Talk:Pityriasis rubra pilaris

Progression/Stages

Hang in there, it will resolve. Acitreitin is the best med for most. My progression:

March, 2011-- noticed odd rash on chest after a workout. April, 2011-- after rapid spreading, diagnosed w/ PRP. Whole body is red with a very few islands of sparing. May, 2011-Oct, 2011-- Worst period. Extreme scaling, edema in early stages, palmar/plantar keratoderma, anhidrosis, chills, etc. Three baths a day, heavy cream over whole body after each one. Life completely changed. Oct, 2011-- Mayo Clinic. Began acitreitin. Oct, 2011-Dec, 2011-- worst symptoms subside. Scaling stops. Keratoderma resolves. Still red. Jan, 2012-June, 2012-- Resolution of PRP/spontaneous transformation to psoriasis/psoriaform lesions. Redness faded everywhere except face, which varied from hour to hour. Vascular system still very dilated, so in areas of thin skin, the redness persists. Small discolored spots on trunk and, less frequently, on limbs. The spontaneous transformation to psoriatic looking conditions is well known in PRP, suggesting a link in the underlying disease mechanism. Sweating returns. June, 2012-June, 2013-- varying frequency/severity of psoriaform spots. Tar shampoo and topical steroids helps somewhat. Face still red much of the time, esp. nose. June, 2013-- Tanned for first time in 2 years, got mild burn. Psoriaform spots resolve immediately. I consider this the end of my PRP saga, although facial redness still remains. Since I am sometimes on camera or speaking before groups, I use women's blush (I'm a guy) to cover up the redness sometimes. June, 2016-- Facial redness finally resolved. Just not there anymore. I suddenly realized this one day, it was so gradual. June, 2017-- scalp is white again rather than the mild pink you could detect if you pulled my hair back

This is a fairly typical progression. The first 6 months was terrible and it took about a year to really subside. After that, mild embarrassment about my face looking too red or the spots on my chest were about the only issues. The vascular dilation goes away so slowly that the "fade" on your face, scalp, etc., is very gradual and not noticeable over short periods of time.

I have one remaining symptom that I presume will never go away. My skin is dry, drier than it ever was previously.

And there's actually some positives. Every mole, wart, whatever, was destroyed by the acitreitin, leaving my skin utterly blemish free. The massive scaling also seems to have acted like a non stop dermabrasion. Fine lines around my eyes, the lines by your cheeks, etc., were all noticeably lessened or gone after the terrible flare went away. I actually look younger than my 47 years. Go figure.

Six years later, I don't even think of it anymore, just a weird thing that happened to me once. So take hope! The worst period will end and it will all go away. Find a good doc and do the acetreitin. You will be ok in the long run.109.103.81.34 (talk) 08:23, 1 October 2017 (UTC)WW