Psoriasis and other skin issues
Does anyone else have odd/annoying skin issues unrelated to psoriasis, but in addition to psoriasis?
When I first got my ears pierced (before the onset of psoriasis), the gold studs they used were fine, but when I started buying earrings, they all made the piercing holes become infected. Necklaces would leave a rash around my neck, forget rings or bracelets. It wasn't until some years later that I found that only gold and real silver didn't affect me - although I had a very wide gold wedding band for a while and during the summer I'd often get a small heat rash under the ring.
Later still, I learned about nickel.
I also discovered that I can't be in constant contact with some types of rubber. Remember the cheap white Keds knock-offs? I could wear those for a couple hours at a time, but after that, or if my feet sweated at all, the soles of my feet would be a red blistered mess. Keds and other higher-end shoes didn't affect me like that, which of course, coupled with only being able to wear "expensive" jewelry earned me quite a few "high maintenance" comments.
The first time I was hospitalized was my first pregnancy. I had twins and the second child was an emergency c-section. They taped me from the belly-button down and hip to hip. I had a reaction to the tape and it was sheer agony when it had to come off.
I can wear latex gloves to cut up hot peppers or icky chores for a little while, but if I leave a bandage on too long, the rash is sometimes worse than whatever I was trying to protect in the first place.
I know people have allergies and apparently those are mine. But I'm not allergic to anything else, at all (well ... bees, but no foods or medications). I have to wonder if metal and latex are just another example of my hyperactive immune system seeing a threat that isn't real and reacting.
Does anyone else have odd skin issues or reactions?
, this is such a great topic! Nickel and latex sensitivities/allergies have come up a few times among the community. I don't seem to have trouble with these, but I do have trouble with piercings. For me, that seems to be related to the Koebner phenomenon though (I haven't worn earrings for years but I still get psoriasis/minor infections in the piercing sites).
I also am quite sensitive to the tape that they use after a blood test. I can't imagine how much pain you were in after the c-section 😥 Something else that happened to me was when I got psoriatic arthritis, I developed a sensitivity/allergy to ascorbic acid - synthetic vitamin C. I would suddenly get a huge rash around my mouth every time I ate anything with it in. This never happened to me prior to PsA and I've had psoriasis for more or less my whole life. Like you, I do wonder if my immune system started going overboard all of a sudden and this was a result of that.
I thought you might also be interested to read's experiences with sensitive skin and psoriasis: https://plaquepsoriasis.com/living/cause-sensitive-skin I'm very interested to hear others' experiences with this! Thanks for starting this discussion, Amy! -Catherine, Community Moderator Hi
! How odd about your piercing sites - years later. And the tape used in hospitals is supposedly hypoallergenic, so why does it affect us?
As to synthetic C - how frustrating to have to read labels so closely or risk a rash (on your face of all places) - and what about when you eat away from home? How can you ever be sure? I can imagine how challenging that is! And it's so frustrating when these new things pop up. "Now what?? What fresh new H3ll is my body throwing at me?"One thing I'm still not clear on. Are psoriasis and PsA two separate autoimmune diseases or are they two aspects of one disease? I have PsA too, and I have noticed new things that never impacted me before the onset of PsA symptoms. I've lived in coastal Georgia for over 15 years and in the past few years since the onset of PsA, biting flies (evil, pure evil) leave itchy welts that take weeks to heal, but that was never the case before. Prior to PsA, anything that bit me would heal up in minutes most of the time, or by the next morning worst case. Now? Weeks.
I also sunburn a lot easier than I ever did, and they hurt worse.Thank you for the link to Vicki's article - that all resonates!
You know, one thing I've noticed since being on this site (and the PsA site) is that it's helped job my memory about things and make connections I never realized might exist. It never crossed my mind recently that those sensitivities might be connected to psoriatic disease.
Thank you for sharing Catherine!
psoriatic arthritis is a separate disease from psoriasis. Yes psoriasis can cause psoriatic arthritis because of the inflammation the psoriasis causes. However, people can have psoriatic arthritis before any issue of psoriasis becomes known. That is why they are considered commorbidities. Hope this helps answer your question. Vickie W., Team Member , those biting flies sound awful. Our bodies definitely seem to like to overreact to things. The vitamin C thing was a challenge to start with but I figured out that it's mainly added to bread/pastries and pork products. I used to react to all of those but now I only seem to react to pork products (unless I overdo it on the bread or pastries), so it's fairly easy to avoid/manage now. The reaction actually seemed to calm down since starting on methotrexate, which also makes me wonder!
I know what you mean about your memory being jogged by others sharing in these communities. Actually, your comment about sunburn jogged my memory! I totally forgot that I also seem to have developed a reaction to the sun this year. I had lots of small red lumps/blisters come up on both of my arms. The pharmacist said it's "inflammation from the sun" but not sunburn or heat rash. My sister (who also has psoriasis) gets something called polymorphic light eruption, and I believe this is what's started to happen to me too. Apparently it's an immune response to the UV rays... I can definitely relate to thinking "Now what??" 😅
You're not alone in wondering about whether psoriasis and PsA are separate or part of the same condition. As Vickie says, I believe the current thinking is that they're separate conditions which are strongly linked, but there are people who believe that they're different manifestations of the same condition. Nothing's ever straightfoward when it comes to psoriatic disease ! Hoping today is kind to you and the biting flies stay away! -Catherine, Community Moderator
Hi
funny you should state this. When I first got my ears pierced I could only wear surgical steel posts or my ears would become infected. Now I can wear any earrings and I am mostly fine unless they are heavy earrings. I understand about the gloves because I went through that also. My hands were covered in psoriasis so I had to stop wearing gloves because it would make my hands burn. I always chalked it up to the psoriasis but you could be on the right track about the hyperactive immune system. Vickie W., Team Member
