At Fred's request I'll start a new thread on this subject, by pasting what I've written elsewhere on this board.

In a nutshell, in the mid-1990s I had extremely bad psoriatic spondylitis, & was headed for crippledom according to my rheumatologist. I changed my diet & lifestyle fairly radically, & in a year or so I was free of all symptoms & my ESR (blood inflammation) readings had dropped from 43 to 1.

Here is the post:


My arthritis cure:

The first thing I did was get blood tests for inflammation (the ESR at the time - a good basic test still in use), so I could keep objective track of progress. My ESR reading went from 43 down to 19 down to 6, then finally down to 1 - the lowest possible reading. (Normal range for middle-aged people is 1-15; 1-10 if young.) That took less than a year. All symptoms disappeared for good. I haven't had a problem since - tho the rheumatologist at the time said I'd end up a cripple.

From the notes of my 1997 visit to the rheumatplogist:

Q: What is the inflammation? And what causes it?

A: A pathological chain of events within tissues. White cells moving into tissues. For me, mainly characterised by the presence of macrophages and lymphocytes (from the immune response). No-one knows what causes it.

So I take it this was autoimmune.

These days I do get the occasional twinge in a finger if I eat a lot of fruit or drink a lot of beer. (I.e. too many sugars.) So I just stop doing that for a day & it goes.

I was in agony from head to foot: 20 digits swollen like sausages; spine fusing up; even breastbone extremely painful; couldn't turn over in bed at night. So it was a big turnaround.

To do this I went off acidic food - was eating a lot of tomato paste at the time; and off gluten grains; and off alcohol and cigarettes & pot. And cut way back on the sugars, including fruit. And no dairy.

The regime varied from time to time. Sometimes I found that animal protein was making symptoms worse, and making my tears stingy & acidic. So I went off all animal protein - & those symptoms went away. Other times I just cut down to chicken or fish every second day. That's something to experiment with. (I eat a ton of meat now - no ill-effects: but when one is in a critical state, trying to subdue the autoimmune response, one needs extra measures. Therapeutic diets can be different from maintenance diets.)

I took anti-arthritis herbs, & got mobility exercises from a physiotherapist.

My fastest rate of cure came when I went to live on a quiet beach for a few months, & exercised & swam every day.

Some of my ideas came from an English herbalist named Rowland. I didn't follow every item - excessive fastidiousness is counter-productive, as it causes you to rebel at some point. I also don't agree with him allowing bread and coffee. Other people's laundry lists are for picking the eyes out of, not following fanatically.

My hunch is that for me lowering the intake of sugars was the biggest factor. Cutting out/back on bad fats, gluten (& much grain of any sort) & red meat were also curative I think.

Modern fruit is not the low-sugar, fibrous fruit we evolved on, so there's a good rationale to being careful with even natural sugars.

Fish oil! There's even some science on it for arthritis. MAX-EPA absorption is improved by replacing polyunsaturated fats in the diet with monos.

n-6 fatty acids tend to be pro-inflammatory, a scientist told me at the time.

I also took quite a few supps, tho can't recall which ones. There'd be websites on this now. If you can't take any supps that shouldn't be a barrier to getting well, if her diet is in order.

It's of tremendous practical & psychological benefit to keep track of your ESR - get it measured regularly. Seeing those numbers fall is a real boost.

Going off anything that I reacted to for a while (until the allergic response settled down) was helpful. Some people find rotation diets useful, tho I didn't need one. I tried an elimination diet once, which picked up a couple of things (e.g. more pain after eating chickpeas).

Some writers say going off nightshades is very important: I never had any problem with them (except the acidity of the tomatoes) - but I didn't eat a ton of potatoes either, to keep starches/sugars down.

General points:

1. Medicos will be useless. This is not their field.

2. Pain is your friend, as it tells you you are sick & (when reducing) shows you that what you are doing is working. So I never took painkillers or anti-inflammatories. It's a good spur to try hard.

3. Acting early is a good idea, because the calcifcation caused by the arthritis isn't reversible.

4. If progress is slow, gene testing & fixing methylation is worth exploring. But this is a whole 'nother ballgame, & shouldn't be needed.

5. Most sick people don't want to get well. It's about 1 in 100 IMO. Only very few will follow through with what needs to be done. You would be a rare bird if you made the kind of effort implied in the above.

6. Following my regime exactly may not be optimal: you'll need to experiment a bit. But the broad guidelines should be useful.

