Hey all, so I have possibly made a connection.
So about three weeks ago, I got a really bad case of what I thought was eczema. I'm prone to eczema and dermatitis and all that lovely nonsense, so I put my usual steroid cream on it, nothing. It got really, really bad. To the point my body was covered in blotches and I threatened to make a body suit out of sandpaper to effectively scratch it all. Dermatologist diagnosed it as pityriasis rosea (yay, another underresearched and totally misunderstood disease, just what I wanted) and gave me a different steroid cream (I built up a tolerance to my old stuff) to apply all over twice a day.
While I was using a borderline excessive amount of it, I noticed my TN was pretty non-existent. I do know your body can absorb some steroids topically, and considering I was using this from my knees to my shoulders and down my arms, I'm sure there was a decent amount being absorbed. Since it was sooooo drying and the pityriasis was healing quickly (derm was amazed) I stopped using it for a few days, give my skin a break, right? Well... since then, my TN has come back with a vengeance.
Long story short (and trust me, you don't want pityriasis), has anyone tried corticosteroids? I've considered asking my GP if she would be willing to try methylprednisolone for this. What I've found about TN is it's thought to be caused by irritation or inflammation. Steroids do wonders for inflammation. Has anyone had any luck with this route? All I know is I'm turning myself into a guinea pig and applying lots of cream to anywhere that hasn't cleared up yet and just letting my skin turn into a desert if the steroids will help my face.