I’ll begin on a positive note. I have found that the moisturiser by Cerave helps me quite a bit. At least it makes the situation less aggravated and calms my skin a little bit. I need to buy more as I’m running out of it soon. I got a small bottle at Venus (one of the toiletries outlets in Singapore that competes with the pharmacies)
It’s a pity the pharmacies only bring in the Cetaphil brand and not Cerave which more people rave about. I might need to explore buying it online. The ceramides and hyaluronic acid help to repair my broken skin barrier.
It doesn’t help that I can’t stop scratching at my skin causing wounds and broken skin especially now on my scalp. Sometimes the skin cracks on it’s own just from movement on my legs. I’m kinda disgusted with myself even though I can’t help it and it feels out of my control.
It’s honestly driving me crazy and I wish my appointment with the Dermatologist wasn’t another week away. Hope she will give me relief and not just more salicylic acid which doesn’t seem to help and is it in fact worsening the condition?
It’s quite disheartening as well as I thought my immune system was ok for once without any crazy cell divisions like with my cancer.
I can feel myself balding and it makes me a bit sad. I’ve gone bald from taxol twice already but somehow your appearance is a reflection of your health and how you care for yourself and psoriosis make you appear like you’ve totally neglected yourself and are unhygienic which is horrible for a germaphobe like me who is a stickler for hygiene.
To those who have no clue that this is an auto immune condition. It is definitely not contagious the way cancer is not. Often wish I came with a sign over my head as more visible areas of psoriosis appear on my body like my elbows now. I feel a bit of irrational shame at my appearance.
My immune system (I’m not sure if it’s due to going through chemo twice plus all the covid vaccines and booster shots) had become overactive (it’s supposed to protect me but this time they got it wrong) and is causing me to overproduce skin cells. The skin cells don’t shed and stick together to form plaques. I could tolerate when it was mild but now it’s becoming quite horrible.
Right now it feels sore and unconsciously makes to reach to those areas to scratch. I have disgusting silver patches that cover 80% of my scalp now. It started at just 10%. And my ears too are affected badly now. I’m so glad I currently have sufficient hair on my scalp to mask it.
I found information on the website ‘Medical News Today’ invaluable so am quoting something I found illuminating here. It explains why I scratch more at night and can’t sleep because of the itch :
IL-23 is a cytokine (protein) that sends signals between cells, mainly signaling a pathway leading to inflammation. Inflammation is a root cause of itch in psoriasis. At night, the body releases more cytokines, which can increase inflammation, thereby causing more itching.
Medical News Today
Skin trauma is a common trigger for psoriasis. Other triggers include stress, excess sun exposure, and smoking. A person with psoriasis should remember that they have a higher risk of experiencing a flare after having a tattoo.
Medical News Today
Luckily I don’t smoke or want a tattoo, but any kind of perceived injury to the skin will lead to flares. So I just have to avoid the sun and stress which is a bit hard for me living in Singapore. If you’re afflicted with psoriosis you will know how it feels and I’m keen to hear from you.
