‘I’ve been clear for more than a year’

Greg Pittard, 48, commercial director from NW London

I had psoriasis for 18 years on my arms, chest, back and knees. In 2017 I was accepted as the last patient for UK trials of Soratinex conducted by Professor Anthony Chu [former Senior Consultant in Dermatology at Imperial Healthcare Trust, Hammersmith and Ealing Hospitals].

I went along but didn’t hold out much hope.

At the time, my psoriasis covered about 25 per cent of my body when it flared up. I found it frustrating and upsetting. I’m quite a confident chap and I learned long ago about the importance of inner strength and self-belief so I wasn’t overly-dominated by my condition or what other people think of it.

Greg before Soratinex	Greg after Soratinex
Greg before Soratinex	Greg after Soratinex

However, I used to love swimming but I stopped about two years earlier when I became self-conscious of people looking at me. I’d also given up on finding a partner because I simply couldn’t imagine getting into intimate situations with the way I was feeling about my body.

I used steroid-based creams prescribed by my doctor, spent an awful lot of time trying to find out what caused it and spent a lot of money being seen privately, but everyone I saw seemed to say the same thing: “We don’t really know what causes it. Here, put some cream on.”

I heard about the Soratinex trial from a friend went along and when I was told it involved another cream – as well as an oil and gel – I thought, “Oh, here we go again”. But I used the treatment twice a day as instructed and within days I was seeing an improvement.

Greg’s thigh before and after

It is quite a powerful thing to watch something quickly clear up that you pretty much felt was irreversible. The cream is wonderful and it smells great; so is the oil – you almost feel you could eat it! Within a couple of days my red patches were starting to clear up and then I began to see other patches below them, which were areas of normal skin.

Then it became less inflamed – that is something psoriasis sufferers will find very important – and my skin calmed right down. It is continuing to improve and I’m seeing clear, good skin. There is about a 70 per cent improvement and obviously I’m hoping it goes to 100 per cent.

I have now been clear for more than a year, and that is the phenomenal thing about this. People with psoriasis sometimes find treatments that work for a while, but the problem always comes back after a short time. I don’t even have to use Soratinex every day – I only use it occasionally now and yet I remain clear.

Recently, I went on holiday and was able to strip down like everybody else and lie by the pool. It felt wonderful.