I was diagnosed with psoriasis
at age 14 and now I am 36 years old. You can say that I have
tried just about every medicine both approved by FDA and trial
without much success. Examples include Enbrel, Humira, oral
meds, creams, oils, salts, coal tar, etc and the list is much
more extensive that I can't even remember all of the names. My
dermatologists over the years have told me the benefits of light
therapy, but I was scared. I thought that it would hurt me and
would take so much of my time (going to and from my doctors
office three times a week). About two years ago, I gave in. I
decided that nothing else was working and I was tired of being
embarrassed to wear shorts or short sleeve shirts because it
would raise too many questions of what was all over my body.
I went to the doctor and she
started my light (UVB) treatments for a short amount of time and
then increased slowly for many reasons: 1) I have very light
skin and eyes she had to make sure that I didn't burn -it takes
hours sometimes for a burn to come out. 2) to see what the
lowest amount of light would help my psoriasis-no reason to do
an extensive amount when just a little will do. 3) Started out
just twice a week and then three times a week. My skin and
psoriasis seemed to like this time frame.
Well, I was right. It was time
consuming going into my doctors office three times a week and
expensive too. I had to pay a co-insurance every time I went to
get my treatments. You can do the math $30 (3) times a
week--crazy. It was a benefit to start out with the treatments
at my doctors office because it helped me see that the
treatments work and under the supervision of my doctor to do it
safely, but now I was ready for the next phase. My doctor sent
a letter to my insurance and I was approved to have a light box
in my own home. The insurance approved it because it was
extremely expense for them if I continued to go to my doctors
office. It took about two weeks after that for me to get my
light box. So, three times a week, in the privacy of my own
home--I do my light treatment on my Panosol II 311mm NB UVB
light box. It is slim and easy to move around-takes up very
little space. I happen to have a large 1/2 bathroom, so it stays
in there. Since it is on wheels I can move it when I need to.
I still go see my doctor, but a
lot less. And I still take precautions as my doctors tells me,
but my skin is sooo much better. I am getting married in Oct,
2008 and I am wearing a strapless gown that also shows my back
and I am confident (not like before) that my skin will be soft
and pretty vs red and flakey.
