I think I have psoriasis

[MamaGuymon]

For about two years now, since giving birth to my daughter, I have been having lapses of welps all over my body. They itch only slightly and from what I have seen look like the Guttate form of psoriasis. I am scheduling an appointment tomorrow with a derm. but my question is, how will they know for sure if it is psoriasis or some form of allergic reactions or something? Do they run skin tests, take blood, etc? Also, it comes and goes quite frequently and I have looked online to see if that is normal with psoriasis and have yet to find anything.

When I was pregnant, I had a rare form of a rash that most women have never heard of called PUPPS. Its abbreviated for a big long word basically meaning BAD rash all over my body. My PUPPS was rare in itself because I got it so early on, at 7 weeks, as opposed to 8 or 9 months gestation and it also went away. Supposedly it shouldnt go away until after delivery. My derm. back then was flabbergasted that it went away but tests confirmed that it was indeed PUPPS. I just thought after having my daughter and experiencing these rashes all over my chest and arms and neck that it was a weird version of the pregnancy rash still present in my body. Of course I didnt have insurance so couldnt do anything about it, until now. Anyways any answers to my questions about how they can tell if its psoriasis or not for sure would be great!

[RichJ]

hi momaguymon,
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.

have a good night all

richard

[beautifulsoul20]

mama when i wsa trying to find out if i had psoriasis they took a sample of my hair.

[MikeK]

Hi MamaGuymon,

Welcome to the Board. :cool: Nice to meet you. I'm sorry to hear that you might have psoriasis.

I was first diagnosed with psoriasis way back in 1964. I was 7. I had the chicken pox a couple months earlier and that left with some patches of dry, scaly, itchy skin on my legs. After a couple months of seeing me scratch myself raw (and getting blood all over my sheets and pajamas, etc.) my mom finally decided the problem was going to go away on it's own and took me to the doctor. (Until then, her mantra was: " Just leave yourself alone; put some Jergen's lotion on it and it will go away!") She took me to the family doctor. He was an osteopath who saw everyone in the family from my sister (who was a toddler) to my grandmother (who was in her 70's). He took one look at my legs and said that it was psoriasis. I don't remember him saying anything about treatments or there being no cure, etc. etc.

I didn't actually see my first dermatologist until I was in my 20's. Since then. For the most part, every dermatologist that I've seen has made the psoriasis diagnosis based on a visual examination.

I've also had several scrapings (see below) and biopsies (see below) over the years.

(A biopsy sounds scary because they're usually associated with cancer, but biopsies can be used to diagnose other problems.) In every instance, the biopsy (or scraping) was made to confirm that something wasn't psoriasis. (Biopsies are definitive for psoriasis, so you and should insist on one if the doctor seems on the fence about what the problem is.)

In the case of a biopsy, the doctor uses a surgical instrument (and a local anesthesia) to remove a piece of diseased skin. The sample is then sent to a lab for analysis. You may or may not need a stitch or two. (My dermatologist told me that she tries to avoid biopsies in psoriasis patients, because of something called the Koebner effect. (I like to say that you know something is bad when they name it after someone.) The Koebner effect basically means that any injury to an existing patch of psoriasis can cause that psoriasis to get worse. (A biopsy is a form of injury.) The Koebner effect can also mean that any injury to a healthy area skin (say from a paper cut) can cause a new patch of psoriasis to develop. Not every injury results in the Koebner effect and not every psoriasis patient suffers from the Koebner effect. (I've never experienced the Koebner effect.) I wouldn't worry about the Koebner effect. If my doctor couldn't tell me that something was psoriasis or wasn't psoriasis, I would get a biopsy.)) Here's a link to a previous discussion about the Koebner effect: http://www.psoriasis.org/forum/showthread.php?t=10988.

In the case of a scraping, the dermatologist uses something that looks like to tongue depressors to scrape some of the diseased skin onto a piece of waxed paper. The scrapings are then put on a slide which is examed under a mircoscope.

As I mentioned, the only time that I've had a biopsy or scraping done was when my derm was trying to confirm that something wasn't psoriasis. (It every case, the problem turned out to be a rash and not psoriasis.)

I hope this helps.

Good luck.

Keep us posted and let us know if you have any other questions.

Mike

[MamaGuymon]

Thank you for the information. I have actually had a skin biopsy done before, when I mentioned I had the pregnancy rash, that is when my derm. back then did a skin biopsy to confirm it. So, hopefully I wont have to have another one of those. I am not sure if my insurance will cover it or not now. This has all been very helpful. Thank you!

[partial]

My wife had a bad skin reaction on her back after our son was born. The doc thought it was shingles and brought on by vitamin deficiences/stress/hormones from the pregnancy. For her it lasted a couple of weeks, then went away after he was born, never to return.

Hope you have the same success.