I purchased a kilogram of 98% DMF from a chemical supplier in Shanghai at a cost of 160 USD delivered. Customs opened and sampled the package, but were unable to seize it as it is not a registered therapeutic nor is it subject to importation bans in Australia (or maybe they just stuffed up).

A word of caution though: It is a very strong drug with the potential for unpleasant side effects. And dont take it with bananas. I had a headache for 14 hours the last time I did that, and there wont be a next time.

Good luck,

Bill

Hi, I am John.

Had psoriasis since 1974. Has been worse: I keep it with reasonably good diet & lots of supps such as fishoil.

Now want to try dimethyl fumarate - which is why I joined here.

Had psoriatic arthritis very badly in the 1990s (rheumatologist said I'd be a cripple), but cured it with diet & lifestyle changes. ESR went from 43 to 1 (the lowest possible score) & symptoms (agonising pain, 20 digits swollen like sausages) vanished.

Now it's time to get rid of the psoriasis: I am confident there's a way, I just have to find it.

*NOTE:
This thread is made up from posts on a Fumaderm thread, and it was decided it would be better to have it's own thread. You can find the original Fumaderm thread here: Fumaderm

You may also be interested in Caroline's thread about Dimethylfumarates here: Dimethylfumarates and Psoriasis

The first post in this thread is the one below from Johnmac, members are welcome to start another thread about Fumaderm if they wish.

(Fri-25-11-2011, 19:57 PM)Caroline Wrote: Oww....
Can't help it, so must react to Paul and Snookams (what a name)..
I am not on Fumaderm but on an alternative called Psorinovo.
Psorinovo is also, but then unlike Fumaderm without additives. Would make it even worse for your stomach and intestines if.... it was not enteric coated and slow release, but it is....
Which means that it will not be released in the stomach and is slowly released in the intestines. The effect of this is that:
1) almost no cramps, less diarrhea
2) limited flushes, I have them by day about once a week (20 minutes) and sometimes at night
3) higher doses than 6x120mg are possible

Psorinovo is also, like fumaderm I guess, based on the research of dr schweckendieck, but improved by dr L. Kunst into the current form.
Currently a scientific investigation is started in the large medical centers in holland, initiated by the patients community already using Psorinovo, in order to place it better on the map as a very well working treatment to beat psoriasis.

hello everyone i am new here happened to find this when i was doing my own researching online and thought it might be beneficial to see what everyone else is doing

Wow amazing!

Had 2 letters last week telling me I could wait upto 13 weeks for an appointment.

Just got off the phone with the booking service........

Can I come in tomorrow?

yeah!

Janssen Biotech, Inc. and Janssen Biologics B.V. announced today the submission of a supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) to the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and a Type II Variation to the European Medicines Agency (EMA) requesting approval of STELARA® (ustekinumab) for the treatment of adult patients with active psoriatic arthritis.  

It is estimated that more than two million people in the U.S. and approximately 4.2 million people across Europe are living with psoriatic arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease characterized by both joint inflammation and psoriasis skin lesions, for which there is no cure.

"We are pleased to present applications to health authorities in the U.S. and Europe seeking approval of STELARA for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis, a chronic, debilitating immune-mediated inflammatory disease," said Jerome A. Boscia, M.D., Vice President, Head of Immunology Development, Janssen Research & Development, LLC.  "The efficacy and safety of STELARA, an anti–interleukin-12/23 antibody, have been evaluated in a large Phase 3 clinical development program for the treatment of active psoriatic arthritis, a disease for which tumor necrosis factor inhibitors are currently the only approved biologic therapies, and additional therapeutic options are needed."

The applications are supported by findings from Phase 3 Multicenter, Randomised, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled trials of Ustekinumab, a Fully Human anti–IL-12/23p40 Monoclonal Antibody, Administered Subcutaneously, in Subjects with Active Psoriatic Arthritis (PSUMMIT I and PSUMMIT II), which evaluated the efficacy and safety of subcutaneously administered STELARA 45 mg or 90 mg at weeks 0, 4 and then every 12 weeks.  The trials included patients diagnosed with active psoriatic arthritis who had at least five tender and five swollen joints and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels of at least 0.3 mg/dL in spite of previous treatment with conventional therapy.  PSUMMIT II also included patients with previous exposure to tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors.  The primary endpoints for both studies were the proportion of patients demonstrating at least a 20 percent improvement in arthritis signs and symptoms [American College of Rheumatology (ACR) 20] at week 24.  Secondary endpoints at week 24 included in the submissions were: improvements in Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) scores, a 50 or 70 percent improvement in arthritis signs and symptoms (ACR 50 or ACR 70), and at least a 75 percent improvement in psoriatic skin lesions as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI 75) in patients with at least three percent body surface area involvement at baseline.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

PSUMMIT I report: Stelara and Psoriatic Arhtritis Phase 3 data

PSUMMIT II report: Stelara Significantly Reduced Psoriatic Arhtritis

Stelara (ustekinumab)

Just wondered if anyone can advise me

I am currently waiting for my derm appt, which will take up to 13 weeks.

