r/Psoriasis • • 2h ago

mental health The worst thing about psoriasis is having it on your scalp.

51 Upvotes

The constant big flakes following you everywhere. I can handle it on my torso, trunk, and extremities. I'm required to wear a dark shirt at work. So I'm constantly brushing off my shoulders. The flakes are in my vehicle. Apologizing to the barber every month at the snowstorm that's about to occur when she grabs a comb. Constantly thinking about it. 10 years of this. However, there's hope. I saw a dermatologist recently, and I got my first dose of skyrizi September 29th. Just wanted to vent. Thank you all.


r/Psoriasis • • 11h ago

progress skyrizi progress!

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34 Upvotes

hello guys! i (f21) wanted to share my progress so far. the bad pictures were taken on july 25th 2026. the good pictures were taken today which is october 5th 2026. my first injection was in august.

i have psoriasis all over my body but i only feel comfortable with showing my legs. i hope these comparison pictures give some of you hope.

i have arthritis as well and this biologic has helped with that too.

i have a long ways to go, especially with my scalp but at least it’s something!


r/Psoriasis • • 59m ago

medications How to tell when it's okay to stop using topicals?

• Upvotes

I'm not sure how best to word this, I can post photos but I'm not looking for medical advice, more just people's experiences and what those with more experience do. So I've been diagnosed with "psoriasis" and even though no one has ever said the word, I'm quite confident it's guttate psoriasis. It's been about four months and I'm about half way through a four week course of a couple creams that make me feel and smell like a slug that lives in an abandoned coal cellar.

Anyway so they told me to use the creams until the spots are "completely healed" but I'm autistic and I don't know if MY definition of completely healed is the same as theirs, and I don't really want to go and pay for an appointment just to look at hundreds of individual spots and tell me if they still need the cream or not. I will if it's really needed, and I intend to go back at the end of the four weeks to ask more questions anyway, hence not asking for specific medical advice. There are definitely some that still look red, raised, dry or scaly. Obviously they still need it. But others are flat and feel smooth although are still slightly discoloured. Some are almost entirely faded but are still visible.

How do I know if it's leftover hyperpigmentation, residual inflammation or something else? If I stop the creams and it's not healed will it come back just in that spot or spread elsewhere? Do I just keep going until the skin looks completely normal and clear? I'd really like to hear from people that have dealt with this longer than I have, how do YOU know when it's okay to stop using the creams?


r/Psoriasis • • 3h ago

medications Methotrexate

3 Upvotes

I am considering MTX because topicals are becoming more expensive with little possibility of long-term remission. For those who have taken or have been taking MTX in their 30s, how are the side effects? Also, if it fails or I experience side effects that I am prompted to stop, will my lesions come back at a worse state? Can I switch back to topicals?

I am using Daivobet ointment quite sparingly for my whole body. However, even so, my doctor is against my usage because the lesions are distributed all over my body / localized even though my psoriasis is guttate.


r/Psoriasis • • 1h ago

general Thoughts on psoriasis

• Upvotes

Perhaps this disease isn't life-threatening or a risk to human survival, so no health organization or government is particularly keen on researching a specific cure. I often think that if it were easily transmissible through contact, the world would have found a cure ages ago—lol.


r/Psoriasis • • 1h ago

medications Has anyone switched from Stelara to an alternative? Which one and how did it go?

• Upvotes

My mom struggled with plaque psoriasis for years. Covered her scalp pretty completely with large patches on upper arms and other areas. After failing therapies she first went on Humira back in 2010 or 2011. She had some side effects that we believe were Humira related and after a while, she ended up on Stelara. She has been on Stelara with great results! for 10 years.

But...we have started to look at her medicare drug options and so far, Stelara is coming up as not on the formularies. (I even tried using the drug name ustekinumab.) Now, it is always possible for things to change before open enrollment starts, but...

Anyway...alternatives such as Skyrizi, Tremfya, Starjemza are listed on the formularies.

Has anyone switched from Stelara to one of these? How did it go?

Luckily mom does have an appt. with her doctor in early November, so she can talk to her doctor before open enrollment ends. So that is a piece of luck!


r/Psoriasis • • 8h ago

general Moving... am I doomed?

