Embarrassing Illnesses

hi... i am 26 years old n a virgin guy.. last 2 month b4 i got small red dot on top of my penis and after that it started to itching n spread dry skin around top of my penis. couple of days i found out trough internet, its looks like Psoriasis on Penis. last couple of week before i got merried and having sex with my wife without condom. will it be dangrous?? how can i come out oof this.. please reply ASAP.. thanks alot...

I've suffered from Psoriasis since I was 9 (about the time of my parents divorce) and it made my teenage years extremely difficult. Being a particularly sporty person it was harder as I was constantly having to explain to people that I was not contagious! I'm now 29 and I'm happy to say that I'm almost 100% clear after being approximately 80% covered. At the age of 26 I moved to Asia and in my first year in the new climate my psoriasis was worse than ever - it wasn't until a scientist friend did some research and recommended a suite of products made in Australia by Ego. The products I started to use were EgoPsoryl TA (a non-staining tar gel) and Egoderm Cream - I used them in tandem and after 3 weeks pretty much all of my psoriasis had gone and it has been ever since. If you can pick this stuff up in the uk do not hesitate to pick it up - it's cheap, doesn't smell and you don't need a prescription. Other top tips - stay hydrated, limit alcohol intake, cut down on your dairy, eat lots of fish and keep active. This is my first post on any forum on this and I know that what works for one doesn't necessarily work for another! God luck folks :)

I have had psoriasis since I was about 14. I'm now 60 and in the last 5 years it has got much worse. I recently undertook some research which looked at the density of certain growth factors, in particular vascular endothelial growth factor - or VEGF. Many foods affect the expression of VEGF, some suppress other increase. Then we looked sites where VEGF was "over-expressed" and psoriasis plaques had been identified as containing high concentrations of VEGF. The main role of VEGF is the promotion of new blood vessels, and this is done by VEGF locking (bit like a lock and key) with a receptor molecule which then gives rise to new blood vessel growth. It is unclear how over expression of VEGF relates to psoriasis, but our early research has shown that there are reports that patients undergoing anti-VEGF cancer treatment (i.e. preventing blood vessel growth in cancers and therefore starving them of oxygen and nutrients) has also given rise to spontaneous remission of psoriasis! We will continue our research, but it looks as though there may be a plausible basis to the selective consumption of foods which influence (reduce) over expression of VEGF signalling molecules.

I'm 62 and have had it since I was 8. I can say without exaggeration that it had a major psychological impact on my adolescence. I was hospitalised for concentrated treatment when I was 11, basically dithranol and UV, which improved it temporally, but it returned. Typical of psoriasis, having been reasonably clear of it during my first summer at university, it flared overnight on my return at the start of year 2 and would not respond to treatment that whole year. Thankfully, over the last 5 - 10 years it sems to have subsided considerably of its own accord. My experience of treatment accords with that of other posters here -- I have always found that response to treatment can be noticeably temporary, specially if the treatment is too forceful. For me, this applies particularly to steroids. The best approach has always been slow and sure, and I now find that Dovonex, a vitamin D analogue, works best. However, for a while I was using Dovobet, and even the mild steroid component was enough to create the "reaction effect". Oddly, although I always used to find an ointment base better than cream base, I now find the opposite. So it also worth experimenting with that, because even such an apparently non-active aspect can have an effect.

