emotional support through the difficult period of steroid withdrawal. She also advised me on creams, diet and the importance of gut health. She also won my dad over with her sincere advice about healing naturally from eczema.
The combination of Grace’s emotional support, wealth of knowledge of gut health, diet and natural creams, and her kindness in engaging my family about my condition have been crucial in my journey to healing.
Through persistence and a hope for a better tomorrow, the ‘better tomorrow’ is already materialising and Grace has played such an important role in this. Today is the tenth month from when I first spoke to Grace. I can now go out in shorts and T-shirts. I can exercise and sweat without having any noticeable aggravations. I can meet my friends again. There are of course minor aggravations now and then as I am still healing, but they are what they are – minor. My skin heals faster and my immunity is stronger.
Thanks Grace for being a selfless beacon of hope and light in this field. You have given so much of yourself to help so many people. May you be blessed richly. In gratitude[/su_quote]

Discounts and Savings in our Web Store

We eczema and TSW sufferers need many products in our healing journey to relieve the pain and suffering so every cent saved is a cent earned. There are many products out there that claim to help eczema sufferers but the ingredient lists are made up English-sounding words that only chemists recognise. It’s a compromise many manufacturers make to lower the prices but we believe that too much of these chemicals will hurt us in the long run. At our AWE web store, we only approve products that are natural or contain only a small limited amount of chemicals necessary for stabilisation or preservation. Unfortunately, these products tend to be more expensive than the mass market ones so we have a discount programme to ensure that you get these products at below-market prices.

JOIN US NOW!

We wish you all the best in better health and skin for you and your loved ones! God bless you abundantly!

In summary, with our membership you will enjoy

Education & Teaching / Demonstrations

  • AWE eBooks AWE Teaching Videos AWE Online Lessons with Quizzes
  • AWE LIVE Web Teaching Seminars
  • Classroom Courses

Support, Comfort, Guidance, Motivation, Inspiration & Encouragement

  • AWE Online Forum
  • LIVE Support Calls
  • Ad-Hoc Workshops and Outings

Discounts and Savings

  • Get high quality natural eczema-related products from our webstore at special prices.

JOIN US NOW!

Warmest cheers

Grace and the AWE Family