What's it like having psoriasis?

[jiml]

For me my life has been spent avoiding situations where i was expected to show some skin, at age 18 I was an engineer travelling the country repairing and installing equipment, at the time I was heavily using steroids, this had a dramatic effect on my skin causing it to thin ... I would walk into things and my legs would split, I could feel blood running down my leg and rather than show my legs to others I would slip away and pull the skin together and dress the wound and return to work with nobody but me knowing, I was very secretive and as far as I know not many knew I had psoriasis . I was in long sleeves throughout the summers unless I was lucky enough to have had some sun and been clear. I was lucky, if you can call it lucky not having it often on my face. I was very introvert and refused many enjoyable outings for fear of showing my skin, as others have said I hated sitting in other people's houses, it was always a quick sweep of the scales from the sofa before anyone else noticed, sitting at the back of rooms so no one was behind looking at my scalp, my cars were always full of scales and I was constantly vacuuming scales
My family were always supportive but I did miss not swimming with my daughters while they were growing up, unless it was in the sea on a quiet beach

Although they were supportive they always said when at the beach " oh take your shirt off no one else cares "
Well I bloody do so it stays on
I guess I'm saying it shaped my life and it was a constant worry, I have felt totally liberated since being on fumaderm and I no longer have the old fears ..... But I'm constantly aware that I could be hit again at any time. But I'm fully enjoying my life for probably the first time since puberty