Nom de Plume

Which is how the pigment starts coming back in vitiliginous spots. Freckles appear until they form islands of color, which then all hopefully connect. The good news is that after starting the sun exposure, my face is really freckling in. The first week or so of getting sun (10-20 minutes a day, three or four times a week), I would come inside and want to cry because the darkening regular skin really highlights the white bits. But I’ve stuck with it, and it’s really working–and working fast. I no longer feel weird about going outside without makeup on. I look blotchy, but then, I’ve always been blotchy.

The bad news is that I’m still in the active progression stage. It’s getting worse on my shins and underarms. I also have spots on my inner forearms that first started appearing a little over a month ago and are pretty much growing every day. And of course, it’s hard to tell what’s new and growing, and what is just more obvious because I’m getting tanner. It’s a bit of both–but the sad fact is that it is spreading. Strangely, it seems to get worse faster on the areas I’m applying Protopic. I don’t know whether it’s coincidental or not. On www.vitiligosupport.com–a great, great site–many people say that the think it gets worse with Protopic before it gets better. So, as of three days ago, I’m conducting an experiment. I have a tube of Dovonax–a topical vitamin D analogue that works in conjunction with sun exposure–that I’m using on my shins and underarms. We’ll see.

I’m also in the process of getting a home narrowband UVB thing, so I can continue with the phototherapy over the winter. Dealing with insurance is a nightmare, and I will spare you the horrors, particularly as it seems that my last many posts have been incredibly negative. Well, I’ve been feeling pretty negative, so there you have it. But I just keep reminding myself that my face IS repigmenting and that’s a really, really good thing.

By the way, I also ordered a book called Vitiligo, Current Knowledge and Nutritional Therapy, written by an Argentinian doctor who has seen incredible results using a combination of b12, folic acid, and vitamin c. I’ve upped my dose of folic acid to his recommended levels–5 mg a day (his minimum). His treatment takes a really long time, but it is used without sun exposure. That german clinic I mentioned before uses a similar approach.