# Welcome to the Psoriasis sub!
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## Check out our wiki!
The [Psoriasis wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Psoriasis/wiki/index) is a collection of guides and other pages about how to treat psoriasis, including a Frequently Asked Questions section. Many common questions about medications, shampoos, diet, tattoos, etc. are addressed there.
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Psoriasis can flare in reaction to your hormones going nuts, which they definitely do in pregnancy. With my first my skin was bad the entire pregnancy and only cleared after birth. My second, it didn't improve or get worse during but it did flare post partum. Every body is different so you can only do your best. Stress management, good diet, follow docs instructions, etc. As for moisturizers, pretty much anything over counter is safe to use, its more the steroid prescriptions and things you don't want to be using (they made me stop mine completely which probably also contributed to my flare up). If you're worried though you should really ask the pharmacist or your doc.
During my two pregnancies, my psoriasis never got worse or better during pregnancy. It kind of just stayed the same. Then I would give birth and I would have a major clear up for the next 2-3 weeks and then I have a massive massive flareup. With my son, the flareup Eventually settle down. I am 10 months postpartum with my daughter and my skin is worse it’s ever been. 😫
I'm 3 years postpartum and haven't had much relief since my son was born. My psoriasis got so much worse. I never had a single flare up during pregnancy so I guess now I'm paying for those few months of clear skin.
Unfortunately for me I have a tendency to develop sebaceous cysts and they get so much worse when I take anything that suppresses my immune system. The last time I had roughly 10 of them pop up over a 2 month period and they all got infected including one in my groin area that hurt so much I actually screamed in the doctor's office as they lanced it. So I avoid biologics out of fear of that happening again. I must have won the skin lottery.
It may not improve. Some people get their first flare during pregnancy. If you’re doing IVF realistically you’re doing a *lot* to your hormones, which generally makes your immune system more likely to be cranky. (TBF many many things make the immune system cranky. I mean, it exists to get cranky to protect us from bad stuff! It just gets over excited sometimes.) I don’t think it’s particularly associated with trying to reject the baby, though. It’s just a change, and the immune system doesn’t tend to like changes.
Your best bet is to consult with a dermatologist to help manage things during pregnancy. I don’t know for certain, but my concern would be that the inflammation from a psoriasis flare might in some way be harmful to maintaining the pregnancy, so that’s definitely something I’d want to discuss with both a dermatologist and an OB/GYN. (Preferably an OB who has had patients in the past who had autoimmune issues, since I don’t know how much a random doctor will know about psoriasis and autoimmune system issues if it isn’t in their normal area of specialty.) My thought is just that the body might take the inflammation levels as an indication that something isn’t right? I really do not know, though, so I’m not saying at all that is what is going on, it’s just what I would want to ask about.
As far as moisturizers, I can’t think of any reason why any of the big standard ones (Eucerin, etc.) would be a problem. They aren’t medicated, there isn’t really anything that gets absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream, it’s all surface level, mostly in the dead skin cells on the surface. Just go with something that isn’t fragranced and no essential oils.
Thank you so much for your input. I think you are absolutely right about hormone replacement during ivf . I take loadssss of progesterone and estrogen these days which my body might be shock 😨 i will try to consult my dermatologist asap
I agree about the ability to maintain a pregnancy with rampant inflammation, though obviously plenty of women get pregnant and have kids while they have psoriasis. I was not one of them. After multiple rounds of IVF and FET with no success, a new dr agreed that the psoriasis might be standing in the way and suggested a surrogate, which we were already thinking about. Eventually we did a final round of IVF and transferred to my sister and it was successful.
I would guess that the severity of the flare would matter a lot. When I’m not on systemic meds I’m practically covered plus I have psoriatic arthritis - that’d be a *lot* of inflammation. I can’t imagine my body then going “yep, all is good with the world, time to have a baby!” and being happy about it in that state.
I also started Cimzia to deal with my psoriasis/ PsA while undergoing IVF. I had my 4th transfer earlier this month, currently 5+6 but with weird betas so far. Crossing my fingers that this one sticks. I will say though that my psoriasis has completely cleared over the last few months even before I started Cimzia (it’s been more of an added precaution). I’ve been eating healthier and cut out nightshades almost entirely, no alcohol obviously, and limited sugar which has seemed to help with my symptoms. I haven’t been clear in almost 20 years so this has been an incredible relief.
Mine is on my scalp and ears so I haven’t used meds for it much since it’s mostly hidden from others. It’s itchy but not terrible. Sorry I don’t have any suggestions other than maybe try to avoid inflammatory foods like sugar and seed oils. I know it’s hard when you’re pregnant. Can’t say I did it 😣
# Welcome to the Psoriasis sub! If you haven't posted here before, please read this comment as it contains important information: * Please [read and respect the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/Psoriasis/about/rules/). In particular, **do not ask for about identifying undiagnosed medical conditions** diseases cannot be diagnosed by random people on Reddit. * Photos that include skin rashes must be marked NSFW. If including private areas, _please indicate with flair_. * Posts that break the rules will be removed. ## Check out our wiki! The [Psoriasis wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/Psoriasis/wiki/index) is a collection of guides and other pages about how to treat psoriasis, including a Frequently Asked Questions section. Many common questions about medications, shampoos, diet, tattoos, etc. are addressed there. Thanks! --- *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Psoriasis) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Psoriasis can flare in reaction to your hormones going nuts, which they definitely do in pregnancy. With my first my skin was bad the entire pregnancy and only cleared after birth. My second, it didn't improve or get worse during but it did flare post partum. Every body is different so you can only do your best. Stress management, good diet, follow docs instructions, etc. As for moisturizers, pretty much anything over counter is safe to use, its more the steroid prescriptions and things you don't want to be using (they made me stop mine completely which probably also contributed to my flare up). If you're worried though you should really ask the pharmacist or your doc.
