My Skyrizi Experience (Psoriasis)
I’m a 43M and have had some form of psoriasis for as long as I can remember. As a child I struggled with scalp psoriasis, but was able to manage it some with various shampoos and sunlight in the summer months. At 17 years old I had a bad case of strep throat and that caused a breakout of stubborn guttate psoriasis. I managed this with steroid creams and sunlight. I had periods of remission, but anytime strep throat occurred it would pop back up. When I was 35 I started Otezla and had immediate and long term success until this last January when I had a bad case of strep throat again. Otezla just lost its effectiveness and UVB therapy just wasn’t cutting it. This recent outbreak of guttate was the absolute worst I’ve ever had it… just everywhere and to the point i was uncomfortable wearing a t shirt and couldn’t sleep at night. So my doctor recommended Skyrizi… here’s how the first 3 doses have gone:
FIRST LOADING DOSE (Early April): No immediate improvement in the first couple of weeks and it actually felt like it was getting worse. By week 3 the discomfort went away and by the end of week 4, right before second loading dose, I could actually see spots fading and leaving behind hypopigmentation where spots once were.
SECOND LOADING DOSE (Early May): This is where things took off. About a week after that second dose, I actually felt secure enough to wear shorts and short sleeve shirts. There was still a lot of hypopigmentation, but I wanted to start getting some sun exposure to blend it in. By July I would say I was 100% clear and any hypopigmentation had blended in.
FIRST MAINTENANCE DOSE (Last Friday): still doing great!
TLDR: I just wanted to share my story because psoriasis is a massive pain in the ass and takes a mental toll on you because it is irritating and, quite frankly, unsightly. I know I dwell on it when it happens and waiting on any new therapy to start working feels like an eternity. Hang in there and I hope you’re also successful. Cheers!