Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with psoriasis

Psoriasis advice

longsleeves — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:27:29 -0800

I have psoriasis and wonder what treatments work if you or someone you know also has it and what your experience has been. My father has plaque psoriasis and over the last eighteen months or so I have begun to develop it. I had a quick initial onset on my scalp and upper chest, which has since slowly expanded in area affected. A local dermatologist I finally consulted two weeks ago prescibed Derma-Smooth/FS, a suspension of fluocinolone acetonide in purified peanut and mineral oil. I have used the stuff and it has resulted in some clearing of the affected areas but the lesions are persistent and less noticable but no smaller, even thogh the doctor said the would begin to go away. He mentioned some other treatment that he woud use after the fluocinolone did its work.

Dad had a case that was very bad, progressing to that point that it affected large areas of his skin. He spent two weeks at a clinic in another state (The Cleveland Clinic?) for some sort of intensive treatment that failed. The concern as I understand it was that psoriasis in its more extreme manifestaions can result in skin cells replicating so fast that the body's temperature is raised by the accelerated metabolism to dangerous fevers.

Eventually Dad's psoriasis was controlled with methotrexate, which is more commonly employed as part of anti-cancer chemotherapy treatments due to its slowing of cell division. He had to get a liver biopsy before they started using it and subsequent biopsies to check for liver damage.

It worked, and the dosage was decreased over time to minimal levels to maintain the "remission."

The Dermatologist's staff had me fill out a form describing why I was consulting the doctor. By the time the doctor breezed into the examining room I was waiting in, one of about four he has, he already had his prescription pad out. From his seat abot five feet away he glanced at the red patches on my upper forehead near my hairline and said the scalp oil he was prescribing would control the codition. He didn't look at my chest and he spent less than five minutes with me.

I have a follow-up appointmet with this doctor in a few weeks. I did not remember to ask him about arthritis as part of the aouto-immune symptoms associated with psoriasis. My knees hurt.

I understand that immune suppresant chemicals are used sometimes to treat my condition, and well damn, that sounds scary.

Should I consult a rheumetologist on my own?

Any thoughts you may have or experiences you could relate awould be welcome.

Fingertips. Fingertips. Fingertips. (I hear the wind blow...)

buriednexttoyou — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:15:29 -0800

What is wrong with the skin on my hand? I have had a history of dry skin on my hands, and of course it gets worse in the winter. There's something new this year, though. I've had these patches of itchy dry skin on my fingers for years now, but this is the first time it's had an effect on the growth of a nail. Here is a not very gross, but kinda big picture with notes as to what's going on. The right hand has several patches, the left only has a little patch on the ring finger. I've been moisturizing the hell out of it, especially every time I wash my hands.

Does anyone else have something like this? Is it something beyond just plain dry skin? What should I do to treat it?

Seems I Need To Know About Neem Cream

peacecorn — Sat, 26 May 2007 21:29:46 -0800

Does anyone have experience using Neem oil/balm to treat psoriasis patches? I've used topicals with middling success, was looking at a couple of new ideas along with the possibility of this neem stuff. Any experience or opinions on this would be helpful.

Non-toxic psoriasis medicine?

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 06:30:02 -0800

I have the psoriasis and I am looking for non-toxic palliatives. It's a mild plaque psoriasis, with some spots on my scalp, elbows, inside of the earlobe, and inside the ears. So far it hasn't attacked any "normal skin." I've had it under the earlobes for about 4 years, on the scalp for 2, and on the elbows/inside the ears for maybe 9 months, so it is slowly getting worse. The only real problem is the scalp - I can't shave my hair short as is my desire.

I haven't been to a doctor for this since it started. (Several years before the rash even started I was diagnosed with the psoriatic arthritis - it was painful then, but doesn't bother me much now.) "Traditional" treatments would involve UV lights and immunosuppressants, which I definitely don't want. Basically at this point the psoriasis is minor enough that my main concerns for a treatment are non-toxicity, cost, and convenience rather than something that's going to brute force my immune system into cutting it out.

What level of non-toxicity? To give examples, if the cure was to drink a beer every day, I'd do that, but if the cure was to drink six beers every day or take Tylenol (liver rot) or Aleve (heart attack) every day, no.

To give ideas on how my personal psoriasis works, in case anyone's personal experience is similar:

Coal tar shampoo doesn't seem to do much.
Marijuana reduces it some, but the efficacy is low enough that any hope of getting rid of it would involve baking all day every day.
Relevant lifestyle changes that happened before I started getting the rash: I moved to the big city and started eating meat.
The only time I saw a real significant dent in the rash was a week-long ski trip, which involved more exercise than I normally get, a cold climate, and massive marijuana and alcohol use.
I've never noticed any effects from OTC NSAIDs etc., but have never made a regimen of them either.

