My Nonprofit Reviews

From 2006-2012 I had been in search of a prognosis that properly fit my condition. My symptoms continued to get worse and worse until I became disabled in January of 2012 and still did not know what was wrong. I had so many random problems in addition to my skin that it seemed physicians overlooked the obvious. My mother was desperately researching online for months to find answers to my health issues. I was pretty convinced I was suffering from something grim and fatal. In March 2012, not long after www.itsan.org established an online web presence, my mother stumbled onto the www.itsan.org main page that listed a host of symptoms and potential health history that all Topical Steroid Addicted patients would share. As she read each symptom and sample history she knew she had the answer to my struggle. After reviewing the material from the link she shared with me to www.itsan.org, I was about 75% sure I was a TSA patient. Therefore without even a proper medical diagnosis I discontinued Topical Corticosteroid use in May of 2012. However I needed to see Dr. Rapaport, the physician who help itsan.org cofounder Kelly Palace, myself and talk to him to feel fully convinced I was making the right decision as I realized I was headed on a road that would be long and arduous to travel. On June 28, 2012 I spent an hour with Dr. Rapaport in his Beverly Hills, CA, office where I relayed my story and he examined me. He officially diagnosed me with TSA and prepared and encouraged me for what lay ahead. My mother and I spent so much time on the original Google Forum that www.itsan.org developed and monitored. There in the forum our fears were allayed when I suffered through different symptoms, bed ridden for 6 months and almost fully house bound for another 12 months. I also could interact with others dealing with the same symptoms and we provided research, support, comfort and encouragement. I am now entering my 28th month and am about 75% recovered, with most likely another 12 months left before reaching full cure. I owe my recovery to www.itsan.org. Had it not been for the efforts made by the team of volunteers and contributors backing www.itsan.org, I do not know that I would have found a "cure" yet or whether I ever would have. And although this may seem a bit in the dramatic side, I think the daily use if Steroids would have ultimately led to an early death for me. By the time I found itsan.org not only were the physicians prescribing daily schmeering of head to toe compounded topical steroids after bathing in bleach, I was also receiving intramuscular injections of corticosteroids and oral prescriptions of corticosteroids. Corticosteroids are responsible for the deterioration of eye, heart and bone health, as well as Adrenal issues. How long can someone survive regularly using such a medication? www.itsan.org has saved my life.

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