anyone a teacher with P?

[rzoe714]

My 22 yr old daughter just graduated from school and is now a teacher. The P is all overher arms and hands I dont know what will happen when she has to wear short sleeves at work.

The P has definitely doubled in area over 10 yrs.Started out as a patch on her eyebrows and now has it all over her legs,elbows,hands and scalp. She was just hysterical because she shaved her legs today and they were bleeding. Are you able to shave legs?

She's tried all the creams and they work for a couple of weeks and then it's back. She's feeling desperate. Any advice
My heart aches
Rochelle

[cereal]

Hi rzoe714, sorry to hear about your daughters P, congrats on her being a teacher, that is awesome. Is your daughter seeing a derm? I really hate to say this but things she can do at home like moisturize, and use OTC products really don't "treat" the P, it may make it a little more bearable (help with the flaking and the itching). Sometimes the p will get better by itself, it comes and goes as it likes. Some people are having great success with diet and doing the "natural" things, check out the alterative board for more info. Some are having success with systemic meds. There are just so many things she can try, but like always, what works for one person may not help the next person at all. Trial and error.....and sometimes treatments stop working for no reason... very frustrating...

Shaving Legs, I use an electric razor. Works great for me!

pat

[Krizstyling]

By any chance is she a smoker? That can definitely make the P worse...atleast from what I've read...it has def made mine worse. Also maybe now that she's done with school her life will be less stressful because from what I've read stress also makes it worse. And it's hard not to worry about it....i know =( I'm so sorry for your daughter and the pain you feel not being able to help her =( My mother feels the same pain for me.

[SCCatman]

Look at the thread
Milliken launches anti-itch clothing
it is about halfway down the page.

It is kinda like long johns, but are meant to be worn under pants. Blood does not stick to them
They may help, but I guess that would defeat the whole purpose of shaving.
The bottoms and tops are 60$ each, plus $5 shipping.

I have very little P on my legs, so they did not help me much, but they are still very soft and comfortable.

For you daugher, they may be well worth the price.

You can PM me if you have any questions.

Dennis

[numbrman]

Hello Rochelle,

Can you tell us approximately what percentage of her body is covered with psoriasis?? If she has moderate to severe psoriasis, then I would recommend that she go to a dermatologist and enquire about getting on getting on a biological drug such as raptiva or enbrel. They are quite expensive drugs, but I assume that as a teacher she probably has a good drug plan. The drugs are highly effective in controlling psoriasis.

If she can't afford the biologicals (or if she doesn't have a very severe psoriasis), then she could also try ultraviolet light treatments. Many people get very good results with ultraviolet light treatments. However, this is only a short term solution. From what I have seen, long-term ultraviolet treatments turn peoples skin leathery. Just look at any sun worshippers skin if you want to know what you can expect from long-term ultraviolet treatments.

I wouldn't recommend methotrexate, cylcosporin, or psoriatane. These drugs have potentially very severe side effects. A new drug called ISA247 has just successfully finished it's phase III testing, and should be available in the US in about two years (crosses fingers). This drug has proven to be very highly effective in treating psoriasis, without the severe side effects. It can also be produced synthetically, and should be much cheaper than the biologicals such as enbrel or raptiva (crosses fingers again).

If I had moderate psoriasis (say 5-10% coverage) then I would probably try ultraviolet light treatments to get me by until ISA247 gets approved. I would then try and control my psoriasis with ISA247. Because ISA247 is so close to getting approved (and I can pretty much gurantee that this drug will be approved), I wouldn't risk any of the drugs such as cyclosporin (aka neoral), methotrexate, or psoriatane because of the potential severe side effects from using these drugs.

Of course, all these treatment options, plus many others are listed on this site. She should really educate herself on the treatment options that are available. After educating herself, she should find a good dermatologist in her area that specializes in psoriasis, make an appointment with them, and then sit down with the dermatologist and develop a plan with them to treat the disease. Most dermatologists I find treat psoriasis patients as more of a nuisance then anything. I finally got on with a dermatologist who actually specializes in psoriasis. I'm finding that because my new dermatologist specializes in psoriasis, he is more willing to prescribe the new drugs that have come out for treating psoriasis. He also actually appears committed to helping me get this disease under control, which is a first.

Anyways, I hope this helps. I've suffered from moderate to severe psoriasis for over 20 years now. I've tried pretty much all the potions and lotions that are available to treat psoriasis.

Jason

[RichJ]

hi Rochelle,
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

[vmars]

Welcome and congratulations to your daughter, I know the practicum probably didn't help with stress levels and p. Obviously there will also be a lot of stress involved in starting out teaching as well. I've been there and I know how bad mine got. I had my best results with creams and uv in combination.


