August is National Psoriasis Awareness Month

I am so glad to learn that August (my birthday month) is National Psoriasis Month. For those who don't know here is a little breakdown as to what Psoriasis is from www.psoraisis.org (to learn more!)

Psoriasis is a chronic, autoimmune disease that appears on the skin. It occurs when the immune system sends out faulty signals that speed up the growth cycle of skin cells. Psoriasis is not contagious.

There are five types of psoriasis: plaque, guttate, inverse, pustular and erythrodermic. The most common form, plaque psoriasis, appears as raised, red patches or lesions covered with a silvery white buildup of dead skin cells, called scale. Psoriasis can occur on any part of the body and is associated with other serious health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and depression.

According to the National Institutes of Health, as many as 7.5 million Americans have psoriasis.

I have lived with Psoriasis since 2000 and it hasn't been easy. I use to have it on about 90% of my body including: scalp, arms, stomach and legs. I was miserable for a long time. We didn't know what to do. Then we heard about the Photo Light Therapy treatment. My insurance covered it completely (thank God!) and this was a blessing! Within a couple of weeks I was almost 100 % clear.

Still to this day, I have it on my elbows and scalp. Bad thing about the scalp: it's super itchy and kind of flaky. Good thing: it's not visible. Bad thing about elbows: it's visible; makes me self-conscience; super itchy and flaky; irritating. Good thing: NOTHING. I have tried everything under the sun: topicals, steriods, creams. Nothing works at all. I actually tried the Humira injections and they worked great. With in one week, I was cleared! The day I woke up and didn't see anything on my elbows, I literally started crying. It was such a relief. But anyone who has Psoriasis knows that it's a chronic disease and there is no cure for it. I got off Humira because I thought my Psoriasis would stay away - but it didn't. Then I switched insurance and here I am - present day - still living with visible Psoriasis. Possible side effects of Humira is a lower immune system and contracting TB.

I am going to the Dermatologist on Thursday and hopefully will get some relief for what I have now, maybe get back on Humira. Seeing as how my wedding is in 52 days (ahhhh!!) I would like to be clear of my Psoriasis, even if it just means for the wedding day. So I will write later to let you know what my derm says.

I am writing about this to bring awareness and light to this chronic disease that 7.5 million people live with. I get asked "What's wrong with your elbows?" "What happened?" Even when I tell them I have Psoraisis, they have no idea what it is. I wantto get to a point where people KNOW about it and can even explain it to other people. Psoriasis isn't contagious, Awareness is.

Ever since I got diagnosed (it's also genetic, and my mom had it for a really long time), I am trying to do my best to educate myself and bring awareness and light to this disease. Next time, you see someone with what might look like Eczema or dry skin (even me!) ASK! And don't be scared. The more people who know about it the better. No one knows the causes or the best treatments, so the more people who know, the better.

The National Psoriasis Foundation has a challenge every day for the month of August to bring awareness. My goal is do as many as I can. I have done eight out of the 10 I can do. I will hopefully do more! Keep track here on my blog and click here to learn more!

Psoraisis isn't going to define how I live my life - I define how I live my life.