Psoriasis

I was plagued with small red crusted spots on my face for twenty years which cleared up when I reached menopause. I now just get the odd persistent red coin sized spot on forehead or under chin and elbows are also affected. I find Fucibet helps. I remember a woman with severe psoriasis from Birmingham arriving in Johannesburg when I lived there who was thrilled when the sunshine cured her psoriasis. However, I think sunshine aggrevates mine.

Just as I said, each psoriasis sufferer is different, no one thing works for all.
It’s a horrible condition.

Hi Pamela no I didn't try the diet. I did try dairy free in the early days but no improvement. I also think in my case it's not stress related. Funny thing about the sun. We spend a lot of time in Spain and where at one time it helped, now it doesn't. In fact sometimes makes it worse! Just something I live with. My fear now is that my 2 little grandsons don't get it, I would feel terrible. It is in my family but hoping it passes those 2 by.

You didn’t try the diet then mancgirl?
It is very tough but my psoriasis was very bad when I tried it.
I know that the severity does vary and if I’ve had a good dose of sun it clears up. I need to visit my DD in Aus more frequently. Can’t inderstand why Matelda keeps out of it? The sun I mean, it’s generally accepted that UV improves the condition.
I only use steroid creams as a last resort as I am frightened that as I get older my skin will be even more difficult to live with.

I haven’t been able to link the severity to stress either.

DD had some success with methotrexate, but nausea was a side effect, and consultants don’t like patients to be on them for long usually.
The best thing for psoriasis seems to be lack of stress in life.
Also, no smoking or alchohol.
Each sufferer is different though, and for those with mild psoriasis, just changing to washing and showering using coal tar soap can really help.

I sometimes suffer from psoriasis in my elbows.
Now use Dermalex Psoraiasis treatment (from chemist or Boots) when I have a flare up. Much better than anything that doctor prescribed and you can use it as often as you like (though latest instructions now say 2 to 3 times a day). Outside flare ups , I just put moisturiser on my elbows before I go to bed at night.
Hope that this helps.

Pamelaj you once wrote privately to me about the diet you were on. I can't find it in my past posting either. I have had it 50 years, always somewhere but mostly below the knee. I'm very conscious of it in summer when wearing skirts and shorts, a lot of the time I stick to jeans, not ideal in warmer weather. I tell myself I'm fit and active and greatful for that. My GP prescribed a new medication for me and it's the best I've ever had! It's called Enstilar, it comes in a foam aerosol. Much easier to use than all the other creams and ointments. Only been using it a short time but it works. I don't think you can use it continually but just to be free of psoriasis for a few weeks is bliss.

I had psoriasis for about 55 years usually on the elbow and feet. Two years running I had it all over my scalp. When I moved my head it was dreadful, like dust falling out of my hair. After the second year of being on my scalp it disappeared and hasn't been back since. I didn't do anything, it just went. This was about 15 years ago. I know it doesn't help you but it goes to show that sometimes it can just get better itself.

How is psoriasis diagnosed? I had a long period of having a very itchy scalp along my hair line, it was so bad I thought I had nits! I had a few months of being free of it then I developed extremely itchy patches on my back and abdomen. That eventually cleared up but now it’s back with a vengeance. I have MS and I’m so used to managing the problems it causes by myself that I haven’t yet been to the GP’s.

I haven’t suffered nearly as badly as some other posters, and realise that what suits one person may not suit another, but the best thing I have found for my scalp is Dead Sea Magik conditioning scalp mud. It has taken away the itch and generally calmed things down. I used it every time I washed my hair at first,now every month or so. I get it from Holland and Barrat.

holcott, do you mean you saw John Mansfield?
My husband did the elimination diet, found out that bananas were the trigger for his migraines. Hasn’t had one since.
He specialised in treating Arthritis and there is a link between that and psoriasis.
I also lost weight, like you, it wasn’t the object of the exercise but there are only so many rice cakes a girl can eat!

I did his exclusion diet having seen him at his Surrey Clinic, lost 18 lbs which wasn't the object of the exercise though welcome, and he found many intolerances/allergies. Couldn't get rid of the wheat one, however; there are too many constituents to sort out, but he did wonders about the others. Forever grateful to him.

I do hope it helps Khan.

Grr, where is the edit button! I meant treated, not trespassed of course!

