New and FREAKING OUT!!!!!

[kittispike]

This past year has been very stressful: moved country, got divorced, mother died … I could go on!! About six weeks ago (two weeks before mom passed away) I noticed I was scratching my scalp … this has continued until now and I have massive pieces of scabby skin coming off. During this time, I also have noticed smallish red marks on my legs, arms, breasts, back and in my groin and genital areas … most of them have thickish skin on them. I also have thick skin on my elbows and it’s starting on my knees. My head is itchy like crazy and it is TOTALLY stressing me out – I can NOT stop picking it!!!!

I am completely freaking out and it is occupying my every thought from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep .. and also find myself waking up scratching.

The natural pharmacist gave me vitamins and immune boosters to take orally and some aloe gel to alleviate the itchiness. (this was only yesterday) …

PLEASE HELP!!!!! I AM BESIDE MYSELF!!!

[sargeswife]

I'm new here as well. I totally understand what has happend to you, the same thing happened to me. I started with it on my knees and elbows and about six months ago this crap went haywire and exploded all over my body. I don't think that there was an area that it didn't attack. The only thing that I can think may have caused this was me going back to work after 12 years. I'm in catering and the Holidays were extremely hectic. But the funny thing is, is that I love my job and didn't feel stressed out. Anyhoo, I have been reading the posts on this website (THANK GOD for this website), after trying EVERY POSSIBLE CREAM that is made for this, I started on Enbrel, my saving grace. As of right now everyone of the land mines that are these sores is just about faded, and the itching has subsided. My scalp still feels like I am wearing a tight hat, but other then that this stufff is a miracle.

I was just like you all of a sudden it was there - I would pick until my scalp was raw now there is nothing to pick at all. Trust me is was an hour a day ritual for me because I had to get the scales off of my head so no one would see the flaking. It was gross.

Needless to say, I was lucky enough to have excellent insurance coverage, and paid only $3.50. I highly recommend this - but you have to be patient, I started on 25mg 2 X a week - then he raised the dose to 50 mg 2 x a week. It took a while to see anything but like I said it's FINALLY starting to work. I feel for you and know exactly what you are going through. I love this place because I know that I'm not alone. Hang in there ok?

[RichJ]

hi sargeswife and kittispike,
sorry i can't help much but welcome to the p family. you will 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. i wish yous the best

try and have a good day all

richard

[sargeswife]

Thanks Richard it's nice to be here FINALLY. What a nice place. I only hope that I can help someone else the way that I was helped. I forgot to tell Kitti about Luxiq for the scalp. I seemed to help me ALOT.

[RichJ]

hi sargeswife,
your welcome and i think you will help alot of people on here. i wish you the best

have a good day all

richard

[PJ Leary]

Hi Gals,

Posting from DC here. Sorry to hear about the sudden onset! Luqix and Olux are both very effective for scalp p. I am wondering, though, Kitti, if you had some sort of infection around that time.

Many small red dots can indicate a guttate outbreak triggerred by most commonly a strep infection. Since Mikek is here, I'll post some links to more information about that here ( shhhh.... don't tell )

http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18046&highlight=guttate+strep

Regards,

[TheOne1313]

Thanks Richard it's nice to be here FINALLY. What a nice place. I only hope that I can help someone else the way that I was helped. I forgot to tell Kitti about Luxiq for the scalp. I seemed to help me ALOT.


How long have you been on Enbriel? Im always curious to know how long people have been on biologics cause im curious how long these medicines will work for.

I have taken so many stuff that cleared me up, only to find out a month later the stuff no longer works. I am currently on Humira and its clearing me up big time......i just hope i stay clear :)

[MikeK]

Hello Kittispike, Sargeswife!

Welcome to the Board. :cool:Nice to meet you both.

from Washington, DC. I'm participating in Captial Hill Day. PJ Leary asked me to post some links about the strep psoriasis connection.

More then a few people have posted here that either their psoriasis or their child's psoriasis was triggered by some sort of intection. (Just about any infection can trigger psoriasis, but strep is the usualy culprit.) Many of these same people have posted that the only sign that an infection was an outbreak of psoriasis, because they were asymptomatic for the infection. (I.E., They didn't have a sore throat or fever in the case of strep.) To further complete things many of these say people report that the psoriasis won't respond to treatment until the underlying infection is taken care of.

Here are the links to some previous discussions:

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.

http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18602&highlight=aso.

I hope this helps.

I hope that you feel better soon.

Good luck. Keep us posted. Let us know if you have any other questions and please don't be a stranger.

Mike

[usnvetwi]

I'm new here as well. I totally understand what has happend to you, the same thing happened to me. I started with it on my knees and elbows and about six months ago this crap went haywire and exploded all over my body. I don't think that there was an area that it didn't attack. The only thing that I can think may have caused this was me going back to work after 12 years. I'm in catering and the Holidays were extremely hectic. But the funny thing is, is that I love my job and didn't feel stressed out. Anyhoo, I have been reading the posts on this website (THANK GOD for this website), after trying EVERY POSSIBLE CREAM that is made for this, I started on Enbrel, my saving grace. As of right now everyone of the land mines that are these sores is just about faded, and the itching has subsided. My scalp still feels like I am wearing a tight hat, but other then that this stufff is a miracle.

