Laser Treatment

[billsilberman]

I would be interested in hearing from anyone who has used the new laser treatments for psoriasis. How many treatments, how much improvement, how long did the clearing last, cost, etc. Any information you can provide would be helpful.

[meszaros9]

Hello,
I was on the laser for 2 months. Cost me
about $1500.00. Had to put it on the ole
credit card. But sorry to say that it
didnt work for me. I had a major flare at
the end of the 2 months, so my p got to much
for laser. Too many spots for my doctor to
do. It did help my elbows, but never cleared
but im sure if you were to stick with it, it
would help you or maybe not. It did help the scaling.
regards,

Michelle

[billsilberman]

Thanks, Michelle. I think I'll hold off until there is clearer information - it is pretty pricey for an unproven method. Back to the sun and the Gulf of Mexico as an alternative ...

[beachbound]

I had 9 treatments at $100. per treatment plus initial visit of $200. Did nothing at all for me. I could see it wasn't helping, but kept hoping, and it wound up HE told ME there was no use in wasting my $$.
Good luck!
Sue

[cheryluk]

Hello,

I looked into laser treatment here in the UK last summer. My psoriasis seems to always start with several lesions mid-calf, which grow and join while new lesions appears working up my body. When I undergo PUVA treatment, the lesions at the top of me are
gone halfway through the treatment and those
"starting" lesions at mid-calf are the last to go, or more likely, are never completely cleared.

My reasoning was that after finishing PUVA treatment perhaps I could use localized lasers to treat these last stubborn 5-6 calf lesions without exposing the rest of my body to any more light. (Also, and more shamefully, you don't need a doctor's prescription for this, and believe me this has a BIG appeal in the UK for reasons I won't go in to.)

I called the only clinic I could find in
the UK who are "experimenting" with lasers.
They are Lasercare, located in about 8 cities
here. I spoke with the very pleasant, well informed, clinic manager, Jane Lewis, at the Harley Street center (020 7224 0988...I'm not promoting them...just saving interested people a two-hour phone chase if they wish to make contact themselves.)

She spent a long time with me, explaining that their clinics had imported (very expensive) excimer lasers from the USA for both their Harley Street center and their Birmingham centers. At each site, over the last year, they had trialed about 20 patients with moderate, localized, plaque psoriasis. She said the results were disappointing. It is not that the psoriasis did not improve or clear, but rather that it took just as long as UVB or NB UVB which was contradictory to the manufacturer's claims. (Makers of these units theorize that because much stronger doses can be directly delivered to psoriasis-only skin, they should clear quicker, perhaps even after only 8 or 10 exposures.) Her experience was that it took a minimum of 20-30 exposures to achieve good results.

As each exposure is quite expensive, the total treatment cost is prohibitively expensive for the patient, and is almost never covered in the UK by the National Health Service or any private insurance. Therefore, she said, that with great disappointment, they decided to "retire" their excimer lasers, especially as she said they did not wish to raise false hopes for their psoriasis patients. She said their clinics lost a lot of money on this experience.

She did say that if I wished to pursue pulsed dye laser treatment, that their Moby Sutton clinic had one. However, she thought that either it was not used or considered effective for psoriasis.

As am I not interested in this laser, I did not call to get any information.

Hope this helps,
Cheryl

[cheryluk]

Cheryl,

Your description: "My psoriasis seems to always start with several lesions mid-calf, which grow and join while new lesions appears working up my body" is quite similar to my condition. This disease is very new to me and seems to have coincided with my divorce 2.5 years ago (I'm 41 and I never had psoriasis before then).

Frankly, I'm a little scared to hear how serious psoriasis can become. My lesions are circular & red, but they aren't flaking too bad. Sometimes they seem to be going away--getting lighter and not too much of a bother--but it isn't consistent. And, like you said, the lesions seem to be joining and moving up my body. I've had a couple of flares that woke me from a sound sleep--it's unnerving.

So far I've had better luck with a product called Skin Zinc spray, plus one application of Dovenex at night than any of the other prescription meds. I also take Borage oil caplets.

It seems a little silly to say this, but I just want this to go away!! I'm athletic and I can't wear shorts anymore. This is having a big effect on how I live.

How do you learn to cope? I'm scared ...

Gail

[cheryluk]

Hi Gail,

Thanks for replying as it's always nice know you're not alone!

If you're a stronger individual than me, then you shouldn't have to alter your lifestyle. However, for me and most psoriasis sufferers, easier said than done! I am 38 and was pretty sporty until I got hit with this 3 years ago. My two main sports were sailing and cycling. I must admit (don't mean to depress you), that I've given up sailing completely because all the leg rubbing against the fiberglass (even in a wetsuit) really aggrevated the lesions and made them bleed. However, cycling has just changed from a sport I especially enjoyed in hot and sunny weather to one I especially enjoy in overcast, cooler, and even rainy weather (as this gives me an excuse to cover up!)

I've also picked up yoga, which helps me relax and tone up. Fortunately, everyone at my class wears baggy gym clothes.

The good news for you is that you seem to be able to keep yours in control with topicals. Dovonex and Skin Zinc don't really stop the progress of my lesions getting worse and worse. However, after getting really bad 2 years ago, the only thing that helped me was 3.5 months of PUVA. The great thing was that I had nearly total clearance that lasted 7 months, including over the summer! It was great! I swam every day! Of
course, it's back and getting bad now, even
after a course of NBUVB. Didn't seem to put my psoriasis in remission at all.

If I could get a sympathetic dermatologist to give me PUVA once a year, I would love to time things so that I go on treatment when I peak (always seems to be end September, after the hot months of summer). I would finish treatment around DecemberJanuary, which if things were to repeat themselves, would keep me clear or good enough until July/August.

However, my derm is not very sympathetic to this idea (or any other idea.) His idea of treatment is to let it get really bad (like 80% cover, including face, torso, arms, legs, scalp, genitals...you name it) before subjecting me to very intense treatment.

Again, as your psoriasis is being helped by topicals, rest assured that should it get worse (and there's a good chance it won't), there's a whole arsenal of much stronger treatments they can give you.

I personally think the first years are the hardest, because it's new, it doesn't go away, it doesn't act like any disease you've ever seen before, and unless you are incredibly lucky, your dermatologist either won't care, won't know what to do, or will be extremely reluctant to prescribe anything heavy-duty. My derm seemed to have to let me get really bad before he acted responsibly and that was only when my regular doctor contacted him about the state of my mental health (extremely depressed and scared!) Keep
insisting and change doctors as often as necessary!!!

Like everyone in this forum says...you are not alone and personally, I think everyone who has psoriasis is scared and down much of the time.

However, I don't see altering my lifestyle as admitting defeat. After all, I altered my lifestyle when I left college and started work, when I went from single to being engaged, when I hit my 30's and decided to buy a house and a retirement plan instead of investing in nachos and margharitas every night...lots of things change us! Divorce certainly will change a person, and believe me, it can be a positive lifestyle change if handled correctly!

I wish you good luck in finding ways to live with your psoriasis and all the other stuff life throws at us! If you ever need a helping hand, send me email, read this forum, or put in a posting saying you need a boost. We all need help and hugs often!

Hugs,
Cheryl