As for the question of how will she deal with p and teaching, well as a teacher she has the perfect opportunity to educate her students about p. She should not be ashamed and cover up when the weather gets warm. Instead she should just do her best to answer the students questions about her p honestly. I am a teaching assistant. I get asked a lot about my p, "What happened to your arm?" being the most frequent. I just tell the students that I have psoriasis and tell them it is like a rash or very dry skin. Children are usually satisfied with that. They just want acknowledgement of their questions. They will also usually ask if it hurts. Adults are a little harder to deal with by I generally find it best to just state the truth (it's much easier than remembering lies anyways ;) )

[PJ Leary]

Hi,

You must be so proud of your daughter. You've gotten some great ideas from the others already. Right up at the top are the suggestions concerning both biologic treatments and educating others honestly. More and more people with psoriasis are coming out of the proverbial closet all the time. Being honest about the disease is helpful almost always. The Foundation provides some excellent materials to asssit with that, including classroom presentations geared towrds elementary aged students ( though you did not say what grades she would be teaching ).

I am a technical trainer these days, and have to do presentations in front of all sized groups ( of adults ). If I am asked, I am honest, and then I drop the subject since it is not what I am teaching.

Your daughter has been living with this for a long time, and I bet she is capable of dealing with students' questions. If she wants some help or guidance, we are always here.

Regards,

[Jopperm2]

I, hopefully someday(too many delays with schhol, I'm still half done), will be a teacher as well; and I have always wondered how the best way to handle this issue.

It's a very age dependant question, but I have contemplated what the merits of placing an NPF flyer on each desk the first day of class and then speaking about it for 5 minutes might have. I think this may reduce any issues later in the class.

[bratsareus]

Also maybe now that she's done with school her life will be less stressful because from what I've read stress also makes it worse.

You must of never tried teaching 22 5year olds. :eek: Talk about stress.

I used to teach kinder for 10 years, and I'm with vmars. Kids really just want their questions to be answered and acknowledged. A very straight forward simple answer is best. If thats not enough, they will ask more.

Congrats! I bet she'll make a great teacher.
Patty

[mattasl]

Congratulations to your daughter on joining the exciting career of teaching! I developed hand and foot p 1/2 year into my first teaching job. I teach 5th grade Deaf children at a Deaf school in Missouri. My hands were so inflamed I couldn't sign to my students without cracks and bleeding. The itching got SO bad that I had to stop in the middle of lessons to either itch or put goop all over my hands.

After more than 2 years of visiting 4 different dermatologists, I was finally diagnosed with p and given a more effective treatment. Recently I started taking Raptiva, an injection biological agent. So far, the results have been wonderful. My hands are very clear and I've been able to sign without difficulty again. My feet are still problematic, but the itching has decreased a lot.

To help with the itching, I use Aveeno Skin Relief Moisturizing Lotion with Cooling Menthol and Natural Colloidal Oatmeal. The menthol really cools my skin and relieves the itching. For a bonus, Aveeno lotions are not as greasy as other lotions I've tried - and believe me, I've tried a ton!

Well, good luck and let me know how things turn out. Whatever you try, remember to never give up. Teaching is a wonderful career. If students ask about the p patches, just give them a straight answer and don't be afraid to tell them about it. It's also a good thing to tell children it's not contagious. Good luck!

[Krizstyling]

You must of never tried teaching 22 5year olds. :eek: Talk about stress.

I used to teach kinder for 10 years, and I'm with vmars. Kids really just want their questions to be answered and acknowledged. A very straight forward simple answer is best. If thats not enough, they will ask more.

Congrats! I bet she'll make a great teacher.
Patty

Actually I did teach for a year, only had 18 students though, and they were ages 5-6. I found studying in school w/ two majors much more exhausting and stressful than teaching, but that's just me. Diff strokes for diff folks.

[rzoe714]

Thank you so much for all your responses. It helps make things a little easier.

She will be seeing a new derm soon since the old one retired. She has used dovonex,tazorac,elidel and a specia tapel that she really liked because the medicine didn't come off. They dont make the tape anymore. Right now she's using t gel for her hair.

I have a question about a dr on this site. He's in Staten Island,NY where we live and it says he treats many p patients but he's an advisor for different pharm companies. Would that be a conflict of interests.?? Im afraid he might try to push something on her

Anyway I will be coming to these boards to get more info. Right now she doesn't want to come here.Thanks again for everything
Rochelle

[MikeK]

Hi Rochelle,

Welcome to the Board. :cool: Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear that your daughter is going through such a rough time. :(

You asked:I have a question about a dr on this site. He's in Staten Island,NY where we live and it says he treats many p patients but he's an advisor for different pharm companies. Would that be a conflict of interests.?? Im afraid he might try to push something on herThe doctor should hopefully discuss all treatment options that are available to your daughter. She should do as much research as she can (and ask as many questions as she can) before deciding on any treatment. She should refuse any treatment that she's NOT comfortable with. (Some treatments -- i.e., Soritane and Methotrexate (which you'll often seen abbreviated here as MTX) are known to cause birth defects (for up to three years after a woman stops taking it in the case of Soriatane) and are often rejected by either the doctor and/or the patient when a woman is in "her child bearing years".

