Helpful Tips

General tips for TSW

- Do a bunch of research before stopping topical steroids

- Join a support group to learn from others experiences

- Figure out a game plan on how to approach TSW (using products? doing NMT?)

- Create a list of supportive people who you can contact if you need help with anything

- Figure out what types of mental health support you will need (VERY IMPORTANT)

- Taking pictures to show progress helps

General tips for NMT

- If you haven't already started TSW, starting NMT first might be beneficial.

- I started changing my routine to fit with NMT before I got off of my topical steroids and it really helped to have the routine already in place.

- A week or so before stopping steroids, I eased off shampoo and products, started sleeping early, started exercising, began a steady diet and closed up any work/social obligations.

- Having a designated time period to focus on healing was very helpful to me. I designated two months to explicitly focus on healing. Whenever I started getting stressed out by something, I'd remind myself that I didn't HAVE to do anything except focus on my body healing. It helped say "no" to potential stressors.

- Cutting my hair short helped a lot. Since I couldn't use shampoo, I didn't have to worry about my long hair being all oily and touching my skin and irritating me. I also didn't have to feel the tense stress on my scalp of keeping my hair in a bun all the time.

- Calculate water content in as many meals as you can before starting so when you eat it it's easy to calculate the total water content for the day.

- This is the spreadsheet I created to help manage my water intake: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EskJuad5a61jnNcTVMT4--vSG276utwWr6PEcmy3TCo/edit?usp=sharing

- For drinking water, I measured 10ml at a time and found that that was usually enough to quench any thirsty feeling I had for about an hour.

- Making a list of things to do for relaxation is helpful. Movie/TV show queues, games to play, crafts to make, etc.

- Establishing a doable exercise routine beforehand is extremely helpful.