[split] Acitretin

[kh924]

Hang in there, it is very slow acting and yes it takes close to three months before you see progress. How's it going for you now? You will always have chapped lips - drink lots of water. hair changes are also common

[Christopher Hendriks]

Hang in there, it is very slow acting and yes it takes close to three months before you see progress. How's it going for you now? You will always have chapped lips - drink lots of water. hair changes are also common

Greetings.....haven't seen any real difference so far. Bt am not impressed with the hairloss and dry lips....a few headaches. In the first two weeks i had way more new guttate lesions popping up like crazy. So am doubling up.....with dovobet and uva treatment all over again. AM ONLY sticking it out coz of the majority testimonies that says acitretin takes a while to work. Trusting God for a complete work this time. 17yr battling on and off with P. This thing sucked the life out of me. It seems as am the unfortunate one to have these side affects so early. Am glad to hear u doing well.

[Grizzly Bear]

@ kh924, chapped lips is horrible. Drinking to much water to moisten your lips might make you keep trotting backwards and forwards to the toilet ! How about Vaseline or Chapstick ? (chapsticks here in the uk, not sure what they are in the USA ?) Hope you are keeping well kh



@ Christopher, i know what you mean about the purple discoloration part. At this moment in time, my elbows, hands and legs seem to be purple ish and it's ghastly looking. I fully understand when you said that P sucks the life out of you. Right now, it's really zapping the hell out of me big time as i was 99% clear 5 weeks ago ( i was on Imixiflab briefly ) but now the guttate that looked like measles has now spread like wildfire and looks like what most of us P sufferers go through.

Is it summer time down in SA where you are Christopher ?

Grab some while you can

Good luck Christopher

[D Foster]

Just watch your nails make sure that you have cut them Christopher , I had ingrowing nails from using it.

[Christopher Hendriks]

@ kh924, chapped lips is horrible. Drinking to much water to moisten your lips might make you keep trotting backwards and forwards to the toilet ! How about Vaseline or Chapstick ? (chapsticks here in the uk, not sure what they are in the USA ?) Hope you are keeping well kh  



@ Christopher, i know what you mean about the purple discoloration part. At this moment in time, my elbows, hands and legs seem to be purple ish and it's ghastly looking. I fully understand when you said that P sucks the life out of you. Right now, it's really zapping the hell out of me big time as i was 99% clear 5 weeks ago ( i was on Imixiflab briefly ) but now the guttate that looked like measles has now spread like wildfire and looks like what most of us P sufferers go through.

Is it summer time down in SA where you are Christopher ?

Grab some while you can  

Good luck Christopher

Am on UVA...so that helps alittle...bt everything is gettn really costly. Guttate is horrible type of P.....i havent worn shorts in years. To be honest the only thing keepn me sane is my faith. Bt am pushing on. Its not over. Hairloss is also startn to bother me alil. Today i noticed alil mood swings as well. Cud i be paranoid ? Hahaha....i was clear as well few weeks ago...and bang guttate p came back even harder after acicretin. Thank you everyone for ur warm responses.

[Christopher Hendriks]

sad news my family, its 2.5 months Acitretin has done nothing at all - i want to go in for BIOLOGICS ....please let me know your thoughts. 

Blessings.

[Fred]

sad news my family, its 2.5 months Acitretin has done nothing at all - i want to go in for BIOLOGICS ....please let me know your thoughts. 

Blessings.

Hello Christopher, sorry it hasn't worked for you. I'm a big fan of the Bio treatments as they have given me my life back. They have been around a while now and it looks like the future is going to be mostly bio.

They used to start people on Remicade first, but today they tend to go for Stelara (I've been on it six year now) having said there are now 8 in use and more in the pipeline.

Apart from Remicade which is given intravenously in hospital, they are all a simple small injection under the skin. You will first be tested for TB and they will also check your bloods, then you will be shown how to inject yourself. It's a simple process with the tiny needle going just under your skin, once you and the nurse are happy yo can do it yourself at home.

They range from twice a week shots to once every three months and you can read more about them all here: Biological Treatments For Psoriasis

Good luck on your choice.

Fred.

[Kat]

sad news my family, its 2.5 months Acitretin has done nothing at all - i want to go in for BIOLOGICS ....please let me know your thoughts. 

Blessings.

Sorry to hear that you've not seen any improvements at all. I know it seems like a long time, but have read that it can take even longer to see results (usually around 3 months). But I'm not trying to convince you to stick it out as it could be that Acitretin just isn't for you. I'd talk it over with your dermatologist and see if they are willing to move you on to biologics. Best of luck and hold on to your faith.

[jiml]

It might be that you need a higher dose I don't know what strength you are currently on
But sometimes an increase in dose starts it working  

[Christopher Hendriks]

sad news my family, its 2.5 months Acitretin has done nothing at all - i want to go in for BIOLOGICS ....please let me know your thoughts. 

Blessings.

Sorry to hear that you've not seen any improvements at all.     I know it seems like a long time, but have read that it can take even longer to see results (usually around 3 months).  But I'm not trying to convince you to stick it out as it could be that Acitretin just isn't for you.  I'd talk it over with your dermatologist and see if they are willing to move you on to biologics.  Best of luck and hold on to your faith.  

It might be that you need a higher dose I don't know what strength you are currently on
But sometimes an increase in dose starts it working  

Thanks Kat - My faith is all i have right now. 

@jiml - am on 20mg a day - side effects were horrible, hair loss, serve dry lips, and nail discoloration. cost me around 110 $ a month 

Going to see my doc next week will keep everyone in the loop. Biologics is expensive in South Africa - in dollars +/- 10/30 000 $ a year. 
thats a killer for me - but am so desperate to get my life back. Am at such awkward age. This sickness is slowly sucking the life out of me. 
Am still keeping everyone on this forum in prayer !!! We shall conquer and if we don't in our next life we will be free from this insidious infirmity. 

Blessings.