I have 1 Humira pen leftover, unused, unopened, kept refrigerated that I do not need anymore. I hate to throw it away. Any ideas what to do with it? Is it legal to sell it??

I was on Humira for 2 years, but it stopped working for my Psoriatic Arthritis. I am now on Remicade.

Thanks for any input!

Hello I always take alcohol or brandy for about 4 to 5 shots just to make me sleep every night. My question is its really worse my Psoriasis problem?

Hi all,

Just joined this forum, found it while browsing psoriasis, (can just about spell it now) and treatments.
I'm 48 and have had this condition for around 10 years now, it started in my scalp but spreads to different bits of me and in different forms - whenerver and wherever it pleases.
At the moment I've got the scalp flaky patches in my scalp (they are a constant). Elsewhere there are some red blotches and large reddish spots in other places.
I don't get how it changes though - other times I've had scaly and flaky blotches but not now, instead they are red and sore.
I use T Gel on my scalp - I heard olive oil was good, has anyone tried this, also that you should wash your hair and scalp in cool water, not hot??
I've used creams but don't remember what they were - once used a steroid cream, which seemed to make it worse so I stopped. Anyone any tips for complementary medicine?

Cheers folks,

Filmbuff

Hello how is everyone tonight? Me, I am just blah. I am tired of my Psoriasis, just like everyone else on this forum probably is. I am new to this forum, so here is a bit about myself:

I am 33 and had Plaque and Inverse Psoriasis since I was a kid and was official diagnosed in 2003. Also, I have had pain in my hip and hands/fingers since I was a kid. I have not been diagnosed with PsA or RA as of yet. For my P, I have tried the following laundry list of medications: Cellcept, Enbrel, Methotrexate, Humira, Soriatane, and now Stelara and Celebrex.

Stelara has been the best so far; I am approximately 85% clearance without any visible inflammation after three shots. However, my hips and hands/fingers still hurt considerably. My Dermatologist thinks I could have PsA, and recommended that I see a Rheumatologist. My new Rheumatologist mentioned the M word (methotrexate; a curse word to me) 31 times during the visit. I had some blood work done (no results yet), and eight x-rays.

For the most part, I can live with the pain in my hip and hand/finders, but now I have stiffness and fatigue every morning (feels like I beat myself up in the gym for the first time in a long time). The stiffness and fatigue came directly after I stopped Humira (Humira cause my P to flare). I am sorry for the wall of text. I am a HTFU type of guy, but for the first time in my life I just want to cry. I hate this curse! I am thinking about giving up Stelara, but is there anything else left? Any suggestions?

I was just prescribed urea lotion a few days ago. An addition to my regimen. There's no limit in using it. We can use it twice a day or as needed. It attracts water hence it moisturizes the affected areas. It helps me specialLy on my elbows. Psoriasis in these areas became thinner after 3 days of using the lotion..

Hello everyone!

Just been looking on amazon at pine tar soap. Has anyone ever tried it for psoriasis? Is it any good? and is it safe? I have heard it may contain creosote which causes cancer

If anyone has tried it what did you think?

Hope your all having a nice day!

xx

Hi!  I came from the Philippines.  I have psoriasis for over 6 years, just an estimate[/font].  I just could not remember when it started.  I was diagnosed sometime in 2010.  However, i did not mind it too much as it only started on my left elbow. Though I didn't mind it too much, I had gone from one doctor to another.  I was prescribed ointments for anti-fungal infections however it was not cured.  Then early this year, i noticed a red spot below my throat which prompted me to see a dermatologist.  That was on February 5, 2013 that I started seeing a derma. You know what the derma told me?  She said i'm lucky my psoriasis has not spread all over my body.  Now, i have them in both hands, and some parts of my body.  Thanks to the dermatologists that i visited my psor is controlled.  Actually i visited 2 dermas one in the place where i live and the other is in Quezon City.  Both of them are so good.  I love seeing them both.

Hi everyone!

Haven't posted in a couple of weeks as I am still finding my way around the site.

My doctor has prescribed Daktacort cream for me 1%. It seems really good and has cleared up a couple of inverse patches of psorasis for me.

As I mostly have guttate and it seems much dryer I am wondering if it will now get better on its own or can I use some of the daktacort, little bits at a time on small patches of skin to treat some of the guttate.

As i said on a previous thread I wouldn't use the cream all over as it is cortisone and not good for all over use as it is bad for the adrenal glands and also thinning of skin.