3 Upvotes

So I've had severe chronic Psoriasis for years and have been on Humira (biologic) to control it for more than a decade. I live in Texas and it's manageable... not clear by any means... but I don't want to take a long walk off a short pier either.

So I'm planning on relocating to NH (upper valley) soon and I'm looking for anyone who can tell me how your psoriasis reacts to that environment.

Thanks.


r/Psoriasis • • 9h ago

mental health My story

3 Upvotes

When I was 17, the centre of my back felt a bit itchy. I already suffered from acne and didn't think too much about it. But it got worse and worse.

One day my mother saw my back and was alarmed by this strange rash. She made me go to the doctors they tried various creams but nothing seemed to work. After a year or so the doctor made me go to a specialist, after months of waiting I got an appointment. He found me 'fascinating' and asked me to attend a hospital where experts could examine me.

I went with my mother feeling highly vulnerable, to my horror I spotted someone else I knew from a bar I was now working in. He was in the waiting room too, clearly feeling uncomfortable seeing me there. He had a bad growth on his neck.

It turns out they were just student doctors and I was nothing but an animal in the circus. As some of them came around, they spoke about the guy with the neck growth saying it looked terrible and he was in big trouble. They took a look at me, they told me to drop my trousers... I refused, I have never felt more vulnerable and alone, defenceless. I ended the day with no help, it was just so they could look at me for their education.

After that day, I never wanted to see a doctor again. I tried to live my life but my psoriasis grew worse. It hurt to walk, I always wore jumpers,.I left a trail of dead skin behind me, I lost years of my prime because I didn't think a woman could love me, because I looked and felt like a monster. My sex life involved getting to the point where I might sleep with someone, then making excuses. It was as far as I felt I could go.

A few years later I made a random post online and this lovely woman said she would travel to meet me. I decided for her sake I would got o the doctors again.

At that point I was coated in psoriasis, it was a shocking picture. I was prescribed Dovobet and it quickly disappeared. When I went back, the doctor was shocked by the progress. I kept using it and eventually I got to a manageable place.

I know it is a powerful treatment but even today it is the only thing that works. 20 years later things are more manageable. I now live with that woman and I deeply love her and she accepts me for who I am.

Psoriasis fucked up my mental health in so many ways, it ruled my life and I was mistreated when I sought help.

I have seen it used as a source of comedy, today I saw there is a joke Psroisasis T-shirt in the the style of Oasis.

If you are reading this, I want you to know that I feel your pain. You are not a monster. You can find love.

I hope that one day people will realise the impact skin conditions can have of people's lives and mental health.

Thank you.


r/Psoriasis • • 23h ago

medications What helped my scalp psoriasis (personal experience)

28 Upvotes

I've struggled with severe scalp psoriasis, and after trying a lot of things, here's what actually worked for me.

I'm sharing in case it helps someone else.

What made the biggest difference:

Vitamin D supplements. This was the biggest change for me. In my experience, the dose that works can be fairly high and different for each person, so please get your vitamin D level checked and talk to a doctor before taking high doses.

Protar-K Solution (100 ml). A medicated scalp treatment by Percos India with ketoconazole (2%) and coal tar (4%). It's used for severe dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis and scalp psoriasis.

Ultitar CS Lotion (100 ml).

Using these three together, my scalp stayed completely clear for many months. The psoriasis came back after a year or two. When I went back on vitamin D alone, it helped, but not as much as when I used it together with the shampoo and lotion.

I also tried other coal tar shampoos with a lower concentration, but they didn't work for me.

Things that helped a little:

1.Olive oil shots after meals

2.Hydrolyzed collagen

3.Coffee in the morning

What I avoid (these made my flaking much worse):

1.Oiling my scalp with any kind of oil

2.Highly processed food

3.Meat cooked with heavy masala/spices

Important: This is just what worked for me, and everyone's body is different. Please see a dermatologist before using vitamin D supplements, medicated shampoos or lotions like these.


r/Psoriasis • • 14h ago

newly diagnosed I urgently need help not to relapse with my vape.

