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Video

Consultation: Psoriasis

Psoriasis is quite rare, affecting around 2% of the population, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less distressing. Dr Dawn Harper examines a patient who just wants to be normal again and she is referred to a specialist who suggests a course of light treatment may provide some light relief.

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I am 18 years old and have had Psoriasis for five months. It started as scalpal psoriasis I now have guttate psoriasis on my arms, torso, and legs. I also have genital psoriasis.

My short struggle with psoriasis so far has been agonising. Steroids haven't worked, and emolliant cream hasn't work. Moisturing shower gel hasn't worked. I have just been referred to a light therapy course which I will start soon. I am TERRIFIED it won't work!

I feel it is so unfair because I have always been very self conscious, I don't really like any specific part of my body. I was always proud of my skin because it was so smoothe and clear and never got spots. Now I have lost that and I have nothing. I've gone a bit mental and have started running and dieting to help get some self esteem back. All my friends are so beautiful and can wear shortsleeves and dresses and skirts and shorts. It is summer now and I have never been so depressed. I tried to wear 3/4 length jeans the other day, and covered my legs in foundation. It scarcely even hid it. I cry all the time because of this.

hey … ive been suffering for 7 years but only in the last 9months has it spread all over me … i tried all the creams lotions and things as well as UVB treatment for 12 weeks it helped a little but no where near cleared it …then i tried cislospirin which hardly helped …it just kept it from reoccuring anywhere elsee (i went up to an extremely high dose where i could constantly taste the alchol in it at the back of my throat-not pleasent at all). now im on methotraxate and soo far (8 weeks) it has done very little ! im trying the biological drugs next and if they dont work the ethers! i hate it so much :( the itching drives me crazy :(

I have had Psoriasis from the age of 18 i beleive i took it from being traumatised.It started of as being slight but now at the age of 42 i have it on 85% of my body. I have been for a wide range of treatments over the years nothing has really kept it away my last treatment was medatrexate it did not work for me and made me very depressed

Hi
Im 34 and ive had psoriasis for 4 years now.. one patch on my leg and one on my knee but i also have another one just starting on my elbow, like everyone else here ive been throu all the creams, its really effecting my life now, no shorts, skirts and now no short sleeved tops….can anyone tell me more about ciclosporin please, any info would b greatfully recieved

many thanx and good luck everyone

Im 30 years old and last year i was completely covered from head to toe in guttate psoriasis. Very depressed and hiding underclothes even thriygh the summer!! I had creams, lotions and light treatment. Nothing worked. I started using baby nappy cream as i was told that zinc was very helpful. I used it everyday for four weeks. It has completely gone and i only very rarely get the odd spot here and there. Its less than a pound for a tub and it worked for me.

I'm 35 yrs old and had psorisis since I was 22 but I also have arthritis whis is a reaction to the psorisis. I've had creams and ointments and also been on methotrxate which is a chemotherapy drug which by the way I hated taking nothing seemed to work. The only thing that did work was when I went to hot countries and sat in the sun (which isn't the best for you)

i am 18 years old girl and have suffered from psoriasis since the age of 7. Growing up with the condition has been difficult, there are a lot of people who are afraid of conditions they know nothing about. I have tried many different steriod creams and coal tar lotions as well as light treatment. Oral medication is not recommended to girls my age, if i was to fall pregnant it can apparantly disform the foetus and that is not a risk worth taking.
I find that drinking alcohol and caffine makes my psorasis worse. If i use steriod creams for a short period of time and then try to stop using them thenmy skin is worse than before.
The best advice i would give a young person with this condition to moisturise at least twice a day, it keeps your skin young :) the most important thing is that you have to accept yourself for who you are and psorasis will only make you more unique. Im lucky enough to have a lovely boyfriend who knows when i get stressed my skin flares up. As long as you are proud of your skin then others will accept it too.

i think i have schaumbergs disease on my legs quite similar to leg ulcers. Specialists here say there is nothing i can do. it is the iron that rises to the surface of the skin after leaking from the veins stains the skin. it is now spreading to my second leg. i need some bit of hope please

I have had psoriasis since I was 7 years old, i'm now 24 years old and I feel I am not getting the help that I used to get. I found that the coal tar and the UVB treament had helped me alot but now I've been told from my pharmasist that they no longer supply coal tar because of a manufactorers problem. The doctors aren't keen on giving me UVB because of the fear of skin cancer, which I understand. I had UVB when I was 13 then 16 years old. Now i'm using creams that only do so much for me, then don't seemed to be doing much after so long. Then I just recieve other creams which again, don't seemed to do much. I'm now getting really down and i'm also getting embarassed as my skin is getting worse and this never really got to me before.

im only 15 and have been suffering since i was about 11, my psoriasis has never been a problem for me, until I started my GCSE's where its now starting to flare up on the palms of my hands, is there something specific causing it to flare or does this just generally happen?




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