I don't know any thing about the doctor that you found through this site. The good news is that the Chairmain of the National Psoriasis Foundation's (NPF) Medical Board, Dr. Mark Lebwohl, practices out of Mount Sinai in East Harlem. He's an expert at treating psoriasis. I had the pleasure of meeting him at several NPF functions and he seems like a very nice guy. Even though it would be a bit of a schlep from Staten Island, he just might be the perfect doctor for your daughter. Here's his contact information:

Dr. Mark Lebwoh, MD
5 East 98th Street
New York, NY, 10029
Phone (212) 241-9728
Fax (212) 876-5661

Source: http://fusion.mssm.edu/facdir/details.cfm?doc=459.


I would imagine that he's hard to get an appointment with, so if your daughter decides that she would like to get an opinion from him she should call A.S.A.P.

Also, there's a group of us from the New York area who get together socially from time to time. (All of us have become good friends.) I was diagnosed with psoriasis way back in 1964 and I can't begin to tell you what it's like to be in the same place at the same time with other people who dealing with the same issues as me. Our get togethers have become so popular that we've had people come from as far away as California, Florida, Washington State, Boston and Chicago just to attend some of out gatherings. We generally post the details of these get togethers here on the Board and both you and your daughter would be more then welcome to join us.

There's also an NPF affiliated support group that meets on the last Tuesday of every month at:

Rockefeller University Hospital
1230 York Avenue
Room 110b
New York, NY 10021

(It's kind of sort of across the street from Sloan Kettering. It's a long walk from the subway. The closest staton is 68th St -- Hunter College.)

I sometimes go to those meetings and it's also a great way to meet other people who again are dealing with the same issues as me. The group doesn't meet during the summer months or in November and December, so your daughter may want to try to attend the April meeting since that's the last meeting until September. Here's a link to the Support Group's website: http://support.psoriasis.org/newyork/.

I hope this helps.

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

Mike

[pluticus]

I am a teacher too and I know it'll all be hard for her.

If the children see her P, it'll be an opportunity to explain the condition .. which is a good thing for everyone. Someone once said that the sign of a teacher is that the take every opportunity to teach inside or outside of the classroom.

She is still very young though and it's a tough time.

I always hang onto the fact that remission therapy is only just around the corner.

[PJ Leary]

Hi,

Just have to weigh in here on this issue. Most of the really good derms who are out there doing the research and using the cutting edge medications have to say the same things.

I recently attended a lecture given by the well known Dr. Feldman of Wake Forest University here in NC to a group of health care professionals and dermatologists. The list of potential conflicts of interest for him at the beginning of his lecture had the folks in the room laughing!

The up side for the patient is that these docs are seeing lots of psoriasis patients and have a great deal of experience. We, as patients benefit from that. I would not discount a potentially great dermatologist based on his stated relationships with pharm companies as long as there is more than one listed.

Just my .02 !

Regards,

[bethspin]

I'm also a teacher with psoriasis. Kids will see it and ask questions about it. Especially things like, "What happened to your arm?" (Like someone else said.) Just be ready with a brief answer when it happens!

[Reena]

hey! I am going to be a teacher in Korea in about 2 months...and I am really nervous about the kids reactions as well as all the people I am going to meet. But I think at the end of the day, people will get over it and look at me for who i am rather then the spots on me...

[katojones]

hi, well, im not strictly a teacher, but i work as a special need's assistant at an infant school.
it's so so hard working there, its very challenging and very upsetting.
i have P all over my hands,legs you name it. but i dont let it get to me and the kids used ask many questions but now they ask me how i am.
the children i work at in the school are mentally challenged andi have alot of physical work to do such as them climbing all over me or if one is having a freak out being bitten and kicked etc.... if im hurt/cut that turns into P and i get flare up's every week they get worse and worse.
but i wouldnt trade that job for the worls. because its an amazing job, and your daughter shouldn't be descouraged. children are alot more accepting
than adults i think,i get more looks of disgust by parents and visitors than anything else and they are easy to brush off.
if my hands get really bad i cover them up with cotton gloves, but before covering them i put my dovobet on and then cover, making sure im moisterised all of the time.
when i had P all over my face the kids used to ask if i had chicken pox and id reply its very like chicken pox but its not.
an autistic girl in my class also asks me how me ' skins ' are ha ha ha because of the flakes, it dosent bother me anymore and the she now said that her mum prayed for me at church (not that its helping, but thanks for gesture).
ah man, it'll all be good, i think the best thing to do is to be open and honest about it with anyone and when the parents have asked me whats wrog with me i just tell them its P and they end up feeling more embarressed than me, well, im not actually embarressed anymore just the fact it's painful and harder for us with it.
i hope your daughter enjoys her job and dosent feel discouraged.
good luck to her and everything will be cool.
being a teacher is one of the most rewarding and enjoyable jobs i have ever experienced in my life,
she shouldn't let this beat her.
good luck to her.

kato UK 21yrs old.