Psoriasis - 20 plus years of experience! (My Experience of Psoriasis)

Member Name: pagso

Product:	My Experience of Psoriasis
Date:	10/08/09 (502 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Teaches you not to judge on appearance

Disadvantages: unsightly, depressing, annoying, upsetting - need I go on....

I have had psoriasis since my early 20s so I have now had it for most of my life and am resigned to it being unlikely to go away. At first I noticed very dry skin patches on my elbows and knees that started to spread and the first GP I consulted told me not to worry, it had been brought on by tonsilitis and would clear in 3 months. I went back 4 months later and he told me I wasn't going to be one of the lucky ones and I had it for life. How depressing that felt.
Since then and now I feel like I've tried everything but don't think there has been much time when I was completely clear. It was certainly worse in the early years when I had it quite badly on my scalp and left flakes of skin in my wake.
I don't know if it is stress related as it has sometimes flared up when I feel fairly relaxed and at other times when I have been going through stressful times it has perversely been at its best. To recap the remedies I've tried:

Light Treatment

In the early years I used sunbeds on the recommendation of my GP and later a consultant referred me for a course of UVA treatment as an outpatient in hospital. No real improvement but did get a lovely tan.

Chinese Herbal Medicine

An expensive and disgusting waste of time. I had to boil up foul tasting herbs and then try and drink the brew while trying not to retch. Gave up fairly quickly on this one.

Reflexology

No change although to be fair the therapist didn't claim there would be, I just thought it would relax me and remove stress. Very pleasant though.

Steroid creams

Effective but never clear it completely but certainly improve it to an extent I can happily live with. I always feel uneasy about the long term consequences of using these creams though.

Vitamin D creams (Dovonex)

Pretty effective when my skin isn't too bad. Much prefer the ointment which seems to stick down the plaques and moisturise my skin much better than the cream version.

Alphosyl

I used this when my scalp was affected. Not the nicest smelling shampoo but fairly effective.

Diet

A doctor once suggested that red meat aggravated the condition so I was vegetarian for about 4 years; I don't think it made any difference at all. Except I was slimmer.

Exorex

I was really excited when I read about this as it seemed to be the answer but didn't really work for me.

Dithranol

A non starter as this stains the skin - and your clothing - markedly and I have psoriasis on the back of my hands so drew even more attention to it.

Clothes

A wardrobe of long sleeves and trousers has been essential over the years and have spent a long time sourcing lightweight long sleeves for hot days when everyone asks me why I'm wearing them.

Sunshine

By far and away the best for me, possibly helped by being relaxed too when on holiday. I spent some time working in Australia - for a few months and then again for a year and was totally plaque-free. Maybe I should emigrate? Luckily I am olive skinned and didn't get too much sunburn but am concerned that I may have a higher risk of skin cancer from all that sun exposure. At the time I thought the risk was worth it but now I'm not so sure ....

Hereditary? My parents don't have it but my grandad did use alphosyl shampoo. My children are crossing their fingers - I just hope if they do get it that it won't be until their early 20s like me as I think I would have found it very difficult to deal with in my self-conscious teenage years. Now as long as my hands aren't too bad - as the skin can crack and get very painful when its flared up, I can live with it quite happily and I'm sure it makes me a less vain and less judgmental person.

If anyone comes across a wonder drug though please let me know!

Summary: Try everything but don't let psoriasis get you down too much