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Hi all, I just want to chime in on this thread and encourage everyone with any of the symptoms mentioned to consult one or a million doctors until they get a definitive answer. This thread is actually how I first found TFP, and since then I've been diagnosed with Lichen Sclerosus. My symptoms probably started a long time ago, but weren't persistent and severe until more recently. I have/had flaking skin, severe itching, the infamous 6 o'clock tear that everyone's talking about, rectal itching and bleeding (yum!), skin thickening/color changing in spots. I was (in retrospect, stupidly) afraid to go to the doctor at first, fearing bad STD news or something, but I'm only sorry I waited as long as I did. My doctors are amazing, and biopsy punched me before I could count to three. The biopsy wasn't pleasant, but was worth its weight in gold for the diagnosis. They've shuffled me right off to an expert who wrote a book about this stuff, and I'm about to start treatment. My nurse also has LS, and told me of her mother's symptoms that went misdiagnosed ad untreated for years, until she was diagnosed with vulvar cancer. That risk does exist for the affected skin if this disease doesn't get nipped in the bud, so this is my public service announcement begging everyone to seek out answers and not settle with the discomfort and pain.
I'm beginning to hear murmurs of LS everywhere, and I'm really beginning to wonder just how widespread this is. When the nurse gave me the results over the phone, she said this was the third diagnosed case in their office this week. From what I'd read, I was under the impression that this is a rare thing that shows up in post-menopausal women. Well, it seems to be everywhere and I'm only 26, so...
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