Hello everyone!
It's been a while since I've posted here, and quite a lot has happenned in the interim...
Last thing I spoke about was a nasty reaction to Dithranol - I burned and it was sore, yuk! Dermo then prescribed Dovobet which worked wonders, even after a few days. All the spots calmed down, the burns subsided, the elbows were looking better than in years after two weeks and the spots almost history.
My confidence went up and I felt great that SOMETHING was working for me.
THEN... Walking home one night, I was assaulted (punched and knocked to the ground) and robbed of my mobile phone. After the swelling went down, it was discovered my cheekbone had been fractured in three places. Operation under general anesthetic to re-position the bones and the fixation of a small titanium plate ensued.
As one would expect; the shock, worry, etc., before the op didn't do the P much good. And I stopped applying the Dovobet; that daily routine wasn't at the top of my agenda at the time.
After getting out of hospital I looked like a dalmation; the P had returned with a vengence!
Well, that was six weeks ago now, and the news is mixed...
- I look pretty again thanks to the wonderfully skilled maxillofacial surgeon; no-one could possibly tell I'd recently had a scarey op to fix my flattenned face!
- I'm VERY happy on the romance front; its been a whole six-weeks now, yay! Couldn't have happenned at a better time for me.
- But the P's as bad as ever. My torso's spotted all round; arms and legs are quite dotted too. Scalp and face are fine though, so that's something.
Saw my dermo again tonight.
He obviously sympathised with what had happenned and checked me over. Reckoned the P was no worse than when I saw his a few months ago, I thought it definitely was worse.
Told me to carry-on with the Dovobet till I can start UV-B at my local hospital. Had a chat about trying something else in the interim, so also got a prescription for Exorex, so I'll give it a go and give my skin a break from Dovobet and see what happens. Roll on the UV treatment though, he's arranging it with the hospital right next door to my work which will be *so* convenient.
In summary...
* Dovobet DID work for me, initially. Lots of torso and leg spots virtually disappeared within a couple of weeks and plaques on elbows improved a lot;
* But a 'trauma' coupled with stopping using it brought it back worse than before.
* Fingers crossed for UV!
Good luck to you all in your quest for clear skin; and don't get glum when you see baby-bum-smooth-skinned models advertising perfume / razor blades / shower gel / toothpaste... We all know they've been photoshopped to hell and spent *hours* in makeup darling!
Just wanted to share my recent ups and downs with you all; I'm not going for the sympathy vote here!
Martin xx
