vitiligo

[chrissey7]

my skin has changed twofold since being diagnosed with pbc i have vitiligo on my under arms and my skin in general is looking sun kissed does anyone else have these skin changes

[teddybear7]

My sun kissed look comes & goes like my itching. I do like it when I have a golden glow. I also have now developed many red marks on my face that need concealer I always had pure skin so for me this is s drastic change. I also am left with brown skin after a bruise which can take up to six months to fade if at all. And any scratch or cut will leave a red mark in it's place when healed & never goes so I am beginning to look a bit weird. Although my mum says it's only me that notices these things I am getting very self conscious. I am getting older I am in my fifty's oh and my body hair has started to fall out. Whilst this has it's advantages in some areas the visits to the eyebrow tinting place can't go on for ever. Lol

[butterflyEi in reply to teddybear7]

Hi teddybear7

If it is any help to you - I use a clinique eyebrow pencil, the one that has highlighter one end and eyebrow the other. There is another Clinique eyebrow pencil which is a much thinner application - I do not find it so easy to use.

best wishes

[teddybear7 in reply to butterflyEi]

Thanks for the tipxxx

[Hidden in reply to teddybear7]

Yes I have noticed too that though any minor scratches that draw a minute amount of blood tends to go red before it starts to fade away. I find that any cuts heal rapidly but it is the tiny scars that remain. I don't like the look of my legs below my knees anymore, too many little red and fading marks where with scratching damage the hair pores.

I am 51 in a month's time and though I am fine re hair loss at the moment (I haven't yet completed the change though that kicked in 2yrs ago now, thankfully no problems there) not sure about hair loss and PBC. Hair loss can be due to hormonal changes and if a woman certain uses of hair styling products over the years along with chemical dyes can all cause this problem.

[teddybear7 in reply to Hidden]

I've done a bit of research and it can come as part of it but I agree aging doesn't help x thanks for your reply x

[butterflyEi]

My skin is not what is was especially on my arms where I mainly itch. I have always been very pale skinned but with rosy cheeks (now found that is rosacea). I do not have the sun kissed look but have noticed that when I go on a sunbathing holiday that my skin does not tan nicely like it used to but I had put that down to the sunblock creams.

My skin is now considerably drier and like teddybear7 my body hair is fairly non existent.

best wishes

[Wendy29]

Vitiligo is just another disease under the autoimmune heading and after being diagnosed with PBC and AIH its not uncommon to develop a number of other autoimmune diseases. In my case I have had small patches of vitiligo, also suffered from lichen planus and lichen sclerosis. As well as the dreaded itch affecting me badly over the years and causing me to shred my own skin at times, I have now also been taking steroids for some years (for the AIH) and my skin is becoming paper thin and I'm getting those dreadful purple patches associated with OAPs that take forever to fade. I try to take care of my skin as best as possible - at the moment I am using Elemis nourishing milk bath - both in my bath water AND rubbing it directly into my skin. apparently it has won lots of awards and I actually notice an improvement in my itchy areas. As for eyebrows - keep tinting - I've had to do it for years as mine are fair.

[Hidden]

No I have not got vitiligo (had to Google that one!) but it is common with anyone with a liver condition to start looking 'bronzed'.

My skin has a bronzed appeaance in certain areas (back of knees for one) due to itching over time. (I've been itching for 5yrs now. Diagnosed Dec 2010.)

I know during the summer I have utilised the sun due to the fact we can lack Vitamin D a fat soluble vitamin and the sun is the best way for our body to manufacture it naturally.

I have never had a lily white skin (I am classed as White British), always had a skin that would naturally brown slightly in sunlight. But I have noticed the last couple years when summer is finally at a close my skin takes considerably longer to start fading and I do look like I have a slight suntan all year round these days.

I have noticed on my legs where I itch, can often damage the hair pores and then I have fading scars. I don't like the look of my legs below my knees anymore, all caused by the itching.

[Rosehip19]

Eyebrows? What eyebrows? As a result of an underactive thyroid (also autoimmune and common with PBC sufferers) I have no eyebrows at all. Well, not strictly true. I have one hair on my left eyebrow that sticks out at a strange angle, but I am reluctant to pluck it out as it is the last of its species! I draw some replacements on with eye pencil every day, but have to be careful not to rub them off. I am considering 'permanent make-up' that is a gentle sort of tattoo. Anyone else had experience of that?

[liver-bird]

Last year I was diagnosed with pbc and following a holiday in Greece I noticed I was much more tanned than usual and retained the tan for many months which is unusual for me. One of the nicer gifts from pbc!!

[Mimigal]

I have Vitiligo. Was diagnosed 6 years ago with PBC. I have the mirrored version on my face and upper body, toes and feet. Bruises on my legs do not go away.

[2014-maydayyeah]

Hi Chrissay I am Irsh born and bred and my natural skin tone is milk bottle white but I have not been that colour for a very long time! I truly don't know exactly when my skin started to tan maybe after I had been in Spain in 2010 think it was but slowly but surely my skin colour has darkened all over my body since then. I am now what my GP said to me once looking as if I have a .lovely Mediterranean tan all yr Long! IN MY BOOKS THE ONLY POSITIVEBTHING ABOUT HAVING PBC, I SAVES LOT OF MONEY ON FAKE TAN ETC ETC! Lol!