Has anyone gotten psoriasis?????

Has anyone gotten any red itchy patches of skin on your body?  I have one on my  wrist and it itches and has white flakes of skin.  I never had it before I started treatment.  Does this mean I will always have it?  I feel like I am always scratching myself all the time?  Should I go see a dermatologist?  Thank you for all your help.  Sheila

[jmjm530]

I had very mild, sporadic psoriasis that flared dramatically  after 12 weeks of treatment. This is not uncommon. Nor is it uncommon for someone to develop psoriasis out of the blue on tx. The culprit is inteferon and things will resolve once tx stops.

The first thing to do is make sure you really have  psoriasis since many skin conditions mimic it. So you really should see a dermatologist right away. Psoriasis, untreated, in a worst case scenario it could stop your treatment.

Right now I'm taking a bunch of topicals plus UVB narrow light treatment 3X a week. I have both plaque, inverse, guttate and pustular psoriasis. The whole lot as they say. :)

If you want to self diag, best site I've found on the net is
http://www.dermnetnz.org   Lots of pictures. But really see a dermotoligist ASAP before things get too serious.

-- Jim

[scruffy]

Shiela, I developed a rash on both forearms during the latter half of 48 weeks of tx. It is a common side. As Jim says it can be bad if it gets too far. I just had to moisturize a lot and avoid the sun. Drink plenty of water. Avoid scratching it. Use something to decrease the itch if you need it. I think I used Caladryl lotion-but my rash was hidden from view. Hopefully more people will add their experience in dealing with this. My rash cleared up totally once the drugs were out of my system. Personally, I could never tell whether the interferon or the riba was the culprit. I suspected the riba.  frank

[bluefin]

I also developed a small rash at week 3 by week 17 a full on rash was on my legs,forarms and chest. I made a appt. with my Dermatologist who gave me a Betamethasone cream which worked right away, wish I had went to him sooner. Now at week 44 only small spots pop up now and then. Hang in their it will get better. Jerry

[susan400]

No, but I've had eczema, a mild case, usually on the skin area around my eyes.  I got a cream from my dermatologist called Protopic that she said was safe to use around the eye area.  

Susan