Saw the dermatologist

[CathyA]

I had some spots on my leg and deep ridges on my fingernails and thought I'd better have things checked out. He is a new doc to me, and I'm happy with him. He is very conscientious and knowledgeable.
I learned something from him, when I was telling him about my son's psoriasis. He said that sometimes psoriasis can start up after an illness, even though you've had no signs of it before that.
I thought that was very interesting. He said that for some reason, the illness can turn on a gene that causes psoriasis. I thought that was very interesting!

[Jilly]

That is interesting. Any kind of illness or just certain kinds? Does it have to be viral?

[CathyA]

Hi Jilly,
I can't remember if he specified, but I'm thinking viral. Those viruses are smart/devilish little dudes!

[Gardenarian]

That's interesting! I developed a patch of psoriasis about 12 years ago (can't remember if I had a virus or not) and when I went on prednisone a couple of years ago (for something else) it disappeared. There's just a little scar tissue where it was.

[Spartana]

I had some spots on my leg and deep ridges on my fingernails and thought I'd better have things checked out. He is a new doc to me, and I'm happy with him. He is very conscientious and knowledgeable.
I learned something from him, when I was telling him about my son's psoriasis. He said that sometimes psoriasis can start up after an illness, even though you've had no signs of it before that.
I thought that was very interesting. He said that for some reason, the illness can turn on a gene that causes psoriasis. I thought that was very interesting!When I was looking up rashes and auto immune diseases I read that psoriasis may be an autoimmune disease potentially caused by a lot of different things - hereditary, reaction from a variety of common virus or bacteria infection, or from a vaccine. I think it's also an auto immune response myself, and maybe inherited also for some people who have it in their family, and that's why it goes away with prednisone. I also read that some types of liver diseases can cause psoriasis because the liver isn't functioning right and so can't clear out all the toxins from your body and they build up and can cause psoriasis.

[CathyA]

My son was born with it. He had it around his eyes and several other places. It's an enigma to us, because no one else in either family had it.
I worry about him developing psoriatic arthritis, 'cause his joints already hurt. The dermatologist said they were making great strides in psoriasis research........so I'm hopeful for my DS to get rid of it some day.

[Spartana]

My son was born with it. He had it around his eyes and several other places. It's an enigma to us, because no one else in either family had it.
I worry about him developing psoriatic arthritis, 'cause his joints already hurt. The dermatologist said they were making great strides in psoriasis research........so I'm hopeful for my DS to get rid of it some day.Wow. Never heard you could be born with it. That must be tough to deal with but I understand that it can be controlled with steroids. I wonder if he can try any natural remedies. I don't know anything about that but I imagine there is lots of info on the internet. Did your DR say you have psoriatic arthritis? I read that can start even before you get psoriasis and often effects the hands first. Sounds painful and probably crippling if someone has it long term.

[libby]

Guttate psoriasis often comes after having strep throat. I had a strep infection and didn't even know it. I went to the doctor about a fast spreading rash and he took a throat swab. No sore throat but strep throat. That was several months ago and I still have patches of the psoriasis. He said it could take a long time to go away or maybe never totally clear up.

[CathyA]

I thought maybe I had just the nail and joint form of psoriasis, but the rheumatologist and the dermatologist agreed I "just" had erosive arthritis and my nails were funky because of the arthritis affecting the nail beds.
DS likes to use Dovenex cream, which is a vitamin D cream..........but it's $400-$500 for a small tube and that's just too expensive. It would only last a month or 2. I'm trying to convince him to go see a dermatologist and have an updated conversation.

If he gets a scratch, it turns into psoriasis. Both the Rheumatologist and Dermatologist have said that the biologics are very effective (Embrel, Humara), and the incidence of developing cancer is low (if you're taking it for psoriasis, rather than something like rheumatoid arthritis), but you're much more likely to get infections........like TB, and others. Which is something neither DS nor I want him to take at this point.

[Marion]

I had psoriasis on my elbows 15 years ago. I tried several expensive treatments, none of them worked. Then, I travelled to the Middle East, and I don't know whether it was the sun, the very dry desertic climate or the water but the psoriasis just disappeared. I hope and pray it never comes back.