Hi

[Yellowpoppy]

Hi everyone I'm Kim and I have psoriasis. Recently come off methotrexate due to hair loss but psoriasis has worsened so have joined to see what other people's experiences are and to learn more about my condition . Thank you.

[Hidden]

Hi yellowpoppy I am new to this site I found out I had psoriasis in May 2015 and also psoriatic arthritis after being referred to rheumy clinic to see if my osteoarthritis was just OA I am on sulfasalazine and cocodamol for the PsA and use a scalp treatment I got from my GP for the psoriasis welcome to the site there are a lot of people on this site who know a lot more than me about psoriasis take care xx

[Yellowpoppy in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. BTW I find Dovonex scalp lotion very good for the scalp psoriasis. It doesn't make the hair greasy.

[Kriek77]

Hi Yellowpoppy!

Have you tried just plain sun? Or photo-therapy? Im off all meds at the moment but methotrexate made me very sick and I also had hairloss.

If you only have psoriasis try to avoid triggers like asprin, anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen and most of all cortisone meds. Oh and the obvious things like drinking alcohol and smoking.

Please note that most medications you take for psoriasis can affect a pregnancy! Found out the hard way....

[Yellowpoppy in reply to Kriek77]

Hi and thanks for replying. I also found that I became sun sensitive which may have been due to the methotrexate as I never used to be. In fact the sun was the best treatment but we don't get much here so it was only good when I went on holiday. Also don't smoke rarely drink but too old for more kids so that side effect of the drugs doesn't apply. Think I'll get referred back to the dermatologist and see what he thinks.

[Hidden]

Having had Ps since birth the only time I actually apply anything now to my skin for Ps is when it's on hands and feet otherwise I just leave it to take its course.

However I do use a particular shampoo for my scalp which is a treatment shampoo, you can buy on line it's Joico treatment shampoo, rather expensive but worth it. You don't require a conditioner when using it, you have to apply for five minutes. If you use it every day then you only need to shampoo once, I tend to apply the shampoo shower the rest of body then rinse off the shampoo. I do this each day and it's improved.

I do find that the months of Jan through to May are the worst for me in terms of soreness and itchiness and flare ups. During these times I try to wear light clothes, made of thin soft material or t-shirts and tops from HiGlow as they're porous which helps.

In addition look at your shower gels and washing products. I can only use Persil green packs, Comfort joiba conditioner, and imperial leather cream shower gel. Anything else and it makes my skin worse.

But if you are going down the route of no meds, you have to find what works for you, it is a case of trial and error but you'll get there. We are here to take all your rants if it's not working and to encourage you to continue whichever way you want to go. And that includes going back to your GP when you need to like I do for my feet and hands!

[Yellowpoppy in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for replying. I have decided to go back and get referred back to the dermatologist

[Hidden]

I feel like a bit of a psoriasis novice. I've said all this before so sorry if you've read my other posts and know already but this is the summary: I had inverse psoriasis constantly for 10 plus years about 30 years ago. Mainly that went untreated though I probably used steroid cream at times, unfortunately I just can't remember and it didn't seem like a big deal at the time. One day it just cleared up, completely, and it stayed gone for about 20 years!

Then I was diagnosed with PsA and in fact I did have an inconsequential little patch of psoriasis by then, plus psoriatic toenails that helped with the PsA diagnosis. Last year I started to get psoriasis that gradually spread over most of my body. I also had severe hair loss, not thinning but baldness. My rheumatologist came up with the idea that the psoriasis may have been triggered by stopping Methotrexate last January and the dermatologist eventually agreed with him. So I'm back on Methotrexate and, lo and behold, the psoriasis began to clear and my hair started to grow back after about 8 weeks on Methotrexate which as you probably know is about the point at which the drug tends to 'kick in'.

Steroid creams didn't really help me that much. They were useful in that they quietened the rash for about 10 hours out of 24 then it would become very inflamed again until I put the next lot of cream on. And I don't even know if I can truly say that Methotrexate has sorted it as such .... it's more that NOT taking it triggers psoriasis which is perhaps slightly different(?) And, maddeningly for a sun worshipper, I turned out to be one of those whose psoriasis got worse in the sun.

None of this is much use to you. I found treating psoriasis rather mind-boggling. Drugs have helped my PsA so much but treating psoriasis seems even more complicated. So just to say that I'm reading and learning too. The one thing that does come to mind is the possibility of biologic therapy for severe psoriasis. Might that be an option? I was already on the biologic Humira when my psoriasis flare started and although clearly it didn't prevent it, my dermatologist said that the plaques appeared 'partially treated' i.e. they would have been worse without Humira.

My impression so far is that we are all likely to respond to quite different approaches. I hope you find something that works for you very soon.

[Yellowpoppy in reply to Hidden]

Hi no this does help me because I was wonder why it's now worse than before. So much so that I'm going to get my GP to refer me back to the dermatologist to put me back on the methotrexate. Maybe now I've had a break from it for some months I might not get the hair loss yet. After all I only started to get that after having been on the drug for a long time. So thanks your reply has been really helpful.

Hope your condition improves too.

[Hidden in reply to Yellowpoppy]

Definitely worth investigating whether something similar is happening to you. Keep an open mind though, because as I understand it this strange reaction to stopping Mtx is fairly unusual. It really does get complicated. For example, while some find that Mtx makes their hair thin, my hair loss, obviously, was due to NOT having the drug in my system. How confusing is that!?

It was initially thought that my bald patches were some form of alopecia triggered by psoriasis, (I seem to have had more triggers than a John Wayne movie) but they were eventually attributed to just the psoriasis itself. I didn't think my scalp psoriasis was all that bad but apparently it was bad enough to stop the follicles from working.

I think from things I've read (which is not the same as 'knowing') that withdrawing any systemic drug from the body may possibly trigger psoriasis. This would figure as I've heard quite a few times that people have had a bit of a flare-up when they've stopped smoking. And yet of course stopping smoking often improves psoriasis along with general health.

It truly seems to me that what helps one person with psoriasis may actually make things worse for another. There again, if your hair loss hasn't been too bad and it was the only beef you had with Mtx, starting it again might help. Please let us know how you get on.

[Yellowpoppy in reply to Hidden]

Thanks, I will. Although I don't know how long it will take to get my first appointment with the dermatologist yet. NHS you know ...

Plus I need to be referred to the same one because he knows my history.