I have a large percentage of coverage, including face, scalp, palms and soles of my feet.
I have plaques and lots of small patches, so I struggle with putting on topicals.

My question is this: am I likely to be offered anything other than topical treatments while I am trying to get pregnant?

This affects members accounts that have never been used.

By default accounts not activated within 24 Hrs are deleted, but we still have some accounts that have been activated yet no posts or further log-ins have been made. This is a ploy sometimes used by spammers, so from now on I will be deleting any accounts with zero posts that have not logged-in in the past twelve months.

How will this affect me?

• Members with at least one post: Your account will remain open and you don't need to do anything.
  
• Members who have logged-in at least once in the past twelve months: Your account will remain open and you don't need to do anything.
  
• Members with zero posts who have not logged-in in the past twelve months: Your account will be deleted.
  

Background: 
Psoriasis is a chronic debilitating disease affecting approximately one million Canadians. The objective of this study is to estimate the economic burden in $CDN (2008) of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis among Canadian adults.

Methods: 
Using a cross-sectional design, direct resource use, costs, lost productivity, and quality of life were obtained for 90 subjects diagnosed with psoriasis in three dermatology clinics in British Columbia, Ontario, and Québec. An Excel-based economic model was developed to project the annual cost of psoriasis, from the societal perspective.

Results: 
The estimated mean annual cost of psoriasis was $7999/subject (95% CI: $3563–$12,434) with direct costs accounting for 57%. Mean lost productivity costs, which accounted for 43% of the mean annual costs of psoriasis, were $3442/subject (95% CI: $1293–$5590).

Conclusion: 
Projecting the mean costs per patient to the afflicted population yields an estimated total annual cost of $1.7 billion (95% CI: $0.8–$2.6 billion) attributable to moderate to severe psoriasis in Canada. Understanding the interplay between direct costs, lost productivity, and quality of life is critical for accurately identifying and evaluating effective treatments for this disease.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Perrigo today announced that its partner, Cobrek Pharmaceuticals, Inc., received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for betamethasone valerate foam 0.12%, the generic equivalent of Luxiq® Foam. Perrigo has manufactured the product and is preparing to commence commercial shipments on January 15, 2013, consistent with the date certain launch settlement. Cobrek was first to file, making the product eligible for 180 days of marketing exclusivity.

Betamethasone valerate foam 0.12% is indicated for the relief of corticosteroid-responsive skin conditions of the scalp (scalp psoriasis). Brand annual sales were approximately $40 million.

Perrigo's Chairman, President and CEO Joseph C. Papa stated, "This is our sixth product approval using a foam dosage form, which requires specialized development and manufacturing capabilities. It is an example of the excellent partnership we have with Cobrek and we are committed to making quality healthcare more affordable for our customers and drive value for our shareholders."

From its beginnings as a packager of generic home remedies in 1887, Perrigo Company, based in Allegan, Michigan, has grown to become a leading global provider of quality, affordable healthcare products. The Company develops, manufactures and distributes over-the-counter ("OTC") and generic prescription ("Rx") pharmaceuticals, nutritional products and active pharmaceutical ingredients ("API") and is the world's largest manufacturer of OTC pharmaceutical products for the store brand market. Perrigo's mission is to offer uncompromised "quality, affordable healthcare products", and it does so across a wide variety of product categories primarily in the United States, United Kingdom, Mexico, Israel and Australia, as well as certain other markets throughout the world, including Canada, China and Latin America.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

Hello All! I'm virgomimi, a 55 year old married grandmother. I haven't been diagnosed with Psoriasis, but I'm pretty sure I have it, and I'm miserable. I was looking for an association of Psoriasis and full moons and found Fred's post of last year, so I registered. I can't wait to read on that, which is where I am headed right now! Will be talking with everyone soon!

Hello all, I'm going to give this forum thing a go as I am currently in need of a place 'to go'

I've had Plaque Psoriasis for around 6/7 years now - appeared in my mid 20's during a rather 'trying time' for the past three years it's hardly been a bother - possibly linked to meeting an amazing fella and actually being happy...

