Psoriasis

[Pitdog]

Anyone else here suffer with this damnation? What works for you? I was diagnosed in November after a skin biopsy, and none of the magic potions other than prednisone do anything for me at all. The creams have served only to thin my skin down in affected areas so that when I do scratch they bleed almost instantly, but my doctor will not prescribe anything else but these creams. He will not tell me why he won't, just that he won't. I have not cracked his jaw yet, but the urge to do so is growing out of control.

[alma]

Pitdog, I feel your pain. Believe me i DO.

I"ve had psoroiasis for years and tried everythiing.
It will let up once in awhile but never, never goes away.
It's all over my lower legs, and a few other places.

I am afraid of prendizone. It has some real negative effects on bones. All topical medicines do make the skin thiner and worse, and they go right into the body, I've heard, and many of them are highly suspect for other side effects.

I had Ultra Violet treatment and it went away for awhile a couple of year ago, and this time it has not worked very well at all. I am thinking of calling it all off.

I read about a treatment some doc told his patients about, soaking body in sea salt for twenty minutes for three weeks and using mg417 i think, (will check it later) and change it if i am wrong.

Tried it for about five days and it looked promising, but stopped until i see doc next time, and talk about the UV not working, and this new thing that i found in a psoriasis mag.

The man said it all went away, and others who tried it had same results.

--about a cup to a bath water, or i used only a few handfuls and soak my legs in a trash can.

Too old to get into bathtub. Can't get out any more. Isn't that one for you.

Sometimes it itches. Sometime, not.
Once in awhile i get a tiny spot that itches so bad i can't sleep, so i put a piece of tape over it to block air and it stops itching.

Sometime, i put plactic bags (that the sunday paper comes in) around my legs for an occllusion treatment, and hold them on with rubber bands until morning.

It makes legs very moist and scaling is softened a lot, and the itching stops long enough for me to go to sleep.

Boy, i'll tell you. This old age, and all my other problems, is one heck of a pain in the neck. Who needs psoriasis?

Let me know if you try anything and it works, or if anyone else has tried anything that works for long.
love, alma

[Pitdog]

Well, I have had some skin problems for a long time, on a minor basis, that I didn't pay a lot of attention to, and the problem always went away.
But when I was in my early 20's I started having problems with arthritis, knees, ankles, elbows, and shoulders and hips. Wasn rheumatoid, or anything else anyone could find, despite the family history of such.

Now the mystery is solved. Psoriatic arthritis. Pain in the joints! Ass well as the as!
Now the arthritis is tapering off some, but now the skin problems.
Feet are the worst, both heels and arches and ITCH jesus! Then my left calf, front and back, spots as big or bigger than my fist, bottom of my belly, groin (NOT genitals thank the lord) and sometimes my underarms. The worst though..... is my hands. Palms and between fingers.
I work with my hands, do everything with my hands, and now this crops up. It is truly depressing. I sit and rub my hands on brick walls sometimes they itch so bad. Thankfully they go more than they come, but them and my feet are the worst.
I know prednisone is bad on bones, thankfully I have plenty of bonemass to share and eat a high calcium diet.
I don't have much skin left to spare though.
I can moisturize with high quality moisturizers, and then 10 minutes later itch like crazy despite, and this winter my hands drank udder balm like a sponge. I could put it on and litterally they would be as dry as they were when I put it on, only minutes later.
Occlusion doesn't work well for me as I 'fight bears' in my sleep. I tried taping gloves on a night or two, but that didn't work.
It is a continuing saga, the search is continuing. I too had heard of the dead sea salt working wonders, may have to give it a try, although due to everything else NOT working, I have little faith.
Thanks for replying and understanding Alma :) I'm sorry I can count on you to know what I feel. I would wish this only on child molesters and rapists.

[TNDadx4]

Hello,

I wanted to offer my 2 cents. I have psoriasis and have found that Dovonex, an ointment works pretty well.

There is also a topicalsystem called Exorex that worked well for me for a while. It has a strong topical liquid and a moisturizer.

I hope this helps!

[annabella1]

My cousin has Rhuematoid Arthritis and psoriasis, I told her about the great success my mom and I were having eliminating nightshade vegetables from our diet (Irish potatoes, Tomatoes, sweet and hot peppers and eggplants) she tried it and her psoriasis cleared almost immediately, there has been a lot of damage to her joints with the arthritis, but she said she is feeling better than she has in years. I was doing some research on this on the Internet and found some places that are clearing up eczema in children by eliminating nightshade vegetables. It might be worth a shot.

[Pitdog]

I will take that into consideration Anna.
I finally got fed up with the regular doctor and went to a Dermatologist, my hands got so bad it is getting hard to do anything.
He walks in and tells me 'Yep, you got the bad stuff. Feet and Hands are worst to treat. Two options. Enbrel Shots 2x a week, or Methotrexate.'
Methotrexate I had already read about, CANCER drug, Expensive AND have to pay for constant blood work to monitor for damages, ANNNNDDDD NO KIDS WHILE on it, or for like a year afterward, it CHANGES DNA. CHRIST ALMIGHTY!
Enbrel is safe for use on kids, and is ok to make them as well. $3000 a MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Three Thousand Dollars a month! WTF?!
NO insurance......
Am in the process of getting the medicine from the company for free..... HOPE it helps.
Thanks for listening folks. :)

[Pitdog]

Well, without a whole lot of hubbub I was quickly and easily able to quilfy for the Enbrel for free, and they have now shipped it to me. I have made it through injecting myself 3 times now, and am over the jitters, but by no means an expert. It takes a while for it to work, it says sometimes up to two months, but I am already seeing an improvement, although slight. Or it could just be receeding a little coincidentally as it does from time to time.
Going to try some supplements as well, shark liver oil, fish oil, and milk thistle seem to be highly reccomended.
We shall see.

[nancy1340]

Annabel I have never heard that. Thankfully I don't have it but it's always good to know.

Pitdog and anyone else who has this problem I feel for you. I hope the meds help you.