Ananya's Story

Medical student, Ananya, first noticed her psoriasis in 2022. She shares her story.

I am Ananya Pandey, a 23-year-old medical student. In 2022, I first noticed some hard scaly things on my scalp and under my hair. At first I thought it was dandruff or scalp dermatitis, but over the next few months I noticed it (scaly circular hard white patches) spreading to my stomach, lower extremities, scalp region, behind my ear, near neck and in the back. Itching became unbearable despite applying various lotion.

When I met with my dermatologist for the first session, she diagnosed me with psoriasis. This is a condition where skin cells multiply very rapidly. But it was extremely hard for me to hear that currently there is no permanent cure for this. Doctors can’t completely cure it, but it can be managed with lifestyle modification. It is triggered by stress and anxiety which made my condition worse.

Every second seeing my body full of plaque everywhere is really depressing. I feel itchy and suddenly the breaking of silver plaque makes me bleed. I was hiding my patches.

Allopathy gives temporary treatment and after that again, remission of this disease happens. It is one of the most challenging times for me when I am suffering from this.

Some people say, “Psoriasis should not control our life,” I get motivated by this. I never let psoriasis control my personal happiness. I am still going through this and will fight until the end. In the end, I would like to motivate all my psoriasis patients who are going through the same situations. I know it’s very hard but don’t give up. The time will come that you will be freed from this problem.