Shantella's Story

Shantella has tried many treatments over the years to manage her recurring guttate psoriasis, including topical treatments, UV therapy, and diet and lifestyle changes.

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My name is Shantella, I’m 26 years old and I have suffered with psoriasis for over 14 years.

My first outbreak was when I was just 12 years old. I initially came down with a strep throat infection before I then started to notice unusual red spots appearing all over my body. At just 12 years old I had no idea what had caused this, so I visited my GP who told me he would need to refer me to a dermatologist. It was at this point that I was diagnosed with guttate psoriasis.

As the years went by my psoriasis never cleared up as I was getting numerous throat infections which was flaring up my psoriasis. After numerous visits to my GP, I was put forward to have a tonsillectomy, it was hoped this would put my guttate psoriasis at bay.

After having my tonsillectomy, I had such high hopes that it would keep my psoriasis from flaring. However, unfortunately this wasn’t the case and it just kept getting worse.

Over the period of 14 years, I have had just short of 20 creams prescribed; over half of which being steroid based, none of them were successful. The next step was UV treatment at the hospital, which I had to attend three times a week.

Unfortunately the UV also failed so my dermatology consultant recommended that I start taking tablets orally for my psoriasis, which initially helped and cleared my skin up over 90%. However, I soon come to realise that this was short lived, only lasting a few months before my psoriasis came back with a vengeance.

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After trying all of these routes and them failing, I decided to try out herbal/natural remedies with a change of diet. I tried this for around 3 years but nothing seemed to keep my psoriasis calm, so I went back to the dermatologist and explained my journey.

Thankfully my dermatologist could see how much this had affected me and we worked together to come up with a solution. I am now prescribed Cimzia injections which I have been on for the past 6 weeks, and finally I am nearly all clear of psoriasis (fingers crossed).

I am sharing my story so that younger girls can relate. I know just how hard it was to be in school with psoriasis; having to cover up certain parts of my body, feeling left out and missing out on all the things that I didn't feel comfortable joining in with. I never really opened up about my psoriasis when I was young, which I then found affected me in my older years. I want other girls to know that speaking to someone really does help and that there are options available.

Read more real-life stories from people living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.