How I struggled with vitiligo

Vitiligo is considered to be an autoimmune disorder where the melanocytes, i.e, the cells responsible for making pigment, in the skin are destroyed due to which white patches appear on different parts of the body.

My first patch appeared when I was in the 8^th standard. A small patch first appeared near the corner of my left eye. Then more patches appeared on the neck and in the lip area. I was diagnosed with non-segmental vitiligo. With immediate treatment, the patches finally disappeared after a couple of months. Later more patches appeared on my hands, feet and belly area. My mother was especially devastated. She tried everything that she could. My Aunt suggested a doctor whose treatment worked for many. She had stood by me at every step since then. She is my only confidante after my mom.  

The doctor, suggested by my Aunt, gave me steroids, about which my parents were not informed. She (the doctor) prescribed 3 tablets (which were steroids when we enquired about it) to be taken on Saturdays and Sundays. Those days were the most horrifying days of my life, a nightmare that I could never forget. I would sit up the entire night, trying hard to keep on breathing. I felt as if I could not fill my lungs with air. But that was not the end of my suffering. My blood glucose level went haywired, my body swelled up in just one month, accumulating fats all over my body. I was underweight as a child and no matter how much I ate; I didn’t seem to put on any weight. The steroids that the doctor gave me change my body in a month. I stopped looking at myself in the mirror. When we consulted another doctor, a well-known surgeon, he enquired about the medicine prescribed. It was he who informed us that I have been given steroids and whatever was happening to me were the side effects.

 Next level of treatment (from the same relative) was to go all natural. We went to an Ayurvedic treatment centre, where I was again given some pill (thankfully the only side effects of it were acidity).

But when a patch vanishes, another one springs up somewhere else. After running after doctors and treatments and my self confidence shattered to pieces. I became more and more confined to myself. I finally gave up. Finally, I went to Bhubaneshwar to pursue Btech and atleast the series of treatment ended. I came home during the summer vacation during the 6^th semester, when my mom took me to another doctor. His treatment had worked wonders for me. The patches from my face have gone and the rest has started to build up colour.

I possess a fair skin and everyone used to compliment about it. And now when I’m suffering from vitiligo, I am untouchable to them. I even have to face words from my family that has hurt me a lot. There was an incident during my Btech when my roommates saw a patch and she had a nightmare of having it all over her body. The next day, when she told me about it, I explained to her that it is not some communicable disease; it is just a condition where the melanin cells are destroyed. And to my surprise, she was actually cool with it. The only other person who didn’t mind my condition was my childhood friend. She was the one who saw my first white patch and suggested that I tell my mom about it and consult a doctor. But the person who had stood by me throughout my struggle was my mom. She did everything in her power to find treatment for my condition (although she hates talking about with anyone and kept my condition a secret as far as she could).

Recently I took PUVA therapy which has helped improve my condition a lot. 
If you have dealing with vitiligo, be sure that you are not alone. Your personality, your heart defines you; and not your outward appearance...