Monya’s Story

Psoriasis

I’m Monya. I’m an Asian adoptee, so I’ve grown up without any medical history to reference. In high school, I had mono, and not long after that I developed psoriasis — which was the beginning of a much bigger health journey than I ever expected.

My skin is now clear, but what people often don’t see is that the pain and inflammation never fully went away. Even when the visible symptoms improved, my body kept telling me something was still wrong.

Right now, I’m in the process of trying to get a more accurate diagnosis. I’ve been on Cosentyx for the past year and have had to navigate insurance issues, doctors who didn’t believe me, and multiple medications that haven’t helped the way I hoped.

For a long time, I kept all of this to myself because I was afraid of how people would see me. I was afraid of rejection, afraid of being treated differently, and afraid that people would only see the symptoms instead of seeing me. Because of that, I became good at hiding what I was going through, even when it was affecting me every single day. I’m still learning what my body is trying to tell me, but for the first time, I’m ready to stop hiding it.