Low Dosages .05 or.5? Of Methotrexate As Treatment For Difficult Case Of Discoid Lupus!

Hi,

My older brother 72 has chronic Psorias. He had a major outbreak over his entire body for a year.  This was not a norm for him. I took him to six Dermatologist, not one could help him. They said because of his age, his body is changing and he would have to live with it! They became complacent. I repeatedly told them this was not a norm for him!

I didn't give up! I took my brother to the UCI Dermatology clinic, the older experienced. world known male Dermatologist said after hearing my brother's story and looking over my brother's total body said, "I got exactly what he needs, Methotrexate, with lab monitoring!"

 He was right! It absolutely worked! My brother's body has been visually clear for six months or more!

Now I'm 62 male, I been told that I have Discoid Lupus on my scalp. I used to wear an hair piece seven years, no problem, until three years ago. Three years ago I started getting itching, rashes or skin outbreaks on my scalp. I believe that foreign plastic polymer base triggered the immune system to generate antibodies to fight that artificial hair base.

In my research I keep hearing there's many variations of Discoid Lupus, some that act and look like a form of Psorias. I want to chat with everyone about possibly using low dosages of Methotrexate with lab monitoring for my difficult case of Discoid Lupus!

 Thank you!

 Morbius

Hello Morbius

Methotrexate can be used for skin lupus but rarely, I'd say, whereas it is standard treatment for psoriasis.
Imuran is usually preferred if more than antimalarials is needed to get discoid lupus under control. The first line of oral medication is Plaquenil. If that doesn't show improvement after a couple of months, it is common to add Quinacrine to it. This will very satisfactorily treat the majority of cases. Antimalarials can only be used with great caution in psoriasis because they can make it worse.

Skin lupus is divided into three main groups depending on what extent of systemic disease they tend to be associated with. True discoid is the most sort common of skin lupus not usually associated with SLE. That's called chronic cutaneous. The malar rash sort commonly associated with SLE is called acute cutaneous. The third sort is called subacute cutaneous and is often associated with certain systemic symptoms and often has enough criteria for an SLE diagnosis but usually without major organ involvement, what's usually called 'mild' lupus although it can affect everyday life quite badly.

This subacute cutaneous has two main sorts of lesion. One is red wavy rings with white centres, the other is the red rough plaques that resemble psoriasis. Obviously you need to be sure what is affecting your scalp to get the best treatment.

If it is shown to be lupus related a good dermatologist will run the usual lupus tests to make sure there aren't signs of systemic disease of some sort. Sun protection is essential and topical creams and/or intralesional injections can sometimes help.

Good Luck
BB

Post Edited (BumbleBee1) : 8/26/2009 11:47:04 AM (GMT-6)