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Help with Morphea treatment

Posted by gila @gila, Dec 23, 2023

I was just diagnosed by skin biopsy with Morphea scleroderma after 2 years of constant fatigue and many changing symptoms after having my second round of Covid. I was fully vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine. My plaques are mostly my chest, trunk and upper thighs. Currently taking Hydroxychloroquine to calm immune system down and Gabapentin for the nerve pain, the pins and needles and burning skin. I also have clobetasol ointment twice a day mixed into Jojoba oil to my skin. The doctor says Morphea often “burns itself out in 5 years”, but can come back. I would like to connect with others who have or have had this disease. What treatments worked best for you? Did your disease go into remission? Did your muscles also ache and get very stiff? Did diet affect your symptoms? I seem to react to many foods now.
Thank you

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ronag | @ronag | Dec 24, 2023

I can understand your pain. I had morphea on my thigh about two decades ago. The itchiness was insane. The dermatologist I was seeing prescribed different cortisone creams, none of which helped; but, I must admit I wasn't very compliant. After a year or so and with much effort, I didn't let myself scratch the area. Eventually, the itch stopped. I'm still left with discoloration of the skin, but no itchiness, so I guess the morphea just burnt itself out. I don't recall any muscle ache or excessive fatigue, nor did I change my diet.
Wishing you the best.

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1 reply
gila | @gila | Dec 24, 2023
In reply to @ronag "I can understand your pain. I had morphea on my thigh about two decades ago. The..." + (show)
@ronag

I can understand your pain. I had morphea on my thigh about two decades ago. The itchiness was insane. The dermatologist I was seeing prescribed different cortisone creams, none of which helped; but, I must admit I wasn't very compliant. After a year or so and with much effort, I didn't let myself scratch the area. Eventually, the itch stopped. I'm still left with discoloration of the skin, but no itchiness, so I guess the morphea just burnt itself out. I don't recall any muscle ache or excessive fatigue, nor did I change my diet.
Wishing you the best.

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Thank you so much for your reply! I have read there are degrees of Morphea, and it can go down to muscle and bone, which is pretty scary. Hopefully, this won’t be part of my story. Sounds like yours was localized. I too have the older plaques that have turned large areas of my skin brown. New ones pop up as bright red. It seems like a lot of foods will kick off a flare of symptoms. I did an elimination diet and the one constant culprit is wheat. Also can’t stand some fabrics or elastic on my skin. It’s like every nerve ending is so reactive. An unexpected but appreciated effect is that I have lost 20 pounds since August. The fact yours disease eventually “burned out” gives me hope. Thank you 🙏

REPLY
1 reply
ronag | @ronag | Dec 24, 2023
In reply to @gila "Thank you so much for your reply! I have read there are degrees of Morphea, and..." + (show)
@gila

Thank you so much for your reply! I have read there are degrees of Morphea, and it can go down to muscle and bone, which is pretty scary. Hopefully, this won’t be part of my story. Sounds like yours was localized. I too have the older plaques that have turned large areas of my skin brown. New ones pop up as bright red. It seems like a lot of foods will kick off a flare of symptoms. I did an elimination diet and the one constant culprit is wheat. Also can’t stand some fabrics or elastic on my skin. It’s like every nerve ending is so reactive. An unexpected but appreciated effect is that I have lost 20 pounds since August. The fact yours disease eventually “burned out” gives me hope. Thank you 🙏

Jump to this post

Other bits of advice I was given was to only have soft cotton clothes in contact with my skin.--no synthetics, woolens, etc.; to try to limit the length of my showers; and to use as cool as possible water in the shower. Hope that helps.

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