Having had psoriasis for over 50 years, I think I have tried every medication and miracle cure going! I find I am better during the summer months as my knees and elbow patches clear up in sun light. I currently use a mix of emovate cream (with a steroid) and calciptriol ointment ( steroid free) with a steroid based liquid for my scalp. I find I need the steroid cream to attack any new spots, if I can do that quickly, they seem not to spread. More established areas get trespassed with the steroid free ointment.

I am currently fairly free of it, with just a few spots on my arms and scalp, I am pretty sure things began to clear up as I went through the menopause.

The side effect of using steroid based creams for so many years is that I have very fragile skin on my finger tips and my nails are soft and will not grow!

I'm sorry not to have any advice other than to say that I have never found any of these miracle creams any good and have now stopped looking out for them. I am lucky in that I rarely get an outbreak on my face ( when I do they get zapped with my steroid cream immediately and clear up quickly) and when my skin was bad, I just used to wear long sleeves and trousers. I consider myself to have a mild case of psoriasis even though I have had it for so long.

Years ago I knew someone who suffered badly. She cut our everything except rice and gradually added the things she normally ate...one every week. It cleared up totally until she added a packet of her favourite biscuits. It flared up again. She stopped eating them of course and stopped suffering. I suffer from eczema...it was so bad I had 54 patches put on my back to see if they could figure out what was causing it. Turned out to be balsum of peru....found in so many things. Have to say knowing my enemy helps.

I've had psoriasis for over sixty years now. It comes and goes, and I can be quite free in the winter, but it comes back with a vengeance when my skin is exposed to sunshine. The best part of a lifetime out of the sun means that in the winter (apart from my face and even that's not very wrinkly) I have skin like a teenager. Everyone knows this or that "cure" for psoriasis - I've heard them all and tried a lot of them. I have learned to accept that I have a physical disability, a quite serious auto-immune condition. Those who love me tell me that it is no worse than a scar, that I can stay indoors, that they never notice it. They are all so wrong. My life is never going to be like theirs, no matter how much I would like to be like them. So my mantra is always to be kind to myself and if I don't want to do something, then it's OK for me to refuse to do it. Thus I have learned fortitude and a kind of lonely independence which have led to a life full of interest and adventure. The important thing is that I don't get bitter about my difference.

Thanks a lot HannaLoisluke .
I,m going to buy someUltra Bee balm.
.lt might do the trick. I hope l find it.

Hi Giulia, I have had psoriasis since I was 7 years old, now 60. Have not gone down the diet route but have tried most treatments over the years. I have it from head to foot including my hands and face, so not easy to hide. I am now relatively psoriasis free for the first time in my life with methotrexate. I realise it's not a drug of choice for everyone however, I started on a low dose of 5mg a week, worked my way up to 20mg a week and am now on a weekly dose of 7.5 mg which keeps it under control. For me it really has been life changing although i appreciate it is not for everyone. As a daily moisturiser especially for my face I use my trusty little sunflower cream. It was developed by dermatologists in the NHS and all profits go back to the NHS. It is the best moisturiser I have found . I hope this is of some help. Any questions feel free to PM me. Good luck with whatever you choose.

Guilia I don't suffer personally but my father suffered really badly and two of my sisters also have it.
There is a balm that everyone raves about for excema, psoriasis etc called Exeskin and made by a company called I think Ultra Bee.
Might be worth looking it up and reading the reviews.
Good luck.

I have psoriasis (on the back of my head where it can't be seen) and diet hasn't done anything for it. I have another condition, hydrodenitis suppurativa (google it) which is thought to be auto immune like psoriasis which reacts to stress. Changes in diet don't work for everyone so I just have to live with the psoriasis which sometimes drives me crazy with the itching! The only thing which seems to help is the tablets I take for hayfever (Asda's own one a day - if I'm allowed to say that).

Medication x d vaccinations can and do lead to autoimmune disorders I deal with these types of problems a lot in my practice as a homeopath

Yes. An alkaline diet helps (no meat, no dairy, no sugar.) Good luck.

Just thought I’d add to my last post.
Although the diet was very strict once you’ve gone through the initial few months you can relax quite a bit.

Thank you PamelaJ1. I might get back to you.

Thanks to you too Framilode. Will give it a try.