I just started my journey with psoriasis. Many questions
Posted Sun 21 Jul 2019 09.21 by Erre
Hi everyone,
This is my first post here. Two years ago, I had a terrible psychological trauma and I started my journey with psoriasis.
At first it started as scaly patches on elbows, and I didn't care. Then inverse psoriasis kicked in in my armpits and groin, and this winter I could not sleep because of itch. Also my ears interiors are flaky and that's embarrassing. I so decided i have to cure it somehow.
Being totally irresponsible, after 2 years of doing nothing and promising myself I'll go to a dermatologist, I decided I will cure it by myself. I am a medic so i have some knowledge about medicine and access to all drugs, but i am incompetent about dermatology or psoriasis.
I made some assumptions and decided to try first the natural way, but I would like a confront with expert psoriasis sufferers:
STEROIDS: I decided to never take them. This is the main reason because I'm not going to a dermatologist, my psoriasis is mild and stable (even bettering during the last year) and I really fear topical steroids would make it worst. The research is lacking about this supposedly well-know risk, but despite that it's the first choice for my type of psoriasis and the dermatologist would convince me to go that way.
My main question is: does anyone achieved a total recovery from a mild psoriasis without relapses with topical steroids the first time they use them?
DIAGNOSIS: I'm pretty sure about the inverse psoriasis, but this is not an easy diagnosis as the scaly one. I will probably go to a derm for that. Not sure what's the question here, but any tip about inverse psoriasis would be appreciated. Already tried canesten for differential ex jubantibus diagnosis and didn't do anything.
NATURAL TREATMENTS: I'm going for a mix of oils (coconut, argan, neem and tea tree) which is doing something good, and an urea 10% cream for the most scaly zones. The problem here is that the oil fades too fast, I work most of the day and I don't want to wrap in plastic or bandages. How can I make my oil more lasting, I.e. making it more dense?
Also, this seems not to work so well on my inverse psoriasis (which ch doesn't need moisture), besides calming itch. Any particular treatment for inverse psoriasis would be appreciated.
No diet for now, as I'm not a diet guy and I'm not doing too bad.
HOPE: I'm aiming at complete lifetime remission without treatments. I have a mild form and I never cured it, I'm 2 weeks in treatment and I'm seeing big benefits, but I know I am deluding myself. But at the same time I read about people who achieved it with this or that treatment, so it's not impossible. I think that managing stress could be the big part of the work, that could be the reason why the same treatment have so different outcomes. But some treatments (I.e. tea tree) seems to lead to more anedoctical experiences of total remission. Do anyone have some other experiences of "cures", besides tea tree or blueberries or some other diet?
Thank you very much for your answers, and an hug to all of you who are really suffering for this condition (fortunately I am not).
Posted Wed 7 Aug 2019 17.13 by Dorothy (edited Wed 7 Aug 2019 17.13 by Dorothy)
I would suggest going to see your doctor anyway - you are not obliged to follow their advice if you don't want to, so you won't be forced to use a steroid cream, but they may be able to advise something else that will help.
I'm afraid I can't advise - nothing has cured mine, I just manage it. And what works for one person doesn't work for another. It really is trial and error.
Posted Wed 7 Aug 2019 19.30 by Mrs silver (edited Wed 7 Aug 2019 19.41 by Mrs silver)
Hello Erre,
I’m new here too and I hope to find answers as well.
Firstly I would agree with the other member, do see a GP as soon as you can. Then you can go from there.
So I have had my psoriasis since childhood... only my knees were affected but during the years had gone dormant from 98-2007 just to return with a vengeance, affecting other areas, elbows, knees and ankles.
So i saw my GP that prescribed me Dovobet ointment. This is steroid based but made a huge difference when I used it. Once a week was enough then every day applied aveeno blue cream cap. An oat based moisturiser.
This routine worked for me until my GP decided to prescribe me a different ointment that my psoriasis didn’t really like. I haven’t since been able to control my skin patches at all.
So my advice is... research, try different approaches as our skin is unique to ourselves and something just might work well for you. None the less good luck. 🙂
I've had psoriasis for 20 years and used various treatments. Even after 20 years I did not realise how important moisturiser is. I always moiturised once or twice a day with diprobase. However I have just started a new course of nuvb. And with it comes an emolient application plan which I haven't seen before. That's mount they recommend is easily 4/5 tunes the amount I have been using..my skin has improved somewhat just from that.
Always consult a gp/ dermatologist though.
Hey Erre
There is no cure for psoriasis. You will not achieve a life long remission, I can promise that, at least not from any of the actions that you do. If there is a long term remissions it usally very random but does happen. I wouldn't reject steroids and things like that so quickly. I use enstillar foam and for around 4 weeks and it then is clear for about 4 weeks. It is true if you use steroids for ever they can cause problems, but they are complete safe if used as prescribed. I would recommend Vitamin D analogue's, which your GP can prescribe, they can be used forever if you don't use to much dose, and are very effective. From those creams you will properly achieve a short term remission of between 1-3 months which is pretty good
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