Vitiligo- my experience

Hello guys its been a while since i lasted posted lots of you have asked questions i am not sure if anyone is active again, i can promise to you that my vitiligo have not returned in past 7 years. I firmly believe that is due to healthy eating once i got rid of it in my early days when it came on my face..

Vitiligo started spreading on my penis at the age of 10 first 2 years I did my best to stop it although it was spreading very slowly and then I just stopped thinking about it like I never gave it sympathy I made my brain think it never existed, I'm 14 now and it's never grown since then. And my pickup line is now "did you ever try an army dick" lol

Hello there

I don't know if you will read this anymore, but i will give it a try.

I am a girl of 23 years old and i have vitiligo since 2011. What i have learnt in these 5 years is that YOU is the only who can manage the situation and slow down or even stop the process.

I trully believe in this because i saw how it works in my case. Autosugestion is the only cure that works. No medical lotions and so on...

I hope you'll have a wonderful life and meet a person who will deserve your love.

Be positive and confidence in yourself and if i can do more than these written rows, please let me know.

Best regards!

I too have vitiligo. The first spot I have was noticed when I was 20 and I'm not 30. For the most part I have tried to conceal my spots with make-up becuase they are in my face/chin area on the right side of my face. In the 10 years that I have had vitiligo it is only about the space of my palm but it's on my face which me very self concious and insecure. In so many areas of my life I love myself. I love my daughter, I love what I my career ( I'm a teacher), I love my guy friend, I love my family and I love my friends but some days I loom in the mirror and I don't love myself because I have vitilago. I have people who love me for me and on the weekends and at home I don't wear make-up. The problem is because I'm a high school teacher I'm apprehensive about how my students and maybe even coworkers will respond to me not having on make-up. I've worked in the building 5 years and I feel more comfortable without the makeup, I feel freer. I don't have to worry about it smearing or coming off on my clothes and others clothes. I want to be me, I want to be free but I'm nervous. I know how you feel. I'm not nervous around strangers, the looks don't bother me but I'm not sure how I'll respond to people "talking about me." I know I'm grown and that may sound stupid but that's where I am now. It makes me question if I'm pretty/ attractive or not. I know I am when I look at me but what do others see is bothering me big time right now.

Ihave suffered with vitiligo most of my entire life. I developed a small spot the size of my hand on my right side torso. I was so self consious as a child. In highschool I hated taking off my shirt in gym class because other kids would ask me what it was. That was in my teens. I am now 53 and it covers 90% of my body. From my late 20s to my late 30 is spread in very small spots on my feet and back. When I entered my 40s it spread like wildfire and totally covered me from head to toe. My arms neck and sholders appear as if i have been burned. I have splotchy light and dark spots that honestly look awefull. I am not in any way bragging but I have always been a good looking guy and look way younger than my age. . Slim build and always took pride in my apperance. About a year ago i stepped out of the shower and i stood infront of my bathroom mirror. I stood there for a few min and I may be a grown man but I broke down and cried. It was all over me and had spread to my face. My body lookes so horrible to me. I have lost all self esteem and hate to go out in public. i work and go home. I hate looking at my skin. 

Hi I'm a 21 year old girl, I was born with vitiligo on my right leg and foot. The doctor told my parents that I could just use fake tan as a child I would get bullied and people would say 'why has she got different skin?' Or 'are you contagious?' The fact people would say these things made me feel that I didn't want to be seen in public, I've coped with this for 21 years and my body is affected by it by 50%.

It's now spreading onto my stomach and half of it is patchy, I went on holiday a week ago and I wore a skirt and people just stared but I would rather people ask than stare just because I have a condition, a person even said to my mother 'why is that girl so patchy, why is she so different?' I'm not different I'm just born with it! It makes me so upset the fact that people are so horrible with words. I came back on Monday and Tuesday this week I went to the doctors I've had enough of this for 21 years I want to do something about it, the doctor told me they can't do anything for me and the NHS won't provide any creams or treatment as you can imagine im sat there in shock as she looked at my leg her words were "I'm sorry but your best bet is not to go in holiday and be exposed in the sun and there are worse people out there who have worse conditions than you" at that point I felt so angry and I could feel myself tearing up.

She made me feel so ashamed, how a GP can speak to someone like that I don't know i felt humiliated, now I just don't know what to do after keeping on to them for so long and saying the exact same thing to me I've just given up

Hi anony76522

I was grateful to read your thoughts ahout having Virtiligo. As someone who has it as well I have often felt insecure and conscious about it. Though it is not a life threatening illness, it's a physical one and often i felt like people didn't understand that. That, and as you so rightfully pointed out, we live in a world where people are judged by their looks. It's hard to have to deal with the fact that you look somewhat different from it.

I was 12 years old when mine began to grow and it really took a knock in my self confidence. I do feel that time has allowed me to accept it though. I am 19 now and though at times i will find myself feeling melancholic about it, i realise that it is a part of me whether i want it to be or not. I realise that i cannot change it so ultimately i have to embrace it and learn to love it.

I shared your worry too, infact sometimes i still do. Who would love me? Who would want to marry me? But if I want someone to love me, Virtiligo and all, first i will need to love myself and the white spots that mark me.

I just wanted to say thank you for your post. Reading it made me relate and also gave me a new perspective. It helped me climb out of the self pitying whole i had dug for myself and it made me realise that i am not alone in this.

Hello, my name is Sandra, i related to your story so this is why im replying.

i developed vitiligo when i was 11 too i' m now 35.

I came from a smal town in Portugal and it was very hard growing up in a place where even my mum treated me differently, i was my vitiligo and not Sandra. I moved the UK when i was 18 and it was one of the best things i ever did, everything happens for a reason, possibly i would've stayed if i didn't have vitiligo and would've never met my husband and my children wouldn't be here today.

You do find out who's really your friend though, i would love to say that time heals everything but it hasn't for me i still have my down days but i am married with three beautiful children, my oldest daughter has vitilligo she never been super confident but i talk to her and make sure that i'm here for her, of course i blamed myself but she doesn't and she says it doesn't bother her, she's creative, inteligent,sensible she's so much more than her condition, my husband was very supportive but he didn't notice about my vitiligo at first i used to always meet up at night and when we moved in together i used to even to get up earlier than him and put on my make up. I' m sure later he noticed but didn't want to say anything for him i was more than just my skin but i will never forget the day i told him, and tell you what it wasn't half as bad, made me think if the person you meet is put off by your vitiligo, maybe they are not the one for you, looks fade anyway.

I hope reading this it has helped you in some way.

Hey! I'm 16 rn, I have vitiligo too and I totally relate to whatever you've written. I need someone to talk to at this moment. I'm just so done. Idk.