I've only had one other flare up in recent years - guttate(?!?) psoriasis, which covered every inch of me, which the doc possibly linked to a throat infection I had - but thankfully it disappeared as quickly as it appeared after about 8 weeks....

My worst psoriasis fears have however just been met.... plaques on my face. I feel like a vain prat being so bothered about it. I know there are many others - probably many others on this forum who suffer with much higher severity than I do, but the appearance of these plaques have sent my head west. I just want to hide.

I am guessing they have been triggered by watering eyes - I was suffering from blocked tear ducts for 3 months, and the constant tearing wrecked the skin below my eyes. It took so long for the eye hospital to sort out my treatment appointment (administration mess up)... I am so angry... I guess I'm looking for somebody to blame. The eyes are now working again - but the plaques are spreading.

I'm a 30 something female who loves make-up and works within the realm of fashion... I look like a cadaver. I can't put anything on it to cover it.... I feel ugly and frustrated. The bf has been supportive as always telling my I'm beautiful and that 'it' will go - I need to stay positive... But it's so hard!

Booking myself in with the docs tomorrow... though previous experience with treatments not working doesn't fill me with hope.

I actually usually a positive happy type who's usual role is to council and support my friends ha! (I'll tell a joke on my next post).

Sorry for the warble - have never really used forums so I'm not quite sure how much or what to post!

xxx

Hey everyone, I am a bit down atm :(

Had P for 25 yrs, but following a bad flare in oct I am struggling. Got fatigue caused by P (according to GP). My bad news this morning that they can't offer me a derm appt for possibly upto 13 weeks has made me quite gloomy.

Did ring the hosp 2day but they can't/won't help as my referal was not an urgent 1. Rang surgery to try and sort that too. And rang the local Spire hosp to see if I could get in there and how much, they have appts nxt week but that is £140, and then what????

sorry to rant x

Hello!

I'm curious as to how people with psoriasis of the nails are coping.

I have had various toenails implicated, and they've been everything from a little yuck and clearing up after a few months to huge and gross and long lasting.  At the minute I only have two toenails acting up, one where I ended up cutting the entire nail off and the other is a bigtoenail that refuses to be trimed filed or removed.

The treatment for my arthritis (mtx/humira) has mostly cleared up any skin psoriasis but the nails have no interest in behaving themselves. 

How do you deal with the nail issues?

Background:
Ceramics are inorganic nonmetallic materials and are used as bioinert components in joint replacement surgeries. Ceramics are known to be low allergenic. We experienced a ceramic-induced psoriasis.

Objective:
We report a first case of possible ceramic-induced psoriasis caused by a ceramic insert.Methods:A 55-year-old female received an implanted ceramic-on-ceramic total hip replacement for osteoarthritis of the right hip joint. Following surgery, she developed psoriatic lesions, which continued for 10 years. We suspected that psoriasis was caused by a ceramic insert and removed it surgically.

Results:
When the ceramic insert was replaced with a polyethylene-on-metal hip joint, the psoriatic lesions completely disappeared.

Conclusion:
The pathogenesis of psoriasis is still an enigma, although deregulation of nuclear factor κB signaling and resulting abnormal cytokine secretion are speculated to be involved. Ceramics may affect these signaling events and cause the onset of psoriasis.

Research has shown that antibodies designed to block two proteins involved in inflammation, can reduce features of Alzheimer’s in mice. This study uses similar antibodies to ones approved for treatment of psoriasis.

There is increasing evidence that inflammation in the brain can play a role in Alzheimer’s disease. Specialist immune cells in the brain called microglia are thought to be involved in the inflammatory response in the brain that may contribute to the disease.

To study this further, the scientists from Universities in Germany and Switzerland studied mice bred to develop features of Alzheimer’s. The team discovered that the mice had high levels of two messengers called IL-12 and IL-23 in the brain. Both are made up of protein building blocks, and a protein called p40 is a common component of both. The researchers stopped the p40 protein from being produced in the mice and observed a marked decrease in brain levels of the hallmark Alzheimer’s protein amyloid.

The team then used antibodies designed to stick to p40 and stop it from working. The antibodies were given to the mice for 60 days and the team saw both a reduction in amyloid levels and an improvement in the cognitive problems normally seen in these mice.

When the researchers looked for p40 in cerebrospinal fluid of people, they found higher p40 levels in people with Alzheimer’s compared to those without the disease.

