Lisa
![](/uploads/media/interview/.thumbnails/Lisa_205x410.png)
Lisa was officially diagnosed at age 11. She has used steroid creams and phototherapy (light therapy) when she was younger. After the age of 18, she was allowed by her doctors to try cyclosporine, Fumaderm and methotrexate.
Lisa is 20 years old and a university student. Her ethnicity is White English.
More about me...
Lisa has had psoriasis for as long as she can remember. She was removed from nursery school at age 3 with suspected chickenpox when patches of psoriasis were first noticed. It was then thought that she had eczema. Lisa was 11 years old when she was diagnosed with having psoriasis; she felt relieved to finally have an explanation for her symptoms. Lisa has guttate psoriasis, which can be bumpy, on the tops of her legs and stomach most of the time. Shaving her legs can be very difficult, as the skin tends to bleed a lot and become very sore, so she prefers to use hair removal creams. Stress is a major trigger for Lisa’s psoriasis. She also knows that injuries to the skin can cause patches to develop. Lisa had heard that diet, especially carbohydrates, can be triggers but has not found this to be the case for her. One thing Lisa finds helpful when her psoriasis is very itchy and inflamed is to make the room she’s in as cool as possible. She finds that skin flaking can be difficult to deal with and she uses a lint roller to remove these from her clothes.
Up to the age of 18, Lisa had tried steroids creams and light therapy for her psoriasis. However, she didn’t find the steroid creams helpful, just very smelly and time-consuming to apply, and her psoriasis returned soon after finishing light therapy. Lisa knew about other treatments from researching online; however, her GP refused to let her try any of these. Even once she had turned 18, Lisa feels she had to struggle to get the treatments that she wanted. She has since had cyclosporine and methotrexate, both immunosuppressant tablets, and Fumaderm. Cyclosporine and her current medication, methotrexate, have worked well. However, Lisa had to stop taking Fumaderm because of side effects, such as hot flushes and headaches. She also struggled remembering to take the Fumaderm tablets, as they had to be spaced throughout the day around mealtimes. Lisa has also asked her doctor about biologic injections but has been told that she’s not yet eligible. Lisa prefers to go to dermatology appointments on her own as she finds it’s less awkward to talk without her parents there.
Lisa says that psoriasis first began to negatively impact her self-confidence around the age of 15. She remembers that her PE school teachers weren’t very understanding and so she would write herself sick notes so that she didn’t have to take part or change in front of the other students. Lisa’s self-confidence was also knocked when she moved abroad for a year, meaning she had to stop treatment, and her psoriasis flared up quite severely. Psoriasis affects Lisa’s clothing choices, as she prefers to cover up and she worries about skin flakes visible on dark fabrics. She avoids wearing foundation as she finds it “congeals” on the dry skin on her face.
Lisa is part of an online discussion group about psoriasis. She finds it helpful to learn about home remedy treatments, especially when she’s not due to see a dermatologist for some time. Looking online for information about psoriasis has not always been helpful for Lisa though. For example, she remembers seeing gory photographs of severe psoriasis online when she was younger which frightened her. She also used her university library to look up medical research on psoriasis but found it confusing. In terms of emotional support, Lisa says that her boyfriend is very understanding. Lisa knows about psoriatic arthritis, as her dad has this, and she is unsure if this will affect her in the future.
Lisa encourages other young people with psoriasis to see a dermatologist, even if this involves persisting with your GP to get a referral. She adds that healthcare professionals should be aware that rejecting a patient’s request for a particular treatment can be upsetting, and suggests that they should also offer emotional support. Lisa emphasises the importance of finding a successful treatment as she has found that her confidence is boosted when her psoriasis is under control.
Lisa prefers if her parents aren’t at her medical appointment.
Lisa prefers if her parents aren’t at her medical appointment.
No, normally I go by myself. My mum did come with me once, but I, I find it awkward to talk about it when they’re there, because they sort of butt in and it’s a bit really awkward, so I try and go alone.
At what age do you think you started going to appointments on your own?
From about 16 cos I didn’t-, I don’t really like talking about problems if my parents are there because then they’ll be like, “Oh, you didn’t tell me that.” And I’d just be like ‘yeah, I didn’t want to tell you that’. So yeah.
Were they okay about when you told them that you’d rather be on your own?
Yeah, they-, they were fine about it.
Lisa talks about having blood tests whilst taking systemic medicines for psoriasis.
Lisa talks about having blood tests whilst taking systemic medicines for psoriasis.
Do you have any sort of check-ups to keep an eye on it?
Yeah, at the beginning you have a lot of blood tests to make sure that your blood count and your kidney functions and things like that are working in order. And then as you get- , as you become on them more you don’t have to have the blood tests as regularly, but you still have to just in case especially with the methotrexate that I’m on since it was used initially for cancer, I have to make sure that I don’t take medication like ibuprofen that can interact with it. I think it’s ibuprofen, but I can’t take things like will interact with it and I have to keep a little book so that they know like my blood pressure or my white blood counts and things like that.
Lisa thinks there’s a lack of understanding about psoriasis, which adds to the emotional impact. She had a bad experience at a swimming pool.
Lisa thinks there’s a lack of understanding about psoriasis, which adds to the emotional impact. She had a bad experience at a swimming pool.
Probably when I started secondary school. Although my friends were they, they knew, cos they, they’d known me for a while. They didn’t really mind. Cos they just looked past it. But I sort of never liked to get changed in front of them for PE and the-, I don’t think the PE teachers quite understood so they were just like, “Yeah, everyone’s gotta get changed in one place.” And especially when I went swimming in primary school and secondary school, they- I didn’t feel like I wanted to do it. So often I would write notes saying, “My mum said that I can’t do it today.” And try and get out of it that way.
Did that work or-?
Yeah, most of the time. But it meant that I couldn’t swim, so yeah. And then I tried to learn how to swim when I got a bit older. But then, you’d go to a swimming pool with a swimming costume and all of your skin would be showing pretty much. And then, you’d have the lifeguards come up to you and be like, “Are you safe to go in the water?” So, it’s just like ‘why bother?’
How would you deal with that situation if somebody like the lifeguard asked you that?
I just tried explaining, cos I was with my dad anyway, so he helped explain that it was safe. It’s not contagious. Cos I don’t think people know that it’s not contagious.
Lisa thinks online forums are helpful for finding out about home remedies.
Lisa thinks online forums are helpful for finding out about home remedies.
Yeah, I’ve I joined one on Facebook and they’re quite helpful, especially if you don’t actually see a dermatologist and you, you get like a flare up, you can just say, “Okay, what, what works? What home remedies has everyone tried?” And they’re really supportive, and they’ll just be like, “Try this and I tried this,” and things like that.
Could you give me an example maybe of some of the home remedies that you’ve been suggested or that you’ve tried out?
Yeah, most people suggest coconut oil. And some people suggest putting the sea salts in a bath and soaking with that. And putting oils into the hair like olive oils to help soften the scalp.