INLAK

For the last 5 months or so I've been suffering from pustular psoriasis on my palms and fingers. It was originally diagnosed as an allergy, but extensive testing ruled that out and was rediagnosed.
It starts of with clumps of small white blisters which eventually burst and merge into larger patches bthese then go severely red and scaly.
I was prescribed several strong topical steroids and eucerin creams. I was also moisturizing with pure aloe Vera. This seemed to help a little and after a couple of months it started to heal and had almost disappeared.
However in the last few weeks it has returned with a vengeance. The palm of my right hand is about 80% covered in scaly red skin. My left is about 40% covered. Strangely, the fingers on my left hand are worse than on the right and it is now affecting my nails as well, resulting in thickening and discoloration.
At the minute it is quite debilitating, getting to the point where I struggle to hold a pen as I'm right handed.
I have taken to wearing fingerless cotton gloves, not only to protect the skin but also to hide them. The reaction of people on seeing it can be quite strong and off putting. I can see people pull back from placing something into my hands, especially when getting change at checkouts in shops.

There's a couple of threads from years ago on here dealing with psoriasis, but I'm just wondering if anyone has suffered the same and can recommend anything for me to try. I'm starting to get desperate!!

Thanks in advance.

pulse1

I suffered from this when I was in my mid twenties and was prescribed betnovate cream which just kept it from drying out and cracking. I used to wear gloves to play badminton.

At 28 I got married and, within 2 - 3 weeks it had completely disappeared. Occasionally a few blisters would reappear but these quickly responded to betnovate treatment. I haven't had any further problems for over forty years.

The rapid change after getting married suggests to me that it was stress related although I was not aware of any particular stress at the time. Obviously , marriage meant a complete change in lifestyle e.g diet, home etc. so it could have been related to any or all of these.

Not much help I'm afraid but more help than my doctor at the time who said I would have it for life.

p.s. Thinking about it after all these years I have suddenly had a new thought. The family I was living with at the time had a daughter who had psoriasis all over her legs. This suggests that it could be allergy related. I left that home when I got married.

Rory Dixon

INLAK,
interesting symptoms you describe, I am not totally convinced that your disease is in fact psoriasis. So, if you were not seen by an experienced specialist (and not every dermatologist might by up to snuff in this field), that would be the first thing to do.
If it is in fact psoriasis, there are very encouraging results in using aggressive medication with effects on inflammatory pathways, namely TNF-alpha antagonists. They are generally used in rheumatoid arthritis, but, as said, their use has increased in psoriasis (especially witha acompanying joint disease, which is grossly underdiagnosed) and I have seen remarkable effects in some patients.
Nevertheless, do to the risk and cost profile of these substances, this is only something for the few doctors really focussing on this disease.
As you do not state the country you are living in, I can not comment on potential availability, nevertheless, it might be limited in the NHS.

gingernut

Who made the diagnosis?