My Struggle With Psoriasis
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Health and Wellness

My Struggle With Psoriasis

No, I can't just have a "little bit" of gluten

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My Struggle With Psoriasis
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It was my senior year of high school when I noticed something was wrong with my skin. I noticed these scaly patches on my arms, and there were only two or three of them at first. I didn't think anything of it. The patches were really small, so I didn't mind them at all, thinking they would probably go away in a week or two and that they were most likely due to the cold weather. But, they didn't go anyway; they spread, and they spread quickly.

According to Web M.D. to make things a little easier for my readers:

"Psoriasis is thought to be an immune system problem. Triggers include infections, stress, and cold.

The most common symptom is a rash on the skin, but sometimes the rash involves the nails or joints.

Treatment aims to remove scales and stop skin cells from growing so quickly. Topical ointments, light therapy, and medications can offer relief."

I started to get these spots on my abdomen and it wasn't just two or three of them, this time, it was all over. I probably had 150-200 of these spots--and that was only on my stomach! It slowly spread to my legs, and that's when I started to panic. It looked terrible and I had no idea what was going on. I was very thankful it was winter time because I didn't have to show any of my skin.

I went to the doctor when I was really concerned and she told me I had "guttate psoriasis" which was supposed to go away in 4-6 weeks. Guttate psoriasis is usually diagnosed after a severe case of strep throat, which is how I think I got it. I had strep throat four times that year and not once did I finish my medication, leaving the infection to hang out in my body for pretty much forever. (See, this actually happens so take my advice and finish your medication!)

I waited months for it to go away and it never did. I had no idea what to do so I did research of my own after zero doctors could tell me what was up. I ended up going to a dermatologist and was prescribed a steroid cream that I was supposed to put on every single day on every single spot I had. This was annoying and time-consuming. I was officially diagnosed with psoriasis and I was told it might go away, but it probably won't. Ever.

The prescription cost me sixty dollars at the time and the tube was tiny. I had to refill my prescription twice a week and mix the prescription in with a daily moisturizer just to make it last longer because my insurance didn't cover this type of medication. The cream worked, but I was advised not to use it forever because well, common sense says I would become immune to it--steroid cream on your entire body can't really be that great for you in the long run. My doctor eventually stopped prescribing the cream to me because I went through more tubes than the recommended time.

We started looking into other options, and something that we found was phototherapy. Phototherapy is, in a nutshell, pretty similar to going to a tanning salon except it's not harmful--it's actually helpful! This is what my phototherapy booth looked like:

The only place that offered phototherapy was an hour away, and I had to drive there three times a week after school my senior year of high school. My insurance only covered this therapy for six months. Without insurance, we would have had to pay $2,000-6,000 to keep up this treatment because apparently, it is more "cosmetic" than "necessary", as deemed by our insurance company. It sure as hell should have covered my gas cost but unfortunately, life does not work that way. Unfortunately, we could not afford that and after my insurance ran out, I had to stop and my psoriasis came back within a WEEK of quitting therapy.

You know what I do to continue to get rid of it? I have to go to the tanning bed. I have to KILL my skin because my insurance no longer covers my medication or phototherapy.

I live with this condition and I have tried every single thing out there. There are all kinds of medication that is pretty much like chemotherapy that kills both the good and bad cells in your body to stop the cells from growing so fast. I tried it once, got scared, and quit. Once on medication, I was supposed to take a pill every single Monday and have my blood tested and sent to a lab every Tuesday to make sure it wasn't going to kill me. That was comforting. I shouldn't have to punish my body because it doesn't look that great. I had zero control.

Honestly, this condition sucks. It really sucks because there is nothing I can do about it. I'm currently trying out a diet that has helped someone close to my family, and it's a diet that I don't agree with at all. No sugar, no gluten (I can't have this anyway due to my thyroid disorder), low low low carb, high protein. It sounds decent and "fit" but dude, I can't even eat apples because I can only have fruits and vegetables that have lower than ten percent sugar. That is pretty ridiculous!

Fun fact: it gets worse in the winter because of the dry air, and in the summer, if I'm having a breakout, I don't even want to leave the house because people are incredibly judgmental. Who knew?

I'm the only person my age I know that has this, and it affects me every single day. There are so many people that act as if I can "have a little bit of gluten" and it won't hurt me. I must be overreacting because zero gluten is now a fad diet and apparently "gluten intolerance" is not real. Once upon a time, I was taking communion with some of my old friends and someone really said to me, "Do you think not having gluten is more important than taking communion?" because I couldn't eat the bread. I wanted to punch this kid in the face. I still want to punch this kid in the face. I have to constantly watch what I eat from now on, and people think it's an excuse. People think it is insane because they can just go to McDonald's and get a burger and be fine. I live with two autoimmune disorders. It makes every single day a little bit harder because we have to be really careful what we put inside our bodies, or there are pretty nasty side-effects.

I've never really openly talked about this before because it's embarrassing. I'm hoping that putting it out there will make it a little bit easier to talk about. This is why it's extremely important to stay body positive because it's more than just looking good--but that's a really big reason why it's hard. No one wants to be held back from wearing shorts in the summer (because people DO judge), because they don't know psoriasis is a thing.

Autoimmune disorders affect you from the inside out. It's not just about what you look like. If you don't feel good on the inside, you don't really want to leave the house and that affects you even on an emotional level. This disorder is linked to all types of conditions such as arthritis and even heart disease because it usually starts with a leaky gut which are all serious conditions.

I'm trying to find my own cure and I hope others that live with this disorder are handling their situations well. I'm also here to say that if you are struggling with this, like I am, it is ok to talk about it.








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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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