Psoriasis Spring Cleaning

It’s almost that time of year—birds are chirping, flowers are budding and people all around the country are going mad cleaning ceiling to floor. My wife is one of those people. The first smell of spring and she is organizing, purging and painting everything in sight. This has been amplified by the new series on Netflix with Marie Kondo. Apparently, everything that doesn’t spark joy is destined to be ditched. I’m afraid I may be tossed out next!

In all seriousness though, it feels good to give life a good deep cleaning after months of being stuck mostly inside. This got me looking at all the things I carry related to my psoriasis that need a good sort-through.

Clothes

I have so many clothes that are in my drawers and closet that I mentally have labeled things I will wear when my skin is better. These consist of light-colored clothing, shorts, and sleeveless shirts. Seeing how I have only been clear for 18 months in the last fifteen years, you can imagine that these clothes don’t see the light of day very often. They definitely don’t make me feel joyful, and in fact, I am often sad as I am constantly reminded that my skin is in the worst condition it has been for a long time. I need to come to peace with the fact that making room for clothes I am comfortable in is more important than holding on to what-ifs.

Over-the-counter products

It is crazy how fast lotions, shampoos, and creams pile up throughout the year. I try something or a little while, decide it isn’t for me and shove it to the back of the medicine cabinet. This pile grows exponentially faster when each time I visit my dermatologist I am sent home with a baggie full of samples. I kid you not. I once had a mini stockpile of over 30 bottles of t-gel shampoos! Plus, since everyone loves to find miracle products, I have a shelf dedicated to “this will help you, because it helped my second cousin’s best friend’s teacher’s psoriasis” bottles. Those are mainly there for show in case the gifter comes over. I’ll even pour or scoop a little out, so it looks like I’ve been using it. Why do I keep all this stuff? Part laziness and part guilt that I spent the money on it or was given it.

Expired prescriptions

Does anyone really pay attention to expiration dates? Well, not me apparently! I have a whole graveyard of half-empty, expired stuff laying around.

Sharps containers

If anyone snuck into my garage, they would be certain I was a junkie. Pharmaceutical companies like to triple-quadruple make sure you have a safe way to dispose of injectors when you start biologic medicines. I was sent two to three at a time, and that is because most of them are so small (most likely for cheaper or easier mailing) that you can only fit a month or two worth of auto-injectors in there. They try and make it easy to return by including self-addressed mailers, but my laziness has gotten the better of me. That being said, the tower of boxes is pretty impressive.

Looking back the majority of these things I have kept around because I didn’t want to be wasteful. But letting them sit there unused is just as wasteful as tossing them out or finding them a good home. What psoriasis things are cluttering up your life?