Vitiligo

My vitiligo started in 1978, when I was 40. It first appeared on my left hand as small white lines around my cuticles; I was diagnosed with “leucoderma” and told that “it would go away.” However, more white patches appeared, and a friend told me that in America this is called vitiligo. Six months later, spots appeared on the right hand, and the loss of pigment spread rapidly over the next 12-18 months.

I went to my GP, who referred me to a specialist dermatologist, who in the first instance gave me steroid cream to use “lightly” for 12 months. About the same time the vitiligo started on my face, as a patch on the right side near my mouth, and subsequently spots occurred and replicated themselves on my hands and body. My GP decided on a different approach and referred me to the homoeopathic hospital for the vitiligo to be treated holistically, because at that time she had no other treatment to suggest. Over the years I had tried various homoeopathic treatments for vitiligo on visits to India with different dermatologists and homoeopaths; none of the treatments they had suggested had any success. I saw a psychologist because I had a very stressful job and she advised meditation as stress was believed to be a contributing factor. I didn’t get any repigmentation, but the patches didn’t get any worse for two years.

Then with a new job, with increased stress levels, the loss of pigment started to get much worse, and my GP referred me to a research programme at St Thomas’ Hospital, London, during the late 1980s. By that time I had two large …