Vitiligo Support Forum

I  AM TRYIN TO BE HONEST, BUT VITILIGO IS CURSE. AND I HAVE BEEN CURSED FOR TEN YEARS. I CANT WEAR SHORT CLOTHING, I FEEL LESS THEN EVERYONE. ONE TIME I WAS IN THE STORE AND THIS LIL GIRL CAME UP TO ME AND ASK IF I WAS PEALING OR SOMETHING....

ITS NOT FAIR 1 IN 2,000 PEOPLE HAVE VITILIGO....WHY ME...WHEN I NEED TO BE THAT ONE IT NEVER HAPPENS LIKE WINNNIG THE LOTTERY, OR BEING THE PRETTIEST GIRL IN THE ROOM, OR FINDING A GOOD GUY, OR JUST BEING HAPPY...

VITILIGO HAS TAKEN AWAY MY SPIRIT...IT IS TOO THE POINT WHERE I DONT KNOW WHO I AM. I MEAN I PUT ON A FRONT FOR EVRYONE AS IF ITS OKAY, AND I AM FINE WITH THEM CALLIN ME PATCHES BUT I AM NOT....ITS NOT FAIR.

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They Call Me Patches!

I know what you mean it is hard to find out who you really are when you cant be your self.

What is stopping you from wearing short clothing? What is stopping you from being happy and proud of who you are? When it comes down to it, you really have to think about how you want to get through it. Personally, i'd rather think it's a blessing. It doesnt make you any less good looking. And if people do say that, they have stuff of their own to hide. You're unique. Special. So stop thinking that you aren't. you dont have to think of yourself as scarred, or a cow or whatever, think of yourself as a beautiful cup of Macchiato. You might also want to reconsider why you are feeling so unattractive. Is it your weight?That was certainly my problem. I started working out, and got abs that i am proud to say am ripped. My vitilligo is located in my stomach region.Moreover, i'm dark skinned, so the contrast is quite spectacular. I wont lie, i was a fat kid. I never showed myself at a swimming pool or what not.I decided that hey, i am going to be in the best shape i can,and lets see what happens.Now i get comments all the time on how my "curse" complements me so well. As i get to thinking, i know for a fact that i would be so much less of a man without my vitillgo.I have lived with it all my life and any corrective surgery would just make me feel inadequte. Besides, the wife finds it kinky.That's not in relation to any point but i would like to say, only you can choose how you want to live your blessed blessed life.

 

Cheers,

Paul

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you about being a curse. I can totally relate to what you said at the end of your post, because I'm always putting on a front for everyone, but crying inside. It's tiring living life like that, and I wish I could ignore it, but, as soon as I look in the mirror, I feel sad again.

Off topic: Has anyone heard if black pepper really helps or not? I'd like to know.

 

 

~Lisa

i kind of thik vitiligo is a curse, i am nigerian and very dark skinned the stigma attached to my patches is very negative, i work in a research institute where people should know better but... I have a few friends who act really norman and go places with me, others advise me to see a spiritualist for a cure. Overall u need to get positive with your feelings and ignore the rude ones.

they say black pepper helps, and guess what since then i've had it at least once a day, my patches have stopped spreading, but this can be due to the other (200?) things i'm using

I'm a 41 year old white male,with olive skin, who has had vitiligo since i was 17 and i've found that its affected me quite badly (although i've always  been in denial).I've lost count of the times i've had to say whats wrong with my skin followed by the reassuring words "dont worry its not contagious" .Indeed looking back now it makes me wonder just how many oppertunities i've missed out on because they way i look, has these days looks are everything .I've always put a brave face on it and tried my best to disguise my skin first with tattoo's and now that i have it extensively on my face i find that i'm not even shaving has often so has to disguise my chin and neck, and also because it brings it back to me everytime i look in a mirror (which is not very often).I've found also looking back on it that my reaction to vitiligo was one of withdrawing into myself more and becoming very anti-social i also found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that there was no cure, at 17 with a condition like this you think your the only one in the world who has it and people will call you a "freak" all this goes through your head at that age .Over the years i've learned to live with it although i can never accept it i still feel to this day ,when people stare at me in the street, they are thinking "freak".What really bought it home to me was the other day after finally decideing to shave(after 3 weeks growth),my daughter who is 3 and 1/2 years old asked "daddy whats that on your face",and i didnt know what to tell her i dont want to tell her im ill because she will get upset all i could think of was to say its a bit daddy missed then the awful thought came to me could my 2 daughters suffer from vitiligo too?.................so after years of denial im finally going to the doctors to get some help with my condition and prey that i havent passed it onto my girls through my genes

