I'm So Lost!

[McSwiggs]

Hi There Everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well. My name is Jim and I’m here because my life has turned somewhat upside down within the last 24 hours. I’m not entirely sure what I hope to get out of this post, but perhaps a Psoriasis sufferer that has dealt with similar characteristics can help me focus my train of thought. I do apologize for how winded this may be, but if you don’t mind, it will help me process all that has happened.
 
Before last week, I was a 30 year old relatively healthy male with no history of any skin-related issue, aside from puberty and the occasional pimple brought on by stressing for a big work meeting here and there. Last week, I had an itch on my legs that wouldn’t go away. When I actually pulled up my pant leg to investigate the “bug bite”, I noticed I had a long red rash that carried ½ way around my calf, right at my dress sock line. It literally looked like I had worn socks that were too tight. The odd thing is, I have almost the EXACT same marking around my other leg. Same color, general length and location (sock line, wrapped around ½ my calf). I originally thought maybe I was having a reaction to the type of fabric (I did just buy new socks…….so much talk of socks…how boring…I’m sorry!). I then started to notice little red marks on the backs of my hands/wrists. They seem to bunch in the area in between my thumb and index finger, on both hands. All of these marks have been somewhat pale red, with flaky dryness on top. The point here is….aside from a dot here and there on different areas of my body, this “rash” has been so contained to these two areas (calves and back of hands) and they are almost symmetrical in pattern.
 
All that aside, I saw the dermatologist yesterday and instead of giving me some cream for a reaction I thought I was having, she instead gave me a lifelong commitment to battling Psoriasis. I still just don’t understand…..I have so many questions and I won’t burden anyone…..it just doesn’t make a lot of sense to me right now. The doctor’s first action was to check my elbows and knees (I guess these are common outbreak areas?), though I have no markings there. She kind of pushed my comments aside about how oddly symmetrical the leg markings were…..which I thought was the original ground zero site all along…..she took a biopsy, which I am awaiting the results from. In the meantime, she told me to stop taking the steroid tablets that the Urgent Care gave me two days before (I was worried about it and didn’t want to wait for my derm appointment), then she told me the outbreak will get worse now once I come off the steroids (awesome!) and then she basically just threw some trial spray of something called Kenalog at me. Everything happened so fast….and I now have a mountain of questions and concerns and once I hear back about the biopsy, I do plan to meet with her (or another derm) to really go over proper care, warning signs, etc.
 
I just feel a little lost right now…….and I guess I’m wondering if anyone has had similar Psoriasis flare-ups, specifically with characteristics that somewhat mimic mine?
 
Regardless, thanks for your time….and apologies again for the lengthy post.

[Fred]

Hello Jim and   to Psoriasis Club.

Yes it is always a shock when you find out you have psoriasis, and even worse when you find out there is no cure. You will now start looking all over the place for something to get rid of it, but take my advise and don't fall for everything you hear on the internet. Unfortunately there are a huge amount of scams waiting for newly diagnosed people to part with their hard earned cash, but believe me your dermatologist is right "It is a life time commitment" it can however be managed but yes it's here to stay.

It will take time to find something that can help you live with it, but their is a lot of things being done today. I've not used Kenalog myself, maybe others will know more.

As for it being symmetrical. Most psoriasis is symmetrical see this thread: How symmetrical is your psoriasis?

Have a good read on the forum and just shout out, you will find us a friendly bunch.

Regards.

Fred.

[jiml]

Hi Jim ( good name    ) and firstly    to the forum. You have certainly come to a good place to discuss your disease
I hope you can find some answers here and can come to terms that it is a life sentence you have..... But it doesn't have to be bad
The spray you have been given is a corticosteroid spray and may well give you clearance I do hope so, most steroid creams will clear most people with mild psoriasis.

Don't feel lost here you are among a  friendly bunch of sufferers and ask away as many questions as you like someone will always jump in with advice .....or sympathy

Have a good look around the site there are lots of treatments available and if there were such a thing as a good time to develop the disease now is the time. There are so many advances in the treatment that there is every chance you can find something that works for you long term

If you feel like a bit of light hearted banter we also have a busy off topic section which all members are invited to join in
Meantime ask away with your questions. We are only sufferers like yourself but many of us have many years experience of the disease
Thanks for joining
Jim

[Caroline]

Hello other Jim,
(Oooo this is gonna lead to inevitable switches, with two Jim's )

Welcome to Psoriasisclub.
We understand that this has been quite a shock for you. I must say, that out of your description everything is rolling over you as it is being a speed train. Still there is a little chance that it is no psoriasis, but I should not count on that.
Most dermatologists are good enough to know what they are talking about.