I have had guttate now for nearly a month and am fed up of it and want it to clear which i am hopeful it will do in time. But i would like to clear it up quicker if i can.

Thank you for listening

xx

Well, I went for my follow up appointment today, and was put onto Acitretin (Neotigason).
I have been put on a daily dose of 30mg, and I have to go for blood tests in 3 weeks, ready for my next appointment in 4 weeks.
I have taken my first dose today and will monitor my progress for the next few months to see what sort of progress I achieve.
Will keep you updated as I go.

Let's see how this works eh !!!!

So you've often heard and probably wondered is it true that alcohol is bad for psoriatic arthritis! Personally I have never noticed any difference, and when I was in hospital for a week they gave me Red Wine with my dinner.

This is a study from researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre in The Netherlands. Make your own mind up Cheers.

Quote:

---

Objectives:
There are conflicting reports concerning the association between alcohol consumption and RA. We performed a case–control study to investigate the association of alcohol consumption with RA as well as with other forms of arthritis. To assess whether alcohol consumption affects long-term disease outcome, we also investigated its association with radiographic progression and sustained drug-free remission in RA.

Methods:
Patients with arthritis and various diagnoses including RA, OA, ReA, SpA and Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA) were compared with 5868 controls from the general population. The association of disease with alcohol consumption was analysed by logistic regression analysis.

Results:
Alcohol consumption was inversely associated with not only RA [odds ratio (OR) 0.28, 95% CI 0.23, 0.35] but also OA (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.16, 0.62) and other forms of arthritis (OR 0.34, 95% CI 0.24, 0.48). A higher degree of systemic inflammation, reflected by the ESR and CRP level, was associated with a smaller proportion of patients consuming alcohol. There was no dose–response relationship between the amount of alcohol consumed and the presence of arthritis. The extent of joint destruction and the rate of sustained drug-free remission were not affected by alcohol consumption.

Conclusion:
Arthritis patients report less alcohol consumption than controls, regardless of the type of arthritis. This suggests that alcohol may either protect against different kinds of arthritis or that the inverse association between alcohol and arthritis may be secondary to disease development, with arthritis patients being less inclined to consume alcohol due to their decreased general well-being.

Hello I'm 45 year old living with Psoriasis and as of now i don't take any medications. It starts two years ago, now its already spreading on my whole body.

Below is translated with Google Translate and checked on correctness.
It shows a recent investigation in the Netherlands in which it is clear that MTX is useless when trying to beat PsA. But that doctors keep on prescribing.
The article can be read (in Dutch) at LINK REMOVED

MTX senseless with Arthritis Psoriasis
A double-blind randomized studies has shown no evidence that six months of treatment with methotrexate (MTX) is effective against synovitis in psoriatic arthritis (PsA). The researchers wonder whether MTX in PsA is effectively a DMARD.

The doctor who prescribes MTX in PsA, does something what many of his colleagues do too. He is even encouraged to do so by the guidelines, while the effectiveness of this treatment has not been conclusively proven. Nevertheless the NICE guidelines advise to try MTX  before considering - well proven effective in PsA - TNF-alpha inhibitors.

British researchers therefore decided to put to test, which was not done before, the effect of MTX in PsA a randomized clinical trial (Rheumatology. 2012, 51 (8) :1368-77). The 221 participants had active PsA and were randomized to 15 mg MTX weekly or placebo. The primary outcome were the Psoriatic Arthritis Response Criteria (PsARC). Secondary outcome measures were the scores of ACR20 and DAS-28, and the seperate items in them.

44 participants, about equally divided between the two groups could not be involved in the follow-up, 26 participants discontinued treatment (14 in the MTX group). After six months no significant effect on PsARC (OR 1.77), nor on the ACR20 or DAS28 score (OR 2.00 respectively. 1,70) showed. Nor has there been significant positive effects of MTX on the number of tender and swollen joints, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ERS), C-reactive protein (CRP), evaluation of health (HAQ score) and pain perception.

Although there was a trend towards improvement in MTX use, but none of the indices referred to this effect reached statistical significance. The only positive effects of MTX were an improvement of both the doctor and patient global scores and skin scores. The safety was as expected.

The authors conclude that the results do not indicate any improvement of synovitis in PsA by treatment with MTX. They recommended to practitionars that patients should be used with effective conventional means as leflunomide and biologicals.

---------
Additonal remarks from me... Biologicals can be very dangerous as part of the immune system is inhibited.