Dr Simon Ridley, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“There is increasing evidence that inflammation is a key player in Alzheimer’s and it is an exciting area for researchers working to defeat this devastating disease. This promising research adds further support for the role of the immune system in Alzheimer’s, linking two inflammatory proteins to the disease in mice. Early studies like these are crucial to help highlight new targets for drug development, but we need to be careful not to assume that what is true for mice is true for men. Before any new Alzheimer’s drug can reach patients, first it must be rigorously tested in clinical trials.

Source: NO LINKS ALLOWED

My Turmeric Cure Story

This is the story of how the natural herb Turmeric is helping me to cure psoriasis. It has been proven time and time again that Turmeric can solve many problems in the field of health, from skin conditions, to joint pain and even cancer in many circumstances.

My story is a little different to most stories but you might find it interesting. It started 8 years ago, one day I noticed a patch of slightly dry skin on my knee, but as it was not really bothering me or very painful I really just ignored it. Since sometimes you can end up taking medicine and making things worse. A few weeks later I was walking outside and accidentally stepped on a nail; typically the nail was pointing up and pierced my foot. I was immediately told to go and have a tetanus shot as always as it is better to be safe than sorry. The medical centre advised me that a tetanus and polio combination shot was now the normal thing to have so I didn’t give it a second thought; I decided to have that shot. After all I didn’t want some nasty infection from that nail.

But a little while later I noticed that the shot was giving me side effects, and then I suffered a full blown psoriasis attack, I'm not sure at this stage if it was down to the immunization shot or not but it seems like an odd coincidence. My joints flared up with pain, terrible stiffness and sharp aching around the knees. My skin started to scale and thicken in places where the psoriasis started to flare up.

The worst part was my leg, my leg developed a cyst inside which had swollen and burst, leaking oil into my leg. The leg actually swollen up to the size of an elephant’s leg, it was massive and the doctor decides I should have a steroid shot to bring it down. I then spent the next few months trying various medications and eventually settled for methotrexate.

I have been on this medication now for eight years. But this only sedates the problem it doesn’t Solve it, I still have plaque thickness and terrible redness formed by the psoriasis, I thought maybe I was going to just deal with it and resign myself to having this condition all of my life.

Then one day I found out about a man who had been taking Turmeric as a medicine, more specifically using it to cure his psoriasis skin condition. My first reaction was a little skeptical, but since there was nothing to lose I thought I might as well try it. So in August 2012 I started taking turmeric as a medication. I was amazed, in two weeks some of the patches of skin had vanished completely, and the worst parts of my elbows had been reduced down the last layer, I can see these clearing up completely within months.

The skin on my left leg has also been reduced in redness and will disappear soon fingers crossed. The added bonus of taking turmeric as a medicine, along with curing my terrible psoriasis, is that my once high blood pressure is now down to normal.

A great success story for turmeric as a medication.

Paul-Dee

Disclaimer

Nothing in this article should be construed as medical advice. Always check with your personal physician or licensed health care practitioner before making any significant modification in your diet or lifestyle, to insure that the ingredients or lifestyle changes are appropriate for your personal health condition and consistent with any medication you may be taking.

Hi there. Im new to this forum and am hoping to get some good information on how to handle psoriasis. Ive had it for about 7 years now, It started off around my nose and on my elbow then to other parts of my body, places Id rather not have it if you know what I mean. I dont have it that bad, the other places I have it are on my scalp by my hairline and 2 patches on my legs and a little patch behind my ear, on my eyebrow and little patches on my chin which i cover up with stubble.

What I am wondering is have any people on here had any luck with clearing through diet? I have started the Dr Pagano diet just over 3 weeks ago but havent seen any changes, if anything it has got a tiny bit worse but im wondering if that is down to the cold weather as my place doesnt have that much heating.

I lead a very healthy lifestyle. I dont drink alcohol or smoke. My diet for the past 3 weeks has consisted of a green smoothie every morning which I put in..kale..1 avocado..1 apple..1 banana..pumpkin seeds..sunflower seeds..almonds and manuka honey. Then for lunch I have sardines with brown rice and hummous and for tea I have either chicken or lamb with brown rice.. sweet potato and hummous.
Throughout the day I also try and drink 2 litres of water but dont always achieve it.

Anyways, Im struggling today and really craving a fry up lol. My mouth is watering at the thought of it Can anyone give me any hope that this diet thing actually works and for me to keep going?

Thank you for reading.

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