If any of the following helps any Psoriasis patient I will be very,very pleased. My mother had/my brother has psoriasis, other family members havent.I started with it during a very, very stressful marriage breakup when I was 21 and had a 20 mth baby.The stories I have just read pretty well mirror the various extents of coverage, depression, treatments,body-hiding, lack of relationships,etc. that have occurred in the intervening years (I am now a pensioner and still wearing long sleeves etc unless I have made a real effort for weeks with the cream) BUT there are some breakthroughs! 1) Reducing stress if possible helps a great deal. 2)An exclusion diet shows that (and which)certain foods have an important effect. The lactose in cows milk, and (citrus fruits?)among other things increase psoriasis. I found that soya milk gave me wind,goats milk tasted sour, sheeps milk imp. to get but Greek sheeps yogurt avail. in health shops and delicious.3)Soap irritates psoriasis & should be avoided,and a big 500gm tub of Aqueous Cream, a soft but rather waxy cream should be used to cleanse when rash is bad. It is very cheap.4)Steroid creams are v effective,but dangerous used in large amounts.Different products suit different people, I find Alphosyl H.C. (a reduced strength steroid) works pretty well if I keep at it.Betnovate Scalp lotion (steroid)is the only medication I know of that is liquid so can be used on scalp,and it works. Selsun suspension (prescription) smells foul but may help as a shampoo, as may Alphosyl shampoo,head &shoulders,etc. 6)Anti-inflammatories Prescribed for me for arthritis have helped, and the ones found naturally in the anti-oxidants contained in very colourful fruit and veg and salad(perhaps with the exception of citrus fruits-oranges etc,)have been an AMAZING help to my neice who has tried every cream,clinical sun lamp treatment,etc was often unable to work because her feet were cracking and bleeding! Mind you she also wasnt eating or drinking dairy or wheat,& was drinking loads of water. The combination has virtually cleared the 80% coverage without any cream! Sorry to be so longwinded but there are so many possible irritants and aids, trial and error is the way to find what suits each individual. I really, really hope that many of you find some helpful suggestions here and that you get relief from the embarrassment and symptoms you have had, I have been there! LOL Carol P.S. My son-in-law covered himself in the mud of saltflats insouth-east Spain - very helpful! also that in the sea the fish ate the white plaques!! Dead Sea salt products from health stores etc. are supposed to be good,( was told though that the bath salts can stain a bath,). soap and shampoo are available. Good luck!

hi all. ive had psoriasis for 6 years now. mainly on the backs of my hands. been going to the hospital for treatment since i first got it but nothing so far has worked. some creams help for a little while. recently it has got so bad on my hands that i have been having trouble moving them. cant even hold my kids hands some days. went to the hospital again last week and im now going to start on having injections to see if they can help. to all of you whoses gp's wont do anything tell them you want to be referred to your hospital as there are so many other treatments you can try. hope you all find something that works for you and hope it helps you live your life how you want to.

hi, ive had psoriasis since i was about 4 years old i got rid of it once wen i was around 7 after goin to the hospital evry other day 2 have a dark green cream applied buy nurses, it came back 6 months later after that treatment & i still suffer with it now at the age of 27. i have it the usual places elbows, knees, scalp but it spreads every now & again i now hav it pretty much evry wear but there not big patches like i hav on my elbows & knees. the smaller patches seem to be getting bigger on my legs n bum cheeks & hands. i jus recently went 2 c my doctor & said the cream i hav been usin 4 the past 3-4 yrs isnt working & it is speading all over my body. the doctor said keep usin the betnovate cream twice a day & use yet another cream twice a day, he also said this will never go away which i understand but i didnt understand why he cudnt refer me 2 a specialist or something jus 2 see if there was anyother treatment i cud use instead of creams that arnt workin. i hav herd normal sunbeds are good for psoriasis does any1 no if they work?

I've had psoriasis most of my life, started when I was 6 after I had chicken pox...I'm 32 now! For years I only ever got the odd bout after that initial one and they were only little patches in all the obvious places. When on teaching practise at the age of 21, I had an outbreak of what I now know was guttate psoriasis, but as I am now learning, the doctors then didn't really know what it was. When I was about 25, I then got patches beneath my breasts and on my knicker line which the doctor treated as fungal but that didn't respond to treatment. I got sick(and if I'm honest, embarrassed) of going back and forwards, and feeling uncomfortable having wet/damp patches from the cream. It did disappear eventually. A few years after that, I had a sore throat then was admitted with viral meningitis(unlucky I know lol!) and then the spots started again...research on the web told me it was guttate...GP wasn't quick enough to get me referred for light treatment, and by the time I got a referral, it was on its way out. And it was accompanied by the redness beneath my breasts and knicker line. Here I am yet again after another throat thing, which at the time was diagnosed as tonsilitis and given antibiotics. You've guessed it, in the missle of another bout of guttate, all over, and inverse(which I had to find out the name to for the under breast/knicker line) as GP really didn't have a clue. I can see the parts exposed to the sun are starting to fade, but the rest is still very red, dry, docs don't have a clue! Diprobase only minimises the itch, gp still insists on treating inverse as a fungal thing. They've referred me to dermatologist and appointment's not until middle of AUgust. Fed up is not the word!!!!

I have had scalp psoriasis for about 4 years, i am 22 and it has spread to behind my ears, i have tried so many different products but nothing seems to work, i spent 6 weeks in spain in the summer and that helped a bit but as soon as i came back its been worse. Can anyone give me some advice?Thanks

Hi, could anyone please tell me a little about the connection between psoriasis and hypothyroidism.