Posted 7/29/2013 2:29 PM (GMT 0)
My husband also has skin issues with Remciade. They say his is eczema, not psoriasis, but both are very similar conditions. He's had eczema issues since he was little, so we couldn't tell if it was because of the remciade, or despite the remciade. In either case, Remicade has kept his crohn's in remission, and both his dermatologist and his GI agree that we just need to manage the eczema and continue taking the remicade because Crohn's is far worse to deal with.
To manage his eczema, he uses a topical non-steroidal cream called Protopic (tacrolimus). He uses it everyday, and his dermatologist said that he has no concerns with him using that cream daily, even though there are no long term studies on its daily use. He said that he prescribes it to babies, and he's not really concerned about my hubby using it long term. It does not cause skin thinning problems like steroid creams do. My husband uses steroid creams very sparingly, and thus far has managed fine with just tacrolimus.
My husband has had problems with eczema in his ear, and for that, he uses steroid drops when needed called dermotic. Also, he's used a "ear dryer" to dry out his ears after a shower, to retain his hearing and not have water accumulate in his outer ear.
I hope something like this works for you.
PV