With the National Psoriasis Foundation’s National Volunteer Conference this coming week, I felt inspired to right about how psoriasis is currently affecting my life. Not to mention, I’m beyond excited for the conference, seeing my fellow #psobloggers, learning so much more on being a psoriasis online influencer and hearing about the current research on psoriasis and psoriatic disease.

Now a little bit about me and my psoriasis and pregnancy journey. Currently, I am 21 weeks pregnant and so far everything is “perfect” as the doctor put it—yay! When I got pregnant I was nervous and excited to see how my psoriasis would either improve, stay the same or worsen. Here’s where I’m at:

All of the psoriasis spots on my stomach has disappeared. It was so weird to look down and not see them there any more.

The spots on and inside my ears have also disappeared. I was so self-conscience about these spots in the past. I would never want to put my hair up for fear of what people would think if they saw the spots. I still have my hair down most of the time just because that’s how I’ve always worn it. But there has been such a load off my shoulders to know that now I can put my hair up and I’m flake-free.

Now, for the other areas. The psoriasis spots on my elbows and scalp have literally been with me since the moment I got diagnosed, almost 15 years ago. For whatever reason, they will not go away. They do say that those spots—including the knees—are the hardest to put into remission. The skin on your knees and elbows are by far the toughest skin on your body. Which means medicine has to work twice as hard to penetrate those areas. The skin on your scalp is also extremely thick and very hard to penetrate with any kind of medication. The only treatment that I have found that works has been light therapy. But because of the high cost of it and all the red tape with insurance, it’s hard(and expensive) to continue treatment.

But I will tell you I have seen a few things happen to those areas since I’ve been pregnant:

  • The itchiness and flakiness has diminished.
  • You can still see the discoloration—or small red patches—on my elbows. But the flakiness is not there.
  • I can also tell there are still spots on my scalp—I can feel them when I’m shampooing. But the itchiness isn’t there. It’s crazy!

The main reason they say that psoriasis may improve with pregnancy is the increased levels of estrogen. More information here.

To keep the itchiness and flakiness at bay for my elbows, I use Parry Botanical line. I LOVE this natural organic line with shea butter. It doesn’t leave the skin feeling oily—which is great. More on this fabulous line later!

For my scalp, I am just using a sulfate-free shampoo. Specifically OGX Quenched Sea Mineral Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. The sulfates in regular shampoos are said to irritate and worsen psoriasis. Ever since reading that, I have switched to a sulfate-free shampoo and never looked back.  Best part is: it’s AFFORDABLE and you can find it at any local grocery store. Score!

I know everyone is completely different when it comes to psoriasis. When you add in a pregnancy you’re bound to see some crazy things! It’s just really interested to see those things in play right now. I will continue to write about how my psoriasis is doing throughout my pregnancy along with some fun fashion posts as well!

Are you pregnant and have psoriasis? When did you see it improve/worsen? What tips did you do throughout your pregnancy? I would love to hear below!