How is your Psoriasis?
First let me say how grateful I am that each of you in the community are here. As we are only 3 days away from 2025, I want to know how you are doing? The holidays can be very stressful. How are you doing mentally and more importantly how is your psoriasis? We would like to hear from you. Vickie, Team Member
, what a great idea to check in and see how everyone is doing. You're right - this time of year can be stressful. I haven't been as stressed as I thought I might be. I'm very introverted and people drain my energy (and I don't have a lot to spare with the fatigue!) so I can get quite irritable when the house is busy with family. But I've not been too bad this year thankfully, although my family may say otherwise 😅 I am slightly stressed now though as one of my sisters has reported that she has a "tickle" in her throat. I think many of us here are aware that infections can trigger psoriasis flares, and that if we get an infection we often have to skip our immunosuppressive medications (further risking a flare). So that is stressing me out a bit and, of course, stress can trigger a flare too. My psoriasis has actually been pretty good lately - the patches on my elbows that I've had for more or less my whole life just vanished a couple of months ago. No idea why, but that was a pleasant surprise! I still have psoriasis elsewhere though (and the psoriatic arthritis). How are you doing, Vickie? And how is your psoriasis at the moment? Hugs! -Catherine, Community Moderator once again I have had to switch insurance companies. This one is completely different from the last one. New network so I have to find new doctors. I will start off 2025 researching doctors in the new network and setting appointment. Hope you can avoid starting off the new year feeling sick. Thanks for all the support. Vickie, Team Member , gosh, I hope the search for new doctors goes well and doesn't add any more stress to your plate (although I know that might be wishful thinking on my part). Hopefully 2025 will be the year that you find the relief you deserve. Please keep us all updated. You know we're all thinking of you. Hugs and happy New Year! -Catherine, Community Moderator
Hey Vickie, thanks for checking in. Honestly, the holidays have been a mix—lots of stress, but also some good moments. My psoriasis has been flaring a bit, probably from all the holiday food and stress, but nothing too out of control.
hi there. Thanks for responding. Seems holidays are always stressful on us. Sorry to hear you are flaring. How is it now? I have had a busy start to 2025 so just getting back into the swing of things. Vickie, Team Member
"The holidays are always a bit of a mix for me. On one hand, I enjoy the time with family, but the stress that comes with it? That really doesn’t help my psoriasis. It’s been a constant struggle and the more stressed I get, the worse the flare-ups, and then dealing with those flare-ups just adds to the stress. It’s a tough cycle to break.
After trying different things, I started looking into medical cannabis treatments for psoriasis at thos clinic: https://releaf.co.uk/conditions/pain/psoriasis-medical-cannabis-treatment-uk and I’ve been surprised by how much it’s helped. It didn’t solve everything overnight, but the inflammation has gone down, and my skin feels a lot easier to manage. I know a lot of people here in the UK might not even realize this is an option, but it’s been a big help for me"
do you think a lot of people don't realize it is an option because it is not medically available? Is it like it is here in the US? Can you get a medical card to get it? Vickie, Team Member
