Allergies and other maladies

[Gavin]

[SIZE="1"]About half way through a exercise on Hakodate for my next Japanese lecture, and absent-mindedly rubbing the psoriasis on my forehead as I always seem to do when I?m stressed I decided that OB needs a thread where we can complain about medical conditions we?re forced to deal with on a daily basis and how they affect our lives, and perhaps finding a way to deal with it we haven?t tried based on someone else?s experiences.

So a quick questionnaire first, because we?re all used to filling them out.

[QUOTE][SIZE="1"][B]Name of the condition:

Symptoms:

How long you?ve had the condition:

Treatment you?re on :

Results of said treatment:

How the condition has affected your daily life:

Any little tips you?ve found that help you cope: [/SIZE][/B][/QUOTE]

Naturally I wouldn't expect anyone to answer something personal like this without going first.

[INDENT][B]Name of the condition: [/B] [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psoriasis]Psoriasis[/url]

[B]Symptoms:[/B] Itchy, flaky, scaly, red patches of skin on covering quite a lot of my head and some of face caused by an overproduction of skin cells.

[B]How long you?ve had the condition:[/B] Diagnosed just over 2 years now, although the dermatologist suspects it may have been much, much longer. Stress from my final high school exams caused it to get considerably worse.

[B]Treatment you?re on :[/B] Currently I'm on daily and twice-daily topical treatments (lotions/liquids applied to the body surface) of Xamiol and Protopic, although apparently my psoriasis is rather severe and may eventually require tablet treatments if the topical fails to yield sufficient results.

[B]Results of said treatment:[/B] Noticeable reduction in the level of severity of the condition, flakiness and itching almost absent, although the patches themselves are still somewhat visible due to the difference in skin tone.

[B]How the condition has affected your daily life:[/B] I suppose this is one of those conditions you always think looks worse than it actually is. Having been overweight as a child I'm rather self-conscious about how I look, and try to hide the patches on my face as much as possible and keeping my hair long to cover the patches on my scalp. However if the psoriasis inflames worse than usual, or I forget to use the treatments at night I often find myself rubbing or scratching the patches with my fingers leading to quite a lot dead skin being shed which is very obvious on darker clothing and looks like a very bad case of dandruff.

[B]Any little tips you?ve found that help you cope: [/B] Something I found out a couple of months back which seems to have been really successful in clearing out the psoriasis was simply sitting in a Turkish bath for about 30 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week. My skin felt even better than when on the topical treatments, although obviously I still kept them up to get the best results.[/SIZE][/INDENT]

[Axel]

[SIZE=1][SIZE=1][B]Name of the condition: [/B]Aquagenic Uticaria (Water Allergy)[B]

Symptoms: [/B]Mild to severe rash (Hives), sometimes sneezing and coughing.[B]

How long you?ve had the condition: [/B]Since the age of 13 (AKA a looong time)[B]

Treatment you?re on : [/B]Citirizine Hydrochloride (Allergy tablets)[B]

Results of said treatment: [/B]Reduced reaction. It's still present though.[B]

How the condition has affected your daily life: [/B]I can't drink too much water (IE: Tap/Bottled), I have to take my tablets before showering/bathing/swimming and going out in the rain is troublesome.[B]

Any little tips you?ve found that help you cope: [/B]Ignore it. It will never go away, so I try my best to ignore it as best as I can. 'There are worse things at sea', to coin a phrase. Also, try not to get wet. If I do, I have to dry it off right away.[/SIZE][/SIZE]