Instead, it is found that psorinovo (DMF) used with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in 9 of the 10 cases gives disappearance and brings much less risk, if the recommended dose is not exceeded. This is demonstrated by including research in 2008 of dr. L. Kunst.

---------
Name            Type          dose                                      price/year
Remicade      infliximab    5 mg/kg 1 x per 2 months      € 19.352.-
Humira          adalimumab  1 x per week 40 mg                € 32.480.-
Enbrel            etanercept    2 x per week 50 mg              € 28.260.-
Psorinovo      DMF            6 x day 120 mg                      € 1.200,-

Fred im not getting an email for new threds in help me or intros

Hello all

I have never had any sort of skin problem. However over the past few months I have had 'something' develop on my scalp. It started as clustered clumps of 'dandruff' on my scalp, but nothing to bad. I went to see GP who give me some coconut coal stuff, she said it was caused by stress. Then a few months later, I developed quite bad dry skin behind my ears, of which became infected and started weeping. Then my head became significantly worse, it become very very sore and cracked. It feels like it is burning and the skin is very tight. I can easily simply scratch my head and my nails will be full of 'clumps' of white / yellow stuff. Sometimes my scalp also weeps to the point that it soaks my hair at the back. I have looked at it when it has been oozing and it seems to be a greenish liquid seeping. Its becoming increasingly sore and I am still not sure what it is. My dr gave me some steriod cream for behind my ears, and antibiotics but nothing else for my hair. The coal stuff I got earlier this year does not work and actually hurts very much because I am putting it on sore cracked skin. Does this sound like psoriasis?

Thanks all

Hi im new to this site, I suffer from guttate psoriasis. Im currently covered in it, the only place thats not effected so far is my face. I itch all over, I cant sleep, its driving me crazy ! I dont need help I just need to moan about it ! Fed up

Please move if I've put this in the wrong section.

As you may or may not know, after my recent relapse, I've lost quite a few layers of skin from my feet. Luckily I now have my meds and will be away on holiday in a few weeks.

The problem now is........shoes!

My feet are still uber sensitive (as are my ankles from all that tippy toeing around) and still get a bit hot. It will take a while for the skin to toughen up again. I need to find some shoes that basically feel like slippers or perhaps try some memory foam insoles?

Just wondered if anyone had anyone suggestions or personal recommendations.

I've been on Humara. My plaque P is gone. I have some of the glut P which I didn't have before but only about 6 or 10. Finger nails are back to normal. PA seems to be much better. Under carriage is clear. Scalp is doing great which is good news because the cover over it is disappearing rapidly. I hope it doesn't quit working.

This article published in Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology suggests that psoriasis patients are at a significant risk of parkinsonism.

Quote:

---

Objective:
We sought to investigate the risk for parkinsonism during a 5-year follow-up period after a diagnosis of psoriasis using a population-based data set in Taiwan.

Methods:
We identified 4885 patients with psoriasis for the study cohort and randomly selected 24,425 patients as a control cohort. Each subject was individually followed up for a 5-year period to identify those who subsequently developed parkinsonism.

Results:
Stratified Cox proportional hazards regression showed that the adjusted hazard ratio for parkinsonism during the 5-year follow-up period for patients with psoriasis was 1.74 (95% confidence interval 1.35-2.20) that of control patients. Furthermore, the adjusted hazard ratios for parkinsonism within the 5-year follow-up period after the index date for subjects with psoriasis were similar between both sexes (1.78 and 1.66 for men and women, respectively).

Limitation:
Our data set did not provide detailed information on the severity of psoriasis, or individual factors such as cigarette smoking, alcohol consumption, body mass index, and dietary patterns.

Conclusion:
Patients with psoriasis were found to be at a significant risk of parkinsonism during a 5-year follow-up.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Hi i'm new to the psoriasis club. Started to develop a rash about a week and a half ago, which started on the palm of my hands and then gradually spread to most other areas of my body. i thought it was excema to begin with as I have suffered with excema on and off for years.

But after making an appointment to see the doctor today he told me that it was guttate psoriasis.

He has given me Dermol cream to apply, oilatum for the bath and antibiotics, I have to take the antibiotics 2 tablets at a time 4 times a day, 8 tablets in total. this seems a lot of tablets, just wanted to know if anyone else who was first diagnosed was given this many tablets to take a day. They are penicillin.

Thank you

xx

I'm new to this site, just wanted to say hello. I was diagnosed today with guttate psoriasis caused through having a throat infection. looking forward to posting on the site xx