daughter with sevier case of psoriasis

[skinrashmother]

Hi. Im a mother of a 13 yr old daughter who has been suffering from psoriasis for a few yrs now. I took her to the doctors and he gave her lotions shampoos and that didnt work, finally we were able to get her to a dermatologist and they started her on the light treatments, that seemed to help but after a few months of no treatments it came back, In the summer I had her go in the pool and for some reason that helped. It went away but now it's so bad. she is complaining her skin burns and her sculp is itchy all the time. I got a shampoo ( Clobex ) It helps with the itching but it wont clear it. I was wondering is my daughter to young for the biologic shots? she is miserable, up most of the night itching and scratching and when she wakes up in the morning her sculp red and irritated. It starting on her elbow's,knees, and her upper thighs and I also notice its on her back too. Im at my end wits and so is she. Please I could use some advice.
Thank you

[buggysmommy]

I feel your frustrations! I am 26 and have had psoriasis since I was 8. The pool probably helped because of the thick scales becoming softend from being in the water for an extented period.

I used real Mayonase (not mircal whip) and put it on scalp at night and wore a shower cap to bed and washed it out in the morning then applied medications. The mayonase really softens the scales & when they are gone it can get to the base of the lesion instead of sitting on top of the scales and not really penetrating. I also found most shampoo's and styling products really irritate me(even baby soap did sometimes). They increased itch and burn. I never got "girly fied" because of this.

Have you looked into diet changes? Try a non-dairy diet for a few months (mine got worse then compleatly cleared then came back when started dairy again) Also have found that carbs and sugar makes mine worse.

I am taking humaira now. I would hold off on biologic medications as long as you can. especially if she isnt having problems with it affecting her joints.(1 in 10 ppl with psoriasis develop Psoriatic Arthritis) I had to go off of mine for 2 months for surgery and have had an awful rebound. The medication is terribly expensive 1k per shot!! I do not know what I will do if I do not have insurance!!

I have been using Melaluca products since 2006 and love them they have laundry supplies, cleaning, and personal care. There renew lotion is the best I have used! It keeps you mosturised without the greasy feel and it lasts most of the day! renew has a bodywas and bath oil also. all of there products have tea tree oil in them which has helped with the psoriasis.

If your daughter can learn to meditate lowering stress levels can help the severity of flare ups too. I know it is so hard to be at that age especially with psoriasis. I always felt so alone. I always felt as if I was outcasted because people were afraid they were going to catch "cooties (or something)" Little did I know then how much stress impacted my flare ups. Sometimes I would cry myself to sleep because of just wanting to be accepted & because of being physically miserble..many times I would itch soo bad I would scratch untill I bled but couldnt help it! My heart go's out to you!

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

Psoriasis is generally a disease of the skin and leads to development of patches of well defined scaly, flaky areas on the skin. Areas involved usually are knees, elbows, shin and extensor portions of the body.

It has a genetic and immune component related. It is not contagious.

Lesions in psoriasis are recurrent in quite a few cases and therefore require long term medication.

As a first step, medicated ointments or creams like corticosteroids, cvutamin D analogues, anthralin, etc, called topical treatments, are applied to the skin.

If topical treatment fails to achieve the desired goal then the next step is to expose the skin to ultraviolet (UV-B) radiation or PUVA therapy (PSORALEN +UV-A). This is called phototherapy.

The third step involves the use of medications which are taken by pills or injection including methotrexate, cyclosporine and retinoids.. This approach is called systemic treatment.

Over time, psoriasis can become resistant to a specific therapy. Treatments may be periodically changed to prevent resistance developing.

More information on Psoriasis may be found at :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis

and

http://www.emedicinehealth.com/psoriasis/article_em.htm

Let us know if you need any further information.

Regards