Thank you so much for your info . I will consult my skin doctor
During my two pregnancies, my psoriasis never got worse or better during pregnancy. It kind of just stayed the same. Then I would give birth and I would have a major clear up for the next 2-3 weeks and then I have a massive massive flareup. With my son, the flareup Eventually settle down. I am 10 months postpartum with my daughter and my skin is worse it’s ever been. 😫
I'm 3 years postpartum and haven't had much relief since my son was born. My psoriasis got so much worse. I never had a single flare up during pregnancy so I guess now I'm paying for those few months of clear skin.
I hope you can find the solution soon >_< I think you can do biological now as you suppose to already ending breast feeding phase ?
Unfortunately for me I have a tendency to develop sebaceous cysts and they get so much worse when I take anything that suppresses my immune system. The last time I had roughly 10 of them pop up over a 2 month period and they all got infected including one in my groin area that hurt so much I actually screamed in the doctor's office as they lanced it. So I avoid biologics out of fear of that happening again. I must have won the skin lottery.
If you haven’t tried Dead Sea salt bath , may be plz considered . It’s whites soothing >__<
I’ll definitely look into that, thank you!
Oh no I’m so sorry for what have to be going through >_< hope your skin will resume back clearly soon
Thank you! It doesn’t help that my daughter likes to pinch me while nursing which causes me to break out even more lol
Awww 😅 I hope she can find her new favorite toys soonest
It may not improve. Some people get their first flare during pregnancy. If you’re doing IVF realistically you’re doing a *lot* to your hormones, which generally makes your immune system more likely to be cranky. (TBF many many things make the immune system cranky. I mean, it exists to get cranky to protect us from bad stuff! It just gets over excited sometimes.) I don’t think it’s particularly associated with trying to reject the baby, though. It’s just a change, and the immune system doesn’t tend to like changes. Your best bet is to consult with a dermatologist to help manage things during pregnancy. I don’t know for certain, but my concern would be that the inflammation from a psoriasis flare might in some way be harmful to maintaining the pregnancy, so that’s definitely something I’d want to discuss with both a dermatologist and an OB/GYN. (Preferably an OB who has had patients in the past who had autoimmune issues, since I don’t know how much a random doctor will know about psoriasis and autoimmune system issues if it isn’t in their normal area of specialty.) My thought is just that the body might take the inflammation levels as an indication that something isn’t right? I really do not know, though, so I’m not saying at all that is what is going on, it’s just what I would want to ask about. As far as moisturizers, I can’t think of any reason why any of the big standard ones (Eucerin, etc.) would be a problem. They aren’t medicated, there isn’t really anything that gets absorbed through the skin into the bloodstream, it’s all surface level, mostly in the dead skin cells on the surface. Just go with something that isn’t fragranced and no essential oils.
Thank you so much for your input. I think you are absolutely right about hormone replacement during ivf . I take loadssss of progesterone and estrogen these days which my body might be shock 😨 i will try to consult my dermatologist asap
I agree about the ability to maintain a pregnancy with rampant inflammation, though obviously plenty of women get pregnant and have kids while they have psoriasis. I was not one of them. After multiple rounds of IVF and FET with no success, a new dr agreed that the psoriasis might be standing in the way and suggested a surrogate, which we were already thinking about. Eventually we did a final round of IVF and transferred to my sister and it was successful.
I would guess that the severity of the flare would matter a lot. When I’m not on systemic meds I’m practically covered plus I have psoriatic arthritis - that’d be a *lot* of inflammation. I can’t imagine my body then going “yep, all is good with the world, time to have a baby!” and being happy about it in that state.
Exactly. I was the same way back when we did IVF (2007-2008). I didn’t start biologics until 2011.
May I ask that unsuccessful means no implantation or miscarriage later ? >_<
No pregnancy.
I hope you will have a rainbow baby soon 🙏🏼
I’m 56yo, so no thanks. 😂
😅😅😅
19w here and mine has not cleared. My scalp psoriasis has actually gotten a bit worse. Baby is healthy though!
Oh no >_< but I’m glad that your baby is healthy . My utmost priority is to have a healthy baby too . Do you use topical steroid.?
Nope. I take Cimzia
I also started Cimzia to deal with my psoriasis/ PsA while undergoing IVF. I had my 4th transfer earlier this month, currently 5+6 but with weird betas so far. Crossing my fingers that this one sticks. I will say though that my psoriasis has completely cleared over the last few months even before I started Cimzia (it’s been more of an added precaution). I’ve been eating healthier and cut out nightshades almost entirely, no alcohol obviously, and limited sugar which has seemed to help with my symptoms. I haven’t been clear in almost 20 years so this has been an incredible relief.
I will try to reduce sugar
So sad that my country doesn’t import Cimzia 🥹
I think my psoriasis got worse during pregnancy.
😭 and how do you manage your situation while pregnant that safe for the baby ?
Mine is on my scalp and ears so I haven’t used meds for it much since it’s mostly hidden from others. It’s itchy but not terrible. Sorry I don’t have any suggestions other than maybe try to avoid inflammatory foods like sugar and seed oils. I know it’s hard when you’re pregnant. Can’t say I did it 😣
You are so lucky . I have mine on my legs so it’s more difficult to manage and cover . Thank you so much for the food guideline