I know what you are talking about and it seems like nobody understands, I have had vitiligo all of my life since I was born, and in grade school they called me "spot-o" because I have it on my eyelids, elbows, knees, and hips. I tan really easily and so most of the year they are very bright against my skin. I was going into a modeling career and was turned down because of it, this curse has in a way ruined my life. I went to a tattoo shop the other day and asked them to tattoo over some of them with designs that I drew but they said they didn't know if it would stay on my skin since there is no pigment. I was pissed! It seems like I am going to be stuck with it forever and I have to learn to deal with it. I am 20 years old and have a great body that I am embarrassed to show off at the beach because people always think I got burned in a fire or that I used the tanning lotion wrong. I HATE IT!!!!

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Spot-o

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Good evening!
I am posting because I do not think that vitiligo is a curse at all. Cancer, heart disease, missing limbs are not a curse either. I think that it is just a test of our character in how we choose to  live our  lives. I agree with
skunky above that you choose how you want to feel about it.
I have always had beautiful skin!!!!
Now,  I have to go to work everyday around school children from the ages of 4 years thru high school who have never seen me before and  it is hard for me because I am brown skin and the vitiligo shows up really well on my skin. Somedays I do not feel like painting myself with the coverup makeup before starting my day. But, I get out of bed and go through the process. I put on my happy face and guess what! I usually have a happy day. There is some child or children that fill my day with so much happiness that it is always worthwhile and I just hope that I help them learn and pass on some knowlege to them,. I have tried protopic, dermablend, Merry clinic, vitamins continually, puva, laser therapy,the pills that color your skin from the inside out. I am an older person so I realize that nothing is going to work on me very quick. My hands,arms legs, neck, and thighs have lost color . I have  also tried Recouleur for about 6 months.You can go to their website and find out about it. A famous newcaster on televison used this to cure himself.  Also, this wonderful juice called GoChi that I have also added to my arsenal of cures for about three months. I have finally started to freckle.  There is hope! I really feel that one day soon, we won't have to suffer from this any more. Young people don't give up Hope. I am sorry to ramble on so.

Vitiligo is not a curse, just remember to cream up. I go away to very hot countries, and wear only my bikini. I slap on the bloke and stay in the shade.I hardley have any pigment left now, my mother dosen't have any. Iwear my shorts in the summer with my pearly white legs sticking out. I don't care if people look or laugh, it doesn't define who I am.

Hey guys how are ya?  You know what this vitiligo thing can get to you but you have to keep a good attitude and dont give up hope that one day a cure will be found for this skin disease.  I am 40 now and have had vit since I was 15 in my groin area.  As I got older , around 22 it started to spread to other areas of my body.  My neck, hands, elbows, different parts of my face , shins and feet.  As all of this was happening , I became very depressed and didn't know what to do or who to turn to.  I did some research and change my lifestyle and diet.  I prayed a LOT and then it went away everywhere except on my genital.
 In 2000 my mother passed away and then I became very stressed and began to drink heavily(only beer) and smoke weed.  Then the white spots started to come back fieriecly.  As time went by , I just learned to live with the loss and appreciate what I did have and who I did have in my life and thank God for what He has and have given me.  The white spots started to go away slowly but never fully disappearing.  As all of this is going on I have always loved to be outdoors in the pool and wear shorts and such but I had developed a complex as it areas of vit started to spread to different parts of my body.  I did feel ugly and became and sometime still do become depressed. 
I have learned to live with the thing as a male to wear concealer and hide the vit very well.  I still love shorts and outdoors but what this has done has made me try harder to have a wider space for my privacy. 
My wife and I own our own business and I now have a pool in my back yard so I don't have go out into public.  I have a huge backyard with lots of privacy because this skin disorder makes you want to have privacy.  Soo in essence Vit has made me more of a striving person than I would have been if I didn't have this on my skin.  I know it sounds crazy but its all about how you percieve this disease to be.  Oh yeah, I always get crazy looks at my skin and little children that love to look but I don't mind. Just keep your head up and stay positive.  Vitiligo doesn't make you who you are, You make you who you are.  Just wear you conceler so  you don't have to look at it if that makes yo feel better and take action to try and solve you own unique little problem.
Bryant