I don't find trustworthy information online about supplements, vitamins, unregulated pharmaceuticals, and so on that are purported to help.

I'm not going to a doctor - as before I don't want the toxic treatments, and I figure I can try some non-toxic pills and snake oils just fine on my own without a doctor telling me whether my rash is smaller or not. I'm also the type to slice up my own ingrown toenails and dress my own wounds...

What to do about excema/psoriasis?

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 10:45:37 -0800

EmbarrassingSkinFilter: I get excema/psoriasis in the winters, usually on my arms and legs but now it seems to be spreading to my face. What do I do?! I am in college. Three years ago (the year I that was living in the dorms instead of a house) I first got tiny bumps on my legs/arms. I had no idea what they were. This went on every winter since then. It starts on one patch on my arm and one patch on my leg and then gets all over my right forearm and then all over my calves.

One doctor said that they were "inflamed hair follicles," another doctor said that I was "using too much product in the bath" (I do not use any "product." I only use shampoo and conditioner on my hair, and then soap under the armpits). Another doctor told me I had excema or psoriasis. I then went to a dermatologist, he told me that it was a reaction probably to poison ivy but gave me no justification for his answer. (furthermore, whatever I have is not contagious - boyfriends have no gotten it and would I really get poison ivy in the SAME PLACE every year?) A biopsy that I requested came back with the result of "dermatitis" (which, to me, is completely vague and useless).

The doctor gave me a topical steroid (Clobetasol propionate 0.05% - the very potent kind) but it makes my skin splotchy so I decided to just wait it out like I have done the last two years (usually this goes away when summer comes ).

However, (as it slightly did last year) this weird bump thing is now slightly affecting my lips and even more slightly the area around them.

How do I stop this? Can I change my diet? I eat pretty healthy food but would cutting out ALL sugar/alcohol help? Should I go to a tanning salon? (this sort of helped once) Is there some sort of magic cure that will stop all of this?

What should I do? (I would move to a place with no winters but I need to finish university first!)

Raptiva: good, bad, or other?

loiseau — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 18:13:06 -0800

Do you have first-hand experience with Raptiva (efalizumab), for psoriasis? After almost 20 years of fruitlessly battling psoriasis, by every means available to me, with not a day of remission, I'm finally starting on Raptiva next week.

While I'm really, really excited about the prospect of wearing short sleeves, skirts, and bathing suits without shame, and to getting intimate with a new lover without having to warn them of what they are about to see, I'm getting a little scared.

I think I'm over the fear of self-injecting. In any case, it pales compared to the side effects I've read about, and the unknown long-term effects of the drug.

Have you used Raptiva? Did it work well for you?
Did you get infections? Anaemia? Do you worry about cancer?
If you stopped using it, did you immediately flare badly?

Anything you could share about the experience would really, really help me relax about this and just feel hopeful for once.

(Info about other biologics would be interesting, but Raptiva is a dissimilar protein, so it probably won't translate directly to my experience.)

Need some input on my near-coma mother.

Kickstart70 — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 13:24:58 -0800

My mother has been kept asleep and paralyzed for almost 3 weeks now, from a horrible drug reaction. I want some advice on how she can/if she can/when she will recover. My mother, on the advice on her doctors, was taking weekly injections of Methotrexate for her psoriasis and related issues (psoriatic arthritis, for one). There were no problems AFAIK until 4 weeks ago when she started developing a bad cough and ultimately she was forced by my stepfather to go to the doctor, who put her in the local small town hospital, who realized they were out of their league and shipped her to a larger hospital. Almost immediately they knocked her out and paralyzed her, and inserted breathing apparatus, etc. That's now been switched to a breathing tube through a tracheotomy.

There were a a few scares...her lungs have one area about the size of my fist on one lung that is clear. The rest is damaged, and full of fluid. Her bloody pressure had a few serious spikes (210 over ??) but has now stabilized. She's been retaining fluid that has made her left arm/hand quite puffy and there were concerns over the ability of the right side of her heart pumping effectively (but I have yet to get a followup on this issue, which may have pre-existed). She gets lung xrays every morning and if there is improvement it's very subtle and slow.

Now...I'm at a loss what questions to ask here, but I hope that doesn't impact on whether this question stays put. Mostly I guess I want some input on what are the likely chances of her coming out of this all better, what are the chances she may never come out of this, and what are the chances that she's come out of it but perhaps have to be on oxygen for the rest of her life. Any advice is welcome. Thx in advance.

