Advice

Shelly Really sorry, you seem to be having a rough time with it I am surprised your dermatologist wasn't more helpful perhaps another referral to a different hospital will help what part of the world are you in ( without revealing your specific location ) As you probably gathered from the forum there are many treatments that can help What creams have you tried so far and have you been put on any types of tablets

Hi Billy, I've used countless creams too many to Lost, atm I'm using calcipotriol ointment, still haven't been offered any tablets as of yet though. I'm from the West mids, UK. & yes the forum has been a huge help. Thanks for getting back to me

Sorry to hear you had a back experience. I have been through exactly the same. Cream and ointments that were useless or worsened my condition. Dovobet burnt me Dovobet triggered a massive flare Puva at the hospital eventually gave me a severe burn on my legs Doctors at my local surgery who don't seem to care and a dermatologist who couldn't be bothered. My saviour has been a uvb canopy at home. It takes a while for it to start working but I was amazed. I though some areas were scarred for life but they did clear and go back to normal skin. I recently put a post up about losing faith in doctors and the nhs. You can see my story there. Don't give up hope I reaseached the condition and read slot of the posts on here which lead me try uvb. For me it was the best purchase I ever made. There is some great advice on here in the forums. If you get offered any more medications check them out with the people on here, that's what I did and it helped me alot. That way you can see how it effected them and if it may or may not help you. After all who knows better than the people who as suffering from this horrible disease.

Hi gemma. Sorry to hear that, it's such a horrible thing to live with so for something that it supposed to help to burn you must have made you feel awful!! Where was it that you bought the UVB canopy from? And also how long until you started to see results. It seems like the more expensive option is worth it in the long run. I know where you're coming from with the doctor/dermo situation, no help whatsoever. Thanks for the help.

Hi Shelley. I'm afraid it does take a number of weeks to show results. I did notice after 2/3 weeks the scaling slowed down and the itch started to disappear, which was a massive relief, I also had a number of the plaques were sore and this went too. When it started to turn areas of my skin pink the plaques started to flatten and fade. Im afraid you have to start quite low and build up the exposure so you dont burn yourself. I started at 40 seconds for my skin type. Then increased it by 10 seconds every other day. I seem to remember it made a significant difference to my chest and back by 2 minutes 20 seconds. once I noticed it was working at that I left it on that setting. But I suppose the timings will be different for different people. I found if you were careful and only increased it 10 seconds at a time you never burnt yourself. In fact when areas got pink it had usually gone by the next treatment. I left it at a setting where it turned my skin pink each time which seemed to work on me. I only did it for around 6 weeks before I made the mistake of going to the hospital for PUVA. I found the hospital were more interested in increasing exposure time rather than finding the sweet spot which works for you,that is why they burnt me twice in a row. In those six weeks or so I found plaques had shrunk quite a lot and my back and chest were very pale and hardley noticable. The only place which was still fairly bad were my shins and calves which is why I went to the hospital. If I had continued, with uvb I believe I could have cleared them too. I bought mine from a company called Much Better Skin. I believe some other people on the site bought them from there too. If you ring them first, he is very helpful and full of advice thats what I did. Where ever you get a canopy from make sure you only get Phillips UVB narrowband bulbs. these are like hospital use. Have you considered buying a lamp to start with just to try it and see how it works first. My canopy was expensive it only has five bulbs and was £995. To me it was worth every penny. Also I see it as after I had cleared it, if there was any sign of it returning I didn't have to wait for treatment from doctors or hospitals - I could start treating myself as and when required. I know what you mean about sunbeds, I haven't tried them, but I did find the PUVA did not work that well on me.

Hi all, I've just signed up today I also too have suffered with psoriasis for years but it's spread all over in the last year and has made me very depressed as I feel disgusting, particularly recently after going for a massage and having the women question what it was in a disgusted voice asking if she could catch it! I'm currently waiting for a hospital appointment For a UVB treatment which I believe is very good. Shelly I would ask you demotologist to refer you for this. Can anybody also recommend in the meantime anything they cut or include in their diet and any supplements as I've heard this is also helpful. Thank you