My name is Rochelle. I’m 37 years old and live in Queensland, Australia. I have two beautiful children. I got vitiligo when I was in high school, around 14 or 15 years old. It started with a tiny spot on my eye which came and went, and I didn’t think much about it. 

I was 21 and taking a holiday in Melbourne with my friends and my now husband. I woke up one morning and my entire stomach was covered with vitiligo. I literally think it happened overnight. I knew what it meant. My sister had vitiligo and I had seen her struggling with it, so I knew what was coming.  

I’m a resilient person by nature, but I don’t think going through a condition like this cannot not change you. I got vitiligo in my formative years and had just started becoming more confident. It rattled me and changed my personality. It affected the way I dressed, what I did, everything.  You step out of your house, and the minute you do, you know there are going to be people looking at you. It’s constant.  I went through a period of time where I just wouldn’t look up.  I would walk around looking down and just not look anybody in the eye.   

Because my sister had it and I thought there was nothing you could do, I didn’t do much about it for the first six or seven years. I don’t know what triggered me or maybe it had spread to a point where I felt I had to do something. That’s when I began to research vitiligo to find out what treatment options were available to me. 

Seeing a dermatologist and receiving UVB therapy has really helped me with my condition. I’m fortunate to have my dermatologist who understands me and with whom I feel comfortable discussing my treatment options.  

I’d say mental health is the day-to-day thing for me but having the support of my dermatologist and knowing what treatment options are available, has really helped me over the last eight years with my own journey.  

You don’t need to do this alone, getting professional help, helps. 

My name is Renee. I live in Adelaide, and in 2017 I woke up one day and saw that I had a rash that began behind my ears and on my scalp. I was dealing with profound loss, looking after my toddler, and working a full-time job so I didn’t look into it at the time.

The rash then started to spread to my arms, my stomach and my back and most nights I struggled to fall asleep from the pain and itching I was experiencing.

After a while, my skin was constantly flaring up and I had no idea what was happening or that it would affect other parts of my life. I was dealing with extreme fatigue, battling depression, struggling at work, and even my relationships were impacted. I isolated myself from social events.

I remember feeling so isolated, and no one around me understood what I was going through. I didn’t understand why this rash was impacting every aspect of my life, and I didn’t know where to turn.

Before long, I started to develop pain in my joints. I had chronic pain in my back, hips and feet. It got to a point where I had to walk with a stick, and I couldn’t play with my son, I had to rely on my family for everything. I was diagnosed with psoriasis and
psoriatic arthritis and saw a dermatologist who understood my condition and
prescribed me a medication that has changed my life.

My skin cleared up and my pain reduced so much that I can now run around with my son and go back to the gym!

I was enduring the worst of the pain when I was in my mid-20s. I didn’t get to do the things a normal 25-year-old would do, and I mourn the time that I lost. I wish I had known more from the start – about where to find information on these conditions and
how much they can impact every part of your life.

This journey took so much from me, and I want to help others avoid going through what I did by encouraging them to seek help early on.

Getting help really does help.