A Nigerian vitiligo sufferer has narrated how he reacted after he was diagnosed with the skin disease.

Vitiligo is a condition in which the skin loses its pigment cells (melanocytes). This can result in discoloured patches in different areas of the body, including the skin, hair, retina and mucous membranes.

Eljhon, who uses the handle strangeeljhon on Instagram, said he nearly killed himself. He said he thought of drinking poison or just simply hanging himself.

He wrote,

Good Morning World. I’m taking time out and using this opportunity today to celebrate my self, my happiness, my inner peace, my spots. 

The picture in the middle and the other 2 you see are 10 years apart.
Sometime around 2008 I was officially diagnosed with Vitiligo. I almost killed myself, tried chemical poisoning, thought of hanging and all but some quiet spirit made sure that didn’t happen. I used many ointments, oral and topical medications, etc. Some worked only for some days but immediately after i stop medication I’ll notice patches popping up again. I got tired Of standing many hours under the sun just to see if that oil i ordered from Pakistan would work. It did but slowly, at a point i got tired and when i felt like giving up, a family friend introduced me to another friend of his that had vitiligo and almost cleared his with a combination of immunace and prednisolone. 
I started again with that, i took it for many years it basically became part of my diet but i got tired and after a lot of counseling concerning high drug use and how it might affect my liver and kidney, i had to pause my drug intake…..
You might be thinking what’s the point of this lengthy text well here it is. It’s been 3 years since i used any medication for my vitiligo BUT THERE’S NO MAJOR GROWTH OF MY PATCHES WHICH I NOW VALUE ALOT (you might not understand). THE ONLY MEDICATION I HAVE BEEN ON THIS PAST FEW YEARS HAS BEEN PEACE OF MIND AND A POSITIVE MINDSET. 
A doctor friend explained and counselled me a lot about vitiligo. Ever since then i have taken vitiligo head on. Many patches disappeared during this period (as you can confirm from the pic)
TRY NOT GETTING DISTURBED BY WHAT YOU THINK PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT YOU. 
PEOPLE WOULD ONLY LOVE YOU IF THEY FEEL YOU GOT MAD LOVE FOR YOURSELF.
Just never forget to; 
1: ALWAYS WEAR A SMILE
2: CHEER AND INSPIRE YOURSELF IN ANY POSSIBLE WAY
3: EAT HEALTHY

#AlsoKnow There’s always GOOD in BAD. VITILIGO MADE START MAKING MUSIC PROFESSIONALLY IN 2012.

IN OTHER NEWS, MY NEW SINGLE #BadMan ft @itzmrmageek IS STILL BLAZING HOT ?
PEEP LINK ON MY BIO ??
#vitiligobeauty #vitiligomodel #viticulture#vitiligopride #vitiligonation #vitiligoworld

Good Morning World. I’m taking time out and using this opportunity today to celebrate my self, my happiness, my inner peace, my spots. The picture in the middle and the other 2 you see are 10 years apart. Sometime around 2008 I was officially diagnosed with Vitiligo. I almost killed myself, tried chemical poisoning, thought of hanging and all but some quiet spirit made sure that didn’t happen. I used many ointments, oral and topical medications, etc. Some worked only for some days but immediately after i stop medication I’ll notice patches popping up again. I got tired Of standing many hours under the sun just to see if that oil i ordered from Pakistan would work. It did but slowly, at a point i got tired and when i felt like giving up, a family friend introduced me to another friend of his that had vitiligo and almost cleared his with a combination of immunace and prednisolone. I started again with that, i took it for many years it basically became part of my diet but i got tired and after a lot of counseling concerning high drug use and how it might affect my liver and kidney, i had to pause my drug intake….. You might be thinking what’s the point of this lengthy text well here it is. It’s been 3 years since i used any medication for my vitiligo BUT THERE’S NO MAJOR GROWTH OF MY PATCHES WHICH I NOW VALUE ALOT (you might not understand). THE ONLY MEDICATION I HAVE BEEN ON THIS PAST FEW YEARS HAS BEEN PEACE OF MIND AND A POSITIVE MINDSET. A doctor friend explained and counselled me a lot about vitiligo. Ever since then i have taken vitiligo head on. Many patches disappeared during this period (as you can confirm from the pic) TRY NOT GETTING DISTURBED BY WHAT YOU THINK PEOPLE FEEL ABOUT YOU. PEOPLE WOULD ONLY LOVE YOU IF THEY FEEL YOU GOT MAD LOVE FOR YOURSELF. Just never forget to; 1: ALWAYS WEAR A SMILE 2: CHEER AND INSPIRE YOURSELF IN ANY POSSIBLE WAY 3: EAT HEALTHY #AlsoKnow There’s always GOOD in BAD. VITILIGO MADE START MAKING MUSIC PROFESSIONALLY IN 2012. IN OTHER NEWS, MY NEW SINGLE #BadMan ft @itzmrmageek IS STILL BLAZING HOT ? PEEP LINK ON MY BIO ?? #vitiligobeauty #vitiligomodel #viticulture #vitiligopride #vitiligonation #vitiligoworld

A post shared by Eljhon (@strangeeljhon) on Feb 15, 2018 at 5:32pm PST