Help find or identify this effective morroccan psoriasis remedy

chrissyboy — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 18:40:08 -0800

Can anyone help me identify these Moroccan products for psoriasis treatment? psoriasis sufferers, net detectives or Moroccans read in! A friend of mine went to Marrakech in Morrocco a couple of months ago, and as a gift bought back with him a couple of products to help with my psoriasis, which he bought from a large chemists over there.

They have worked great, which has gone a long way with my confidence, however I'm starting to panic as I'm about to run out, and the problem is acquiring some more.

There were no directions or extra information with the stuff, and it comes in 2 parts:

The first is a brown soap which came in an unlabelled small white tub, has quite a thick consistency, and is a similar colour and smell to tar soap or shampoo. I've upped a pic here.

The second is a cream which comes in a green pot. The label on the pot says creme: psoriasis and rosa huile. It is very strong smelling, greeny / brown in colour, and has a thick, 'bitty' consistency, almost like pesto, and can be tricky to wash off your hands. I've upped a pic here.

The only other information I have is a website address on the label of the green pot - http://www.rosa-huile.ma - which appears to be down. There is also a phone number i have called, and when i finally got through (after many unsuccessful attempts) to someone speaking english i was given an email address to send my request to - lahmagam@hotmail.com - which has just bounced back.

Does anyone know what this stuff actually is? Do you know the chemists in Marrakech? Where else could i get some? What would be a decent substitute if i can't? Is there any way one of the letters in the email address could have been misinterpreted by me (eg does the letter h sound like something else to them?)

Any help is much appreciated, i'm already starting to itch with panic since that email address bounced back =(

clinical trial qualification

goofyfoot — Sat, 15 Oct 2005 01:40:59 -0800

I might be rejected from a clinical trial because of low CD3/4 levels. Help me understand what this means. "Your results were 490 cells/uL and the normal range is 496-1354," I was told via e-mail without any further explanation or information, and I've been fruitlessly googling since. The trial has to do with severe psoriasis.

Psoriasis query

essexjan — Sun, 01 May 2005 11:22:36 -0800

What's your best remedy for psoriasis? I've had psoriasis since I was 7, the plaque (patchy) kind, in various degrees of severity over the past 38 years or so. I've tried lots of different treatments, from prescription steroids, to over-the-counter pharmacy treatments to food supplements. Nothing seems to help much.

About 18 months ago I had to have major surgery. This was at a time when the psoriasis had been kind of dormant for a while. But it came back with a vengence, only this time it was the guttate (spotty) kind, from neck to thighs, front and back.

My surgeon's explanation (which makes sense) is that the human body only has a limited amount of energy, and when it has undergone major trauma, it will concentrate on healing the most important bits first, with the result that other ailments will flare up.

So far, I've tried -

- Dovonex
- a mild over-the-counter steroid cream
- a course of sunbed treatments, which cleared it for a while but I am fair-skinned and I burned, not to mention the concerns over the long-term effects of sunbeds (wrinkles and cancer)
- Chinese herbalism (which cost a fortune, tasted revolting and made it much worse)
- shark cartilage supplement
- aloe vera juice (which has had some effect but, god, it tastes vile)
- glucosamine
- I drink no alcohol, and try to avoid citrus and dairy

Yet still I look as if someone's spattered me with pink paint.

It doesn't itch or hurt, it just looks bad and with summer coming, I don't want to spend the next six months covered up.

I live in England, so the chances of me getting a lot of natural sunlshine on my bod are not that great.

So scaly MeFiers, what's worked for you?

Methotrexate off the market?

..ooOOoo....ooOOoo.. — Fri, 18 Feb 2005 00:41:51 -0800

I need help finding the production status of the drug methotrexate in injectable form. I have moderate to severe psoriatic arthritis along with ankylosing spondilitis, i.e. bad, bad arthritis in my back. In trying to get my prescription filled for injectable methotrexate, the pharmacy told me it is now "unavailable" for sale. They have no other information, just that the wholesalers do not carry it anymore.

I can't seem to find anything through google, google news, or psoriasis and arthritis forums about a production shutdown but no one (pharmacies and three doctors) seems to know what is going on. Anyone have an idea on where to look or have the info themselves?

Self-administering Shots

goofyfoot — Sat, 15 Jan 2005 20:42:52 -0800

Does anyone here self-administer subcutaneous shots? I have to do four a week of Enbrel, for psoriasis, and I find it most comfortable to do them again and again in the same spot (my belly). Should I move the point of injection around? When I try my thigh, I hit a vein, and bruise. Am I building up scar tissue by using the same spot? Does it matter much if I do? And does it matter much if I hit a vein in my thigh when I try there?