AssetID: 55941263
Headline: ‘My skin was falling off, I was in constant pain and terrified to look in the mirror - because of prescription medication’
Caption: WORDS BYLINE: Max Chesson and Maisy Walker A young woman’s skin was left burning, itching and bleeding after she suffered a rare reaction to a common prescription medication. At its worst, Sophie Cooper was “literally bed-bound” by the ordeal, which she says has wrecked her 2026 and prevented her from enjoying the typical life of a 21-year-old. Showering, getting dressed and moving around can cause severe pain when her skin is “quite literally falling off” — cracking, oozing and shedding. She’s believed to be suffering from topical steroid withdrawal (TSW), a rare and potentially severe reaction after stopping topical corticosteroids following prolonged or frequent use. She’s now in a recovery phase with intermittent flare-ups, after being treated in hospital for cellulitis which “could have turned into sepsis”. Sophie, from Canterbury, had been prescribed steroid creams for eczema but says she was never verbally warned about TSW, and only read about the potential reaction in the patient leaflet after developing agonising symptoms. “The nerve pain is unbearable at times, with sharp electric sensations underneath my skin that make it impossible to relax or sleep properly,” she explains. “I wake up throughout the night scratching in my sleep, often waking to blood on my bedsheets and skin flakes covering my bed and floor. Some mornings I wake up terrified to look in the mirror because I don’t know how badly my skin will have flared overnight.” She first sought help for eczema in 2023 and was prescribed three different strengths of topical steroid cream. “I was not warned about the risks,” she said. “The only risk I was warned of was thinning of the skin. But nothing about steroid withdrawal. I didn't actually read the leaflet before using the steroid creams because I trusted my doctor.” Topical corticosteroids are widely used to treat inflammatory skin conditions including eczema and psoriasis and are considered safe and highly effective when used correctly. Severe withdrawal reactions are thought to be very rare and are usually associated with very frequent or long-term use of stronger topical steroids. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) recognises that withdrawal reactions can sometimes occur, with symptoms including burning, itching, peeling skin and oozing sores. However, TSW remains poorly understood and there is no accepted clinical definition – meaning it can be difficult to distinguish from worsening eczema or other skin conditions. For Sophie, the symptoms were unbearable. “I didn't even feel alive,” she said. “I'd describe it as severe sunburn because you couldn't regulate your temperature. Your skin was super hot to touch, but you'd feel cold. It's not just a bit of scratching, it was bone deep.” As her condition worsened, Sophie says she struggled to recognise herself. “My skin was quite literally falling off me, and I was just a red person all the time,” she said. “I've always been a very happy, confident person. And for the first time in my life, I felt like a shell of myself.” But the condition has hit her bank balance as well as her health. Sophie says there have been periods when she has been unable to work and says her application for Personal Independence Payment was rejected. She described the rejection as “a slap in the face”, adding: “I've literally got my own house, I've got my own bills to pay, I'm in debt.” She has launched a GoFundMe appeal towards private treatment and hopes eventually to travel to Thailand for cold atmospheric plasma therapy. Her fundraising page estimates an extended stay could cost at least £10,000. Sophie also says she struggled to have her concerns about TSW taken seriously and eventually asked to be referred to a hospital specialist after two years. “When I did go to the specialist in the hospital, it was such a relief because they actually recognised TSW there,” she said. “It's taken my life from me. I haven't been able to live a normal 21-year-old life.” Amid the turmoil, Sophie found an unlikely way of rebuilding her confidence through beauty pageants. She finished first runner-up in Miss Great Britain Kent before achieving the same placing in Miss GB Essex a month later. Sophie used the competitions to raise awareness of visible skin conditions and even won a fashion round — despite suffering a flare-up shortly before taking to the stage. Asked during the competition what her proudest moment was, she replied: “Standing here today. Because going through what I've gone through, the skin condition, sometimes it's easy to feel like I am not confident or I'm not enough. But I'm here to prove that you can still be confident.” She’s gained 17,000 followers on TikTok since she began documenting her struggles, and has since created the Broken Skin Project for people with visible skin conditions and launched a petition calling for better information before patients are prescribed topical steroid creams. More than 800 people have signed it. Sophie stresses she is not calling for topical steroids to be banned and acknowledges they can be effective. Instead, she wants patients to be given enough information to make an informed decision. “The doctors should definitely be telling you about TSW,” she said. “There should just be a warning rather than a tiny leaflet in a box.” The MHRA advises healthcare professionals to ensure patients know how to use topical corticosteroids safely and effectively and to be vigilant for signs of withdrawal reactions. Its safety review found severe reactions appear to be very infrequent, but acknowledged they can be “debilitating and long lasting”. Through the Broken Skin Project, Sophie hopes to bring people together at local meet-ups and create a community for those struggling with their confidence. “I create a space where people feel understood rather than judged,” she said. “When they are surrounded by people the same as them, they feel like they belong.” You can find her GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-recover-and-reclaim-my-life
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PersonInImage: Sophie Cooper documenting her struggle on TikTok