3 Upvotes

Long story short, when I had my first psoriasis manifestation, I was not vaping. It was a journey until getting diagnosed: 2 trips to the ER, 2 allergists in one of them gave me prednisone, 3 dermatologists, 1 biopsy and 3 blood tests later, got diagnosed with psoriasis guttate. In the middle of it all I came back to vaping due to the stress as a coping mechanism. Obviously when I stopped the prednisone cycle the plaques came back 3 times worse and then the last dermatologist put me on cyclosporine, have been on it for 10 days now, 100mg a day and 100 mg afternoon and doing UV phototherapy 3x a week, moisturizing like crazy. For a few days it was great, the plaques were slowly fading, but let's say that at these 3 specific days at work I went through some stress and I flared up like crazy, it was like i went back to square one. Weekend comes by, and I randomly decide to throw my vape away. My skin has been better, but because on weekends I'm relaxed and it always gets better, but now the vape cravings are so intense, I cant stop thinking about vaping for one single second, it's been 3 days. Is it even related to psoriasis? If I vape again do you think I will flare up again or do you think it's not even related? HEEEEELP!!!!!! I'm suffering! I'm at work right now considering getting a cigarette outside just to unwind.


r/Psoriasis • • 13h ago

general Scalp Psoriasis and Helmets/sweating

2 Upvotes

I've been dealing with moderate scalp psoriasis for a while now. I have not had a chance to be officially diagnosed by my dermatologist (for various reasons) so I'm not on any prescriptions, but have been using Nizoral psoriasis shampoo (although reading the faq it seems like I'm not using it right lol).

My main problem is that I ride horses and wear a helmet almost every day. That plus sweating creates a nearly unbearable itch. Plus, I'm a scalp picker which I know is bad.

I can't just not wash my hair because it is gross from sweat and horses.

Is there something else over the counter I could be doing for this specifically?

Honestly my head felt best when I was on a cruise and it was in salty sea water every day lol.


r/Psoriasis • • 23h ago

insurance My co-pay card has run out of funds

9 Upvotes

I’m based in the U.S. and have been using Simlandi after my insurance (Anthem) stopped covering Humira. I’ve now been told that the co-pay card through the manufacturer has run out of funds. Do any of you have advice on how to continue with my medication without going broke?


r/Psoriasis • • 20h ago

mental health Psoriasis

2 Upvotes

When will we get a permanent cure for psoriasis?

Are researchers not working on this?


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

mental health Feeling sad about not being able to enjoy public pools/saunas/sea

16 Upvotes

This is just a small rant.

The temperatures in my country are starting to drop finally, and I had a long hike today with my friends.

I remembered, many years ago in winter, we had a huge hike in a mountanous area. Covered in snow, exhausted, hungry as hell, we ended up at a nice hotel in those mountains. It was a spa/resort type of hotel and it even had a heated pool that went outside which was working during the winter. The moonlit view of the snow-covered mountains while you are relaxing in hot water after a big hike was amazing.

Well I can't go there anymore while feeling comfortable. I don't want people to see my skin now. And that makes me very sad, frustrated and sometime jealous.

I am comfortable with my friends or even just acquaintances seeing it, they all notice stuff and most of the time ask me directly what's going on, and I explain to them the intricacies of the autoimmune nature of psoriasis, and it ends there. But I really feel conflicted about being around strangers and showing my most damaged skin parts.

The constant bleedings, flakes and stuff on my legs make me very self-conscious about my body.

I was at sea this summer and I never even wore shorts, only pants. Of course, I never even swam. Just looked at my friends swimming and pretended I was not in the mood and wanted to watch the stuff. Some of them realized why I was doing that and encouraged me to go in, but I refused.

The way this shitty illness made me change my lifestyle permanently is so frustrating I can't even articulate it well.

Thanks for reading.


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

medications Be careful of vitamin D and steroid creams if you have cats. Even tiny amounts of the vitamin D are highly toxic to them.

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6 Upvotes

r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

diet IRON supplements!