Well there you are then, with your verdict, you bump into psoriasisclub, and I think that is one of the best places that you can bump into.
We all have this disease and know what is going on with you. We have gathered virtually over here in this club and from the best we can, from our experiences we try to support anyone that is knocking on the door and welcome him/her to become one of us.
There is a great difference in psoriasis incarnations, it is all slightly different with a common denominator. Therefore a wealth of information has gathered itself here on the forum.
We will gradually guide you to that information, while you stroll around over here and we communicate.

In order to start you up I would like to guide you to a post of myself about World Psoriasis Day, which was last weekend, but almost no-one knew of it. I visited a meeting and perhaps my report, to be read over here [Group Specific] might help you to get thinking and might lead to more questions.

We all are very willing to answer

Enjoy yourself on the club, and again I am very sorry for you, but you can live with it.

Caroline

[Bill]

Hi Jim,

Sounds like your specialist wanted you to avoid the fate of the Singing Detective. You should not worry so much as worrying is not good for your p. Going on prednisone or such like for just a bit of psoriasis sounds like total overkill. At least you are now on a topical steroid, which is more in check with what you have. I like the advice to take the disease seriously. I did not, and paid a price for letting it go for too long.

Re your disease: P is a random illness. You deal with it as it comes, not as you plan. It may get worse, it may stay the same or disappear. But you live in a fortunate time with very effective treatments should you need them.

Cheers,

Bill

[Kat]

Welcome Jim!

Always feel free here to speak your mind, ask questions, etc. It's a great group of friendly, helpful people.

On a bright note, be glad you got a quick diagnosis as psoriasis is often misdiagnosed as dermatitis. The bad news is that there is no cure (that one is often hard to hear) but the good news is that there are a lot of effective treatments to control psoriasis. As Fred mentioned, there are also a lot of scams where people want to sell you this great product (often even called a "cure") but do not waste your money on those.

Everyone can be different as to where the psoriasis shows up, what type they have and how much area it covers. The main thing is to find the treatment that works for you. It's not uncommon to start with creams or ointments and if those don't help, move on to other treatments. The great part about this forum is you can read and learn about what has worked for others, the upsides and downsides and be more informed when talking with your dermatologist about treatment. It's also a great supportive place from people who understand and have "been there" so never hesitate to ask questions here.

[D Foster]

Hi Jim (not another one!!!) Welcome to the forum, it can be a shock to suddenly learn you have something that you did not probably knew existed however do not despair there are much worse things in this life.
Don't be taken in by all the scams that are around with a promise of miracle cures and just bear in mind that everyone is different and what works for one does not necessarily do the same thing for another so I will say again don't despair if when you do something it does not appear to give the result that someone else has .
We are a happy bunch of inmates on here and what we do have in common is the fact that we know what the problems are as we all speak from experience not theory ,there is a massive amount of information that Fred has put together and we are all happy to answer any questions that you want answers for so ask away.
All the best and join in as it's good to have a banter as well as the serious side.

Dave

[Turnedlight]

My first experience was symmetrical too - both elbows suddenly got itchy, flaky and thickened. I refused to believe it was psoriasis. But.. I used the steroid cream and it went away and I had no more psoriasis for about ten years..
It's very unpredictable and though there's no cure, its not always the same, sometimes you might have a flare or bigger patches, but other times you might only have a small amount of psoriasis for years, which is manageable and won't be on your mind all the time.
Try not to panic, it's not nice news and you just want to hear 'take this and it'll all get better' like many illnesses. But you do get used to it, and there are lots of treatments to try.

You don't have a picture of your legs do you? It sounds very mysterious, were the marks raised like urticaria?

[Grizzly Bear]

You don't have a picture of your legs do you?

Would you like to see my legs ?

 Jim.

Have no fear, fellow P sufferers are here........to help if we can  

It's not nice having P but it is controllable.

Ask away on here, someone will have an answer or advice.

[KyPrincess]

Hi Jim. Welcome to the club.

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