Kim Kardashian Opens Up About Struggling With Psoriasis Flare-Ups & Psoriatic Arthritis

Kim Kardashian Opens Up About Struggling With Psoriasis Flare-Ups & Psoriatic Arthritis

To her 140 million social media followers, no one is perfect except reality star/beauty mogul Kim Kardashian. But she admits that even she endures health issues that sometimes affects her appearance. Kim has been open with “Keeping Up With the Kardashians” fans about her struggles with psoriasis flare-ups, and psoriatic arthritis.

On her sister, Kourtney Kardashian‘s, lifestyle website, she gave fans an intimate look at her journey to healing her psoriasis. Kim reveals that her momager Kris Jenner suffers from the same health issue:

“Even though I always grew up with my mom having psoriasis and hearing her talk about her struggle, I really had no idea what my life would be like dealing with an autoimmune disease myself…My journey has been very different from my mom’s, but I see so many similarities as well. She had it in her scalp and all over her body, and I’d see it all the time and remember her going to the tanning salon to try and ease it. Getting UV rays directly on the spots really helped my mom. For me, however, that remedy would burn the areas and cause them to itch, so I always felt helpless. I am the only child my mom passed down her autoimmune issue to. Lucky me!”

Kim Kardashian recalls her first psoriasis flare-up:

“When I was 25, I had my first psoriasis flare-up. I got a common cold, and since psoriasis is an autoimmune condition, this triggered it. It was all over my stomach and legs. Luckily, in my apartment complex at the time, my neighbor was a dermatologist. I showed it to him, and he said to come into the office and he would give me a shot of cortisone and then hopefully it would go away (since it was my first big outbreak). I did this and my psoriasis completely went away for about five years. However, it came back again in my early thirties….When I got pregnant both times, it fully went away.”

On this year’s scary incident that made her consult doctors:

“Earlier this year is when it got extremely bad—it covered my whole face and a majority of my entire body. One night, I woke up to use the restroom and I physically couldn’t pick up my phone. I thought it was strange but maybe I just slept on my hands weird and I was so tired, I didn’t need to be checking my phone at that hour anyway…I woke up that morning and I still couldn’t pick up my phone. I was freaking out—I couldn’t even pick up a toothbrush, my hands hurt so badly. I had worked out the day before and we did an arm day, so I thought maybe one of the exercises strained my hand…As the day went on, I got a bit more movement in my hands, but they really hurt from the inside—I felt it in my bones. Everyone assumed it was just my workout, but I knew this felt different…I remember I had a press day for my Carolina Lemke sunglasses and I was wearing these purple boots and snake-print pants and I couldn’t get my pants down to go to the bathroom. I couldn’t even get my bra on that day, and I had to have someone dress me because the pain was so unbearable…That’s when I knew it wasn’t just an issue in my hands, it was a bone problem.”

As shown on last week’s episode of KUWTK, doctors initially diagnosed her with lupus:

“…I went to the doctor because then I thought I could possibly have rheumatoid arthritis. I knew I felt the pain in my bones, and after I Googled the possibilities, I was beyond scared. I had my blood tested for all possibilities, and it came back positive for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. I immediately started to cry and felt so lost. You really can get in a crazy headspace when you think you have something. My doctor said I could have a false positive, and he wanted me to come back…It turns out those tests were a false positive and I did not have rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. I had psoriatic arthritis. It’s similar to arthritis that can stem from psoriasis and it can come and go. It’s still painful and scary, but I was happy to have a diagnosis.”

Kim says that she’s tried every treatment under the sun for her auto-immune disorder:

“Before the arthritis hit, I spent about four months doing everything natural—every ointment, cream, serum, and foam you can possibly imagine and everything from the dermatologist. I even tried an herbal tea that tasted like tar. I tried celery juice for eight weeks. Then I’d do celery juice mixed with the tea. I would do that twice a day. I was just exhausted by everything. I changed my diet to plant-based (which I still follow)…I just couldn’t take it anymore!”

On becoming comfortable with the skin she’s in:

“I’ve become extremely comfortable with my psoriasis. No matter where it is on my body, sometimes I am fine with showing it off and other times I don’t want it to be a distraction, so I cover it up with body makeup…If you have psoriasis, you can’t let it ruin your life or get the best of you. You have to do what you can to make sure you are comfortable but not let it take over.”

Written by Miata Shanay