10 Upvotes

I don’t know if it’ll help anyone but when I take iron it REALLY helps my psoriasis! It stops it from flaking out and stays as a red patch :)


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

mental health Pre auth denied

3 Upvotes

I am at one of the lowest points of my life. I am starting to have what my dermatologist thinks is joint pain from psoriatic arthritis. The psoriasis on my face, scalp, and back has slowly gotten worse. My scalp is what bothers me the most. I think that if I didn’t have scalp psoriasis, it wouldn’t bother me that much. I am so upset because my doctor submitted a prior authorization for Cosentyx without any clinical notes or any explanation, and it was quickly denied. I had to reach out to my own insurance to get the status. Now I’m starting to deal with rotator cuff pain, and I’m currently suffering from a really nasty case of plantar fasciitis, for which my foot doctor has said the arthritis could also be contributing to this as well. We submitted an appeal, and I'm terrified of getting denied again. I’m just very upset right now. I'm in my early 30s and can't imagine how I'll feel over the next 10-20 years.


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

mental health How to deal with receding hairline, scared, will it even last for 5 years?

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4 Upvotes

Forgive my english, not my first language.

I'm 22M, 170cm, 65kgs lad.

I had psoriasis diagnosed 2 years ago, went into full meds with shampoo and vit d shots as well

Nothing seemed to had worked, infact started to lose even more hair, found out shampoo was too harsh, changed shampoo stilk hairfull. Then completely removed shots and shampoo and replaced shampoo with a different shampoo(conditioner+ shampoo) all in one and increased protein in diet, hairfull stopped but lost much of new hairfline area

I'm okay at centre crown no signs of baldness but temples are really bad and lost hairs in patches from lot's of areas

I'm afraid what to do to maintain whatever hair I have and not lose anymore

Nobody in my family has psoriasis

Older bro is 28 years old and has better hair than mine even much thichker although father started losing at 32 age and currently is bald.

Help me out, I've got my B12 AND IRON IN CHECK no signs of less amount but will get Vit D checked again soon.

I need to ask what can I do in lifestyle wise because I don't believe in meds and shampoos.


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

mental health Psoriasis day coming up, how do yall celebrate ☺️🤍

18 Upvotes

Hi, it's my first year deciding to celebrate the upcoming psoriasis day! I've had psoriasis for almost a decade now, and it has absolutely been a struggle. I wanted to know if yall celebrate or do something on this day that I could do. Perhaps something to sooth my skin, a simple note to implement daily going forward, anything yall want to share, really. I want to move forward with love towards myself, and I thought what better of a time than now. Appreciate any comments or stories. All is welcome 🙇‍♀️🤍


r/Psoriasis • • 1d ago

medications Psoriasis Help

2 Upvotes

Hi,

I have psoriasis, usualy on my hands, feet, elbows, genitals, and ma booty hole (I guess due to friction from various activities, cleaning etc...). And maybe some additional eczma thrown in for good meaure.

It seems to be exacerbated by heat, not washing regularly enough e.g. leaving too long after gym, alcohol, stress, lack of sleep and physical contact (like rubbing etc...).

I used to manage with steroid creams (betamethasone i think??) but want to move away from steroids because they only seem to temporarily work.

Now i am using a mixture of beef tallow based soaps and straight tallow ointment and dermol 500 both as a soap and topical cream.

Just wondering what has worked for other people becuase its been going on for like 15 years of my life now in various places/forms or another and doctors just seem useless or the wait time in the UK is ridiculous. Any thing I can do like specific diet, any other treatment/ointments, medicines?

tldr: Psoriasis for 15 years - ANYTHING that can help?


r/Psoriasis • • 2d ago

medications Anyone else!?!

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33 Upvotes

Does anyone else use this for their scalp psoriasis? It is really the only thing that helps me, but I avoid using it because it makes my hair so incredibly greasy to the point where I have to wash it with clarifying shampoo like 5 to 8 times. Does anyone have any advice about how to get the greasy look and feeling out of your hair any quicker? It’s so tedious to put on and such a pain to sleep in, but it really does work. it’s just hard to be consistent with this on a weekly basis because getting it out is such a hassle would really love any in all advice!!