Well, things were looking great FINALLY with the help of the steroid cream. I kept cutting the tape off the wafer until it looked healed. Then I left the tape on two changes ago and all seemed good for a few days, after the second change with leaving the tape on I started getting itchy and noticing weeping through the tape. I changed today and it's red and itchy again and making me really cranky.

What does this mean? Was it not totally gone before? Is it an allergy? How can I tell? I don't think it's an allergy because it didn't clear up on it's own without the tape on and also Benadryl didn't help.

Any suggestions? I'm back to leaving the tape off and switching between the Nystatin powder and the steroid cream.

Thank you!
Erin

Hi Erin,

Sounds like perhaps you didn't keep the regime up for long enough. You need to continue for at least a week after all looks clear otherwise it can come back. Unfortunately it means you will have to start up with the same routine again.

Hope you get some relief soon.

Take care

Shell

I had a horrid, weepy rash that responded well to a steroid spray (sorry, can't remember the name). I feel for you. Once I had TD, it took about 6 months for all signs of that horrid, weepy thing to disappear. Hell, to me, would be returning to the stoma.

I also had allergy esting done for all the stoma supplies. It turned out I was allergic to the moist pads I used to wet down teh stoma powder and DEATHLY allergic to the stoma paste (We had already figured that one out). Eliminating both of those helped a lot.

AGH, this is driving me crazy! I can't figure out what to do. When the rash started coming back after I left the tape on I started cutting the tape off again and using the steroid cream since it seemed it was just beginning and the air, together with the cream, would take care of it. It has definitely seemed to be getting better but then tonight I took a shower and the hot water seemed to have started something because now it's itching so bad I think I'm going to lose my mind!!

I had put the steroid cream on after shower and bag change but then, when the itching started, I thought maybe I was using the wrong thing and needed to switch to the Nystatin powder so I put some of that on top of the cream. Probably won't do any good since the cream will act as a barrier and keep it from my skin.

I was afraid to just use the powder because the itching was so bad but now I'm afraid I've done the wrong thing and somehow made things worse! I sure hope this was just irritation from the hot shower and will calm down soon because I don't think I could sleep with this god awful itching!! I'm now eating a bowl of yogurt, at 11:00pm, to see if it will help have a probiotic effect even though I have no idea if it works topically like it does internally for yeast.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm going to go and TRY to sleep and hope I feel better in the morning.

Any advice as to which, steroid or Nystatin, I should be using and if I can use both?

Thank you!
Erin

Hi Erin,

I know just how you feel. I think an itch you can't scratch is just about the worse kind of torture! Have you tried taking an oral antihystamine? Benadryl will help you sleep and stop the itch at the same time.

I don't think you have made the situation worse with the cream. It's probably just the hot shower that has woken the rash up and causing the itch. Maybe try putting a cold pack of frozen peas over the itchy part to see if that will take the heat out of the situation?

I really do hope this settles down for you soon. It's certainly been a challange hasn't it.

Take care and good luck.

Shell

OK, so I'm still confused. I've had the tape off of the wafers for weeks now and things were looking good overall, but there was a tiny area right at the top of the wafer, at the very edge of the flange, that was a little red and itchy. When I use the Nystatin powder it didn't seem to help and, in fact, seemed to make things worse. I decided to use it religiously for a week to see what happened and now the rash has gotten worse. I have red bumps in several places and a weepy area on the bottom, right at the edge of the flange.

I don't get it!! Is it possible that the Nystatin is causing a rash? The only thing that seems to help is the steriod cream but I know I can't continue to use that because it will cause problems with thin skin? Should I go to see a dermatologist? If it's been exposed to the air and doing well, and now all of the sudden doing bad, what could be causing it? I'm tired of the itching and pain! Nothing is wrong beneath the wafer so I can't imagine it's an allergy.

HELP!!

Thank you!
Erin