Taclonex Topical

[Kat]

About 3 weeks ago, I flared back up with psoriasis. I spent the first week in denial... thinking okay it's just a flare up and will settle back down. This past year or so I had a few "mini flares" that settled down but I knew this one was much worse than those. I think it kept getting worse by the minute. My ears and neck have always been my problem areas and this was no exception. Both ears were pretty bad and I was fairly miserable with it, I even have it in the outer corner of both eyes this time. I finally got in to the dermatologist this past Wednesday. They are looking at starting me on Stelara (which I will start a post about once it happens) so they took blood, sent me for a chest exray and checking with insurance (U.S. here, it's all about the insurance!) The derm also said I needed to get to primary doc to see if I had an ear infection as both ears had been hurting and felt "stopped up" (I managed to get into primary doc that day, both ear canals were swollen shut and with the psoriasis down in my ears he is sending me to ear specialist, but did give me ear drops which are helping with some of that.) Anyway, the dermatologist gave me Taclonex to use for now while I'm waiting on test results etc. I thought I'd write about it, pros and cons.

So the pharmacy had to order the Taclonex and I didn't get it until yesterday. I got 2 bottle of 60 g each. My cost was $40 after insurance. The directions were to apply once per day at bedtime. I found that a bit odd as putting this all on my scalp with nothing covering it sounded like a disaster for my pillow case at night. But I do like to follow direction so figured I'd try it and if too messy then I'd be using it in the daytime.

The consistency was very "oily" which actually turned out well as it wasn't very runny at all. I had many raw spots and it didn't burn which was an added bonus. I did put it on lightly with it being the first time and also with going to bed shortly after. I had to be careful not to get it inside my ears as I have the ear drops (also containing a steroid) but I was still able to coat my ears fairly well without worrying about it dripping into my ear canal. Application was fairly easy, I did have to get my daughter to help with the back of my head. Once it was applied, I did get that "itchfest" feeling of wanting to scratch. I heroically ( ) resisted the urge! After about half an hour, things settled down. By settled down, I mean about the same as when applying coconut oil, it was soothed a bit.

Woke up this morning and I can actually tell a small difference! The skin where the Taclonex was applied is still a bit soft and the scales were "moist" so came off easily. Of course I still itched, but I think it's a bit less itchy than it has been in the mornings. This is after one use so only time will tell how much it is helping (or not) I'll keep this post updated but my hope is that I at least get some marginal relief from this while waiting. I can use this until "clear" or up to 8 weeks. With the holidays, that's about how long the derm expects before I could start Stelara.