I have psoriasis and an another auto immune disease. Tell me what to do next.

[moropus]

I just had a zillion zillion tests done while I was confering with doctors about my carpal tunnel surgery and I have psoriasis and another auto immune disease and a couple other things I won't go into.  I'm a mess mentally. The psoriasis is extremely mild. I had a small patch on each arm and thought they were from touching wild plants or masses of

Comments

[hippie_chick]

Well, my dermatologist and I discussed treatment options.

I'm taking Humira now. I started out on ointment (topicals) moved to phototherapy and now biologics.

[hippo__dignity]

Ha. I feel like I wrote this. I think that's the path a lot of us take.

[hippo__dignity]

You should probably see a rhuematologist, if you aren't already. They specialize in auto-immune diseases.

If you just have two small patches and you're new to the disease so you haven't built us an immunity to them like many of us, you'll probably be able to treat them pretty effectively with a steroid topical.

I had GREAT success with a gluten free diet, but gave it up at some point because I just wanted to eat bread again. Ha.

The good news is that psoriasis treatment has come a long way! I was first diagnosed in 1988 and they thought it was a fungus back then!

Whatever you do to treat your other auto-immune disease will probably benefit your psoriasis, so that combined with a steroid cream should fix you up pretty good.

[_asherah_]

First, don't panic. :)

See a dermatologist and discuss with them. Like other commenters, I started on creams/ointments/foams. A little bit of playing with different things until I found something that worked. Phototherapy is fantastic if you can make it in multiple times a week.

If not, try to get some sun. Exercise (swimming in outdoor pools, etc. has helped me alot). Play with diet. Some people say gluten free works wonders, but I couldn't say as there's no way I could give up bread/pasta XD Adding lots of veggies did help me though.

Hang in there!

[guinnevere_b]

The above are all such good advice! I'm probably the oldest here, and while it's true that autoimmune diseases get worse as we age, my advice is not to expect yourself to be perfect about treatment or anything. If a treatment stops working, ask your doctor for something new, or switch back and forth between treatments. It confuses the disease into relaxing its grip!

Best wishes, and take every opportunity for enjoying your life.

[wosny]

Hi, I would advise you to take things slowly, leaping into restrictive diets sounds rather extreme to me. I have mild to medium pso since 1985, (plaques on scalp, ears, arms, chest, back and thighs, varying in size from a large coin to a medium size envelope.) I have never tried diets, mostly I just use topicals, (Daivobet ointment is my favourite at present.) Psoriasis is not exactly an illness, it's a condition. It doesn't necessarily evolve or recede, and a lot of things appear to work because it was about to get better anyway. If you have no insurance then I would advise to get a good ointment to keep it from going dry and cracking, that reduces itchyness and pain. And try not to worry...it's annoying but not serious! :)

[inthewolf]

Uh... if I may... psoriasis is a skin disease. i think that constitutes an illness. it can also lead to psoriatic arthritis which is also an illness. i'm not sure how you gauge what an illness is... but it is one, just maybe not a severe or debilitating one (though it can be). as for it not necessarily evolving or receding, the treatments you say you've done are definitely helpful to maintain it, but not to make it better. if you are more proactive about it, it can change, but that does require some effort. it's not necessarily "about to get better anyway." it can get worse, for all you know. you never know with psoriasis. also, if you haven't tried a restrictive diet then perhaps you shouldn't say it's extreme in a dissuasive way, if you haven't been able to reap it's benefits. it is definitely extreme but it's something you get used to, and doesn't actually prevent you from eating tasty things. it's not for everyone but it's a commitment that is worthwhile, it's just healthy anyway. for a lot of people it does make a huge difference

[wosny]

I think I was trying to reassure the OP that mild psoriasis didn't necessarily require a restrictive diet. That is my personal opinion, c'est tout. :)A new diagnosis can seem catastrophic, especially if one spends some time with Google!
Yes, some people are helped by making changes in their diet, and if one has arthritis, whether from psoriasis or RA then indeed a diet may make a huge difference.
However making changes to eating habits is hard, really hard, and the feeling of failure when one slips up can add to the stress, and stress and psoriasis are definitely linked. (I have to admit I failed at the diet!)

[hippo__dignity]

It's actually more than just a skin disease. It's an auto-immune disease.