newbie

[paganblue]

hiya all,
well i dont know where to start ..so ill start at the begaining,iv have the plague type of p since i was about 13.over the last 19 yrs iv tried a lil bit of everything though since i havent had inshurance for the last 5 yrs iv not tried the the pill or injection type opf treatments.for the most part i tend to not treat it.i learned over the yrs to live with it.the last treatment i tried was the uv light box and after some conflict with my inshurance company i had to discontinue without seeing much result.i guess the reason that i joined today and am writting is because i had a really bad flare up.i am resently married and we have moved to a very dry climate.while the pleanty of sunshine does help,stress and the constant wind and dryness had made my p much worse over the last yr.my husband says(and i do believe him but at the same time cannt aceept that he isnt bothered by it)he doesnt even notice it unless i point it out...or as in this case its starts to get worse.mentally i am not handling this flare up well,,lol which i know doesnt help it but somehow its feels worse than it ever did...i am secure married have a wonderfull life..and since my p has started to appear everywhere in lil dots(aside from my normal areas which are knuckles knees and elbows)i find myself..hideing from others...including my husband..which is very silly i know..but i am changing clothes in the bathroom ...am shy about him seeing it and i dont know how to combat this ..i have sat him down and said "hey look...its gettting worse and it bothers me" and he is very understanding ..i am researching some inshurance companys to see about becoming inshured again hopefully i can prevent a repeat of the last time when they refused to pay for my treaments saying it wasnt a office visit to come in twice a week to use the light box .anyways i am writting to simply get it off my chest ...i tend to repress how i feel about my p....i ignore it to the best of my ability so it wont get me down and well that just doesnt seem to be working anymore.i have accepted it.iv delt with it for almost 20 yrs now and somehow i thought it would be easier after all this time and not harder.so after treaments(when i was 15)of wrapping myself in saranwrap and tar to topical oinments that was so strong it kinda burned the healthy skin around the p..to standing in a box in this weird blue light for 45 secs...to nothing no meds at all ....i have decided to seek treatment for it again...any suggestions on inshurance ishues and experiences would be appricated...i know how exspencive it is to treat and i guess i just dont want to go along and then have to fight them everystep of the way..thank you for listening to me ramble..am so glad yall are here now..even just reading about other peoples feeling and thoughts on the matter have been a huge help to me this morning......
paganblue

[RichJ]

hi paganblue,
sorry i can't help much but welcome to the p family. you have met some of the wonderful people on here and will find alot of great info. welcome and nice to meet you. more will come through and help you

have a good day all

richard

[MikeK]

Hi Paganblue,

Welcome to the Board! :cool: Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear that you are flaring and that you are having insurance issues. :(

You mentioned:my p has started to appear everywhere in lil dots(aside from my normal areas which are knuckles knees and elbows)It sounds like you are having an outbreak of guttate psoriasis. Guttate psoriasis is often described as looking as if someone took a paintbrush and spattered wet paint all over your body. (Here's a link to the NPF's description of guttate psoriasis: http://www.psoriasis.org/about/psoriasis/guttate.php.) Guttate psoriasis is often triggered by some sort of infection and more then a few people have posted here that either they had a guttate psoriasis outbreak or their child has a guttate psoriasis outbreak when they not only had some sort of infection by were also asymptomatic for it. For example, strep throat is a common trigger for guttate psoriasis and more then a few people have posted that a guttate psoriasis outbreak was the only sign that they (or their child) had strep because they didn't have a sore throat or fever, etc. I know that you have no insurance, but you might want to consider going to a doctor and getting tested for strep. Insist on a culture, because the so-called quick test if often unreliable. Here are the links to some previous discussions about psoriasis and infections:

http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=7538&highlight=importance+strep+test;

http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3074&highlight=presentation+strep;

http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=4988&highlight=uti.

You mentioned:any suggestions on inshurance ishues and experiences would be appricated...i know how exspencive it is to treat and i guess i just dont want to go along and then have to fight them everystep of the wayCan you or your husband get insurance through your employers? If so, that's probably the easiest and most inexpensive way to obtain coverage. If you can't get coverage through work, then you might want to call your state's insurance depatment and ask if they can give you a list of the names and contact information for all of the insurance companies that write individual policies in your state. Once you get that list you can contact the various companies and start researching the various policies that each one offers. (Some insurance companies and/or policies, for example, consider light treatments to be an office visit, and insist on a co-payment for each visit. Other companies and/or policies don't insist on a a co-pament for light treatments.) You might have to wait awhile before you can obtain coverage for psoriasis because it might be considered a "pre-existing" condition.

You might want to explore the possibility of getting help from one of the various assistance programs that have been discussed here on the Board. We don't know very much about most of them, but it can't hurt to check them out. Leslie (screen name: Momtotwogirls) took the time to post the links and information about some of the assistance programs that she came across. I added the links and information about other programs that people have either told me about or that have been discussed here on the Board. Here's a link to Leslie's thread: http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=12379&highlight=Leslie.

Finally, you mentioned:thank you for listening to me ramble..am so glad yall are here now..even just reading about other peoples feeling and thoughts on the matter have been a huge help to me this morningIsn't this place great? I've had psoriasis since 1964 (I was 7; I'll be 49 next month) and until I came here I didn't know anyone else who had psoriasis. Words can't describe how I felt when I finally realized that I wasn't alone! :)

I hope this helps in some small way. Good luck. Keep us posted. Let us know if you have any other questions and please don't be a stranger.

Mike

[JodyGK]

Hi paganblue -- welcome to the boards. Mike has given you some excellent advice about insurance issues and possible triggers for guttate P. I just wanted to let you know I totally relate to your hesitancy to show your P to your husband. When I got married eight years ago, I didn't have P (that I knew of). Six months later my first patch showed up on my scalp, and within six months after that I was covered head to toe. So here I was, not even married a year, and the smooth skinned woman he thought he had married had disappeared. I had horrible feelings of guilt and shame.

Although my husband never said a negative word about my P and reassured me constantly that he loved ME, not my skin, I couldn't bring myself to show him how bad it had gotten. I too stopped undressing in front of him, and I completely shut down emotionally and sexually. It took a long time for me to really believe him that it didn't matter to him. But with time, a lot of understanding on his part, and a lot of self-education on my part, I came to trust him and myself. Meeting others with P had a lot to do with that too.

Just wanted you to know you're not alone on that issue. Again, welcome -- we're glad you're here :)

Jody

[paganblue]

thank you all for the words of wisdom...i have sat down and spoken to my hubby again....and going to go for the strep test and to see if i cant get some meds for it...am also going back to the tanning beds cause while itsnot a cure it certainly has always helped to a degree and at least makes me feel like im am able to do something about it right away...lol plus i dyed my hair blonde again and a nice lil tan and blonde hair always makes me feel good about myself ,,and that too helps fight the depression the flares ups cause.its funny how you sometimes fail to see the lil things ya can do to improve the way you feel about yourself...so back to tanning beds and drs..i also feel silly for letting it get me down and i guess the best cure mentally to do something possitive about it or for myself....thanks again,,,nice to know im not alone ...........paganblue

[bratsareus]

Hi paganblue. Welcome to the boards.
Patty

[SandraJean]

Hi paganblue,

Welcome to the boards. Sorry to hear of your flare up. You have received some really great information here and I just wanted to say Hi and to keep posting. I have used tanning beds too and they have helped me. You sound like you're on the right track to take care of yourself and to make yourself feel better. Emotions have alot to do with psoriasis and we need to take care of the medical and emotional side of this condition. Hope to hear from you again soon.

Take care,

Sandy