Leah's Story

Leah experienced a severe flare in her psoriasis whilst she was pregnant. After finding a medication which works for her she is determined to be more open about her condition.

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Hi, my name is Leah and this is my psoriasis story.

I first started to get psoriasis on my face and in my eyebrows when I was just 10, it then spread to everywhere on my body. I was given creams and referred to dermatology where I started on UVB treatment 3 times a week. The UVB treatment helped clear my skin for a while but it didn’t clear up my scalp psoriasis. I would go and see a nurse who would put cream on my head and I would go back early the next morning where she would brush through my hair with a comb to pull the remaining patches out. As much as it made my scalp sore it did work! The patches I had left on my body cleared up when I used Eumovate ointment.

My skin got worse when I was pregnant with my daughter. The patches got bigger and spread faster. It was hard to find a part of my body that didn't have a patch on. After she was born I started on methotrexate, but it didn't agree with me at all so we tried ciclosporin and that was the same. I then started a biologic (Stelara), which I had every 3 months. This completely changed my life, I didn't have one patch of psoriasis on me! My mental health changed too as I just felt so much better about myself. I didn't have to worry about wearing certain clothes to cover up or having my hair a certain way to hide the patches on my hairline and in my ears. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted.

Before I used to be embarrassed to say I had psoriasis as many people didn't know what it was, or my favourite from when I was younger was 'can I catch it?' I am much more open about it now and have also helped a few girls find different treatments. There is a treatment out there for everybody, it's just finding the one that works for you. ❤

Read more real-life stories from people living with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.