Psoriasis sufferer :(

[es2016]

Hello everyone. I am a 17 yr old girl (new to this!) and I've been struggling with eczema and, more predominately psoriasis for a lot of my life. My eczema has nearly died down now but I have bouts of psoriasis on my hands - it spreads to my fingers and makesmy nails uneven, and I always seem to have it on my thumb joints. As of today it has moved onto my chin which has really stressed me out about it. It is quite scaly with flakes of dead skin, and I get little bubbles which form often. The worst is when it becomes dry and then it cracks. Lots of people notice it and I wish I could find something that would stop it.. I have tried diprobase, eumovate, hydrocortisone etc and they either don't really make a difference or they just produce more of these bubbles. Any help would be fantastic - I see my GP periodically but never see any benefits afterwards. As I have noticed on other posts that diet is important, I eat a balanced diet with lots of dairy products, meats, vegetables, carbohydrates and maintain a healthy lifestyle running over 6 miles at least twice a week. Any help anyone?

[lovesradio]

Dear es2016, welcome to the forum! I'm sorry as I can't offer any magic solution but I have generally tried to reduce my dairy intake by swapping to soya milk and yoghurt, and avoiding too much cream. This helps my eczema a bit and I can still eat cheese. The best emollient I have found for dry cracking skin is Doublebase Gel, but I know how personal these things are and we just struggle to find something that works. Maybe you could ask your GP to refer you to a dermatologist as you are not finding your GP visits very productive? Good luck with finding some help xx

[jandob]

Hi ES2016. Don't give up with your gp - go regularly and try all of the different creams etc. Try some of the lotions containing coal tar eg vosene, t gel which may also help. Excessive dairy doesn't help and stress is known to make it worse. Oils can help but again try anything the doctor has available. It may also take a while to work. Showering daily is good for it, as is the sun so try to get sun on it regularly. In addition it may make you tired sometimes and depressed so be aware of that. Good luck with it - it's not your fault.

[Donald-G]

Gosh its very sad to hear that you have both eczema and psoriasis especially being a 17 year old girl when your appearance is so important to you. Both of these conditions are very different to each other, hopefully you will grow out of the eczema as you are so young, you often find asthma and eczema go together and disappear in their twenties but not always. If you have an itchy scalp and flaking skin you might find polytar shampoo helps there are lots of tar based ointments and creams available some have a steroid and fish oil in them, they work very well but from a social point of view they can be a bit smelly and that's just what a young lady doesn't want ! You should find that your psoriasis subsides in the summer as it responds very well to sunshine, but don't overdo it. stress will trigger both conditions so try not to worry too much about things, I know that's easier said that done especially when you want to go out and enjoy yourself. its best not to use a tar based ointment if you have blisters forming. A referral to a dermatologist is definitely the way to go as they will take your age and sex into consideration and have the latest treatments available. We have in the past admitted patients for a few days to stabilize their condition with intravenous injections and other things just to get them over a bad period. so hopefully your eczema will subside as the years go by leaving you with your psoriasis to deal with. good luck for the future.