I was just like you all of a sudden it was there - I would pick until my scalp was raw now there is nothing to pick at all. Trust me is was an hour a day ritual for me because I had to get the scales off of my head so no one would see the flaking. It was gross.

Needless to say, I was lucky enough to have excellent insurance coverage, and paid only $3.50. I highly recommend this - but you have to be patient, I started on 25mg 2 X a week - then he raised the dose to 50 mg 2 x a week. It took a while to see anything but like I said it's FINALLY starting to work. I feel for you and know exactly what you are going through. I love this place because I know that I'm not alone. Hang in there ok?

sargeswife, how long did it take before the Enbrel had you mostly clear?

[PJ66]

hi kittispike and sargeswife,
Welcome to the boards. You already got some good advice. Hope you find something to help.

Eric,
I have been on enbrel for 6 months. I started clearing after the first week. I am still clear now.
polly

[usnvetwi]

Polly, i'm wondering what percent covered you were when you started Enbrel. I'm on it now 10 weeks now, and i'm still seeing the red blotches of skin spreading into bigger red blotches of skin. And the scaling does not seem to be reducing all that much, maybe only a little.
Almost my whole upper body is 85-90% covered in redness.
I'm starting to wonder when it at least will stop spreading.
Thanks,

Eric

[usnvetwi]

Kitti, i'm sorry to hear about your recent outbreak of p. There are lots of helpful and wonderful people here on this site to offer as much help and support as they are able to give. Hang in there, it will get better.

Eric

[PJ66]

Eric,
I bumped up my thread on enbrel. I was keeping a weekly log back when I first started enbrel. I was about 40% covered in p. I'm talking all over my body. My legs were always the worst part for me. I started the enbrel mainly because of the pa. It was progressing fast. I can remember way back in 1998, I was covered in p about 80-90% of my whole body. It was no fun.
Polly

[sargeswife]

I believe I did 12 injections of enbrel 25 mg 2x a week with no change at all. On Wedsnday of this week I will have taken my 4th dose of 50 mg 2x a week ( actually I am injectng 2-25 mg shots- it stinks to give myself 2 shots but THAT'S OK). Don't get me wrong though, I can still see the places where they were - they are I would say 85% - 90% gone. I am extremely happy. I had almost given up hope because I wasn't patient. YOU HAVE TO BE PATIENT!

[sargeswife]

I forgot to mention that I wish my head was a little better like my body is but I will still be patient. The itching is not as bad at all because of Luxiq, but it still looks like snow falling when I move my head

[jennab711]

I was on enbrel for about 5 months +-. I had no results. When I weaned off my cyclo, I got 3 new spots on enbrel. I am not on enbrel anymore. It was doing nothing for me................wwwwaaaaaaa. I waited over a year to find a derm who would give it to me, what works beautifully for one CAN be a big dissapointment for another.............I will keep plugging.........Jenna

[jennab711]

Kitti-I had a major freak out like you, I lost a lot of hair due to pulling it out with the MASSIVE crust. Cyclosporine was a wonder for me. Cleared me to 1%, starting after 1 week. Sounds like you need a big gun like that, just so you can gain a little control over it and yourself. I have been there, EVERY SECOND it is all you are freaking out about. It gets crazy. Do you have a derm, or should I say, a GOOD derm? My scalp is still a prob., but it is controlable, tolerable now.............good luck, Jen

[Jillian1507]

Polly, i'm wondering what percent covered you were when you started Enbrel. I'm on it now 10 weeks now, and i'm still seeing the red blotches of skin spreading into bigger red blotches of skin. And the scaling does not seem to be reducing all that much, maybe only a little.
Almost my whole upper body is 85-90% covered in redness.
I'm starting to wonder when it at least will stop spreading.
Thanks,

Eric


Would anyone be able to inform me what exactly Enbrel is? Are there side effects or long term effects? I haven't tried this one yet.....any info is greatly appreciated!

[cordiod]

Would anyone be able to inform me what exactly Enbrel is? Are there side effects or long term effects? I haven't tried this one yet.....any info is greatly appreciated!Jillian,

Enbrel is classified as a Biologic (http://www.psoriasis.org/treatment/psoriasis/biologics/) medication. I have included a link to the NPF's definition of biologics. Hopefully this will help!

[jjmesser]

I was on Enbrel for about 3 years, and never did get complete clearing - stayed around 10% coverage the whole time. But, there was some clearing - down from 25%. Now I'm on Raptiva and have maybe 1% at most. I wanted to comment on the statements people make about stress and not understanding how that could aggravate P because they were enjoying themselves. Stress can be good and bad. Not all stress is because we are unhappy and doing things we don't like. Sometimes we can be stressed by wonderful things - getting married, having children, going on vacation, etc. These all cause the same physiological reactions as deaths, firing, working too hard. You get the picture. Our bodies can't tell the difference between good stress and bad stress. Our minds can, but our bodies are what is reacting...Jody

[RichJ]

hi jody,
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.

have a good day all

richard