I've had psoriasis for 16 years. I've never been to a doctor for it at all due to a doctor phobia. I'm now about 75% covered. My knees to my feet are covered. My scalp is covered. My torso is covered. My arms are covered. My face is clear, hands are clear, feet are clear and that's it.

Just this summer, I've started getting new symptoms that are extremely terrifying.

Extreme burning on my legs. Almost intolerable. I started to pay close attention to area of my calves. I used some treatments to get all of the scaling off of my lower legs but the burning even got worse. Below the scaling is just thick redness so I started to try and peel that away. I uncovered something that doesn't look like psoriasis. It looks like white little dots and they are extremely painful. I sprayed some hydrogen peroxide on them and it foamed big time and burned like crazy. Eventually it started oozing puss. The pain just won't go away. At first, I was afraid that it was general pustular psoriasis which can be fatal...but the fact that the hydrogen peroxide foamed makes me think it's just some time of subcutaneous skin infection caused by the fact that I scratch constantly.

Is it possible for psoriasis scaling to scale over a skin infection? Has anybody had something so strange happen to them? I'm currently panicking due to the extreme pain. Sorry to make my introduction a complaint but it is desperation that drove me to find a community so that I could share my experience.

Thanks for your time and any responses.

Hello all,

Glad to be here, as I have valuable information on Low Dose Naltrexone (LDN) and I hope to shed some light on this possibly, very benefIcial pharmaceutical.

I have researched PsA thoroughly since being recently diagnosed. And I have much information I would like to share with others that suffer as I do, with this severe inflammatory condition. But in doing a search on your site for LDN,
I see there's little info and it is dated. I would have believed by now, a thread
on LDN would have been stickied. And I'm a bit surprised this is not so.

Did you know that people with PsA are highly likely to develop other
autoimmune diseases?

Did you know LDN benefits many autoimmune disorders including cancer? And
that LDN is so safe, fertility specialists are using it for expecting
mothers? And that it is beneficial to both mother and baby?

I have documented all the studies. Doctors who have shown clinical benefits in their practice and would like to share this valuable information, to those like me, who were slammed with this crippling inflammatory condition.

I was hit hard by PsA this New Years Day (2016). In three days I went from being mobile and active to practically being crippled. Wasn't diagnosed till months later (April). Never been arthritic in my 58 years prior. Now I know why all the old timers move to Florida.The cold really makes this condition unbearable. Now that it is warmer up north here in NYC, things are much better. Been taking care of myself by eating healthy, taking supplemental nutrients, and recently started with LDN (June 7th). I cannot comment on what is helping me, as it could be all these things. The big test will be when it gets cold again. Right now my inflammation markers have dropped which was my immediate concern due to pre-existing conditions (COPD, Cancer recovery). Systemic inflammation is not something you want added with those conditions. This recent autoimmune disorder couldn't have come at a worse time. But as I said I'm improving, but can't be sure why. My Rheumatologist is on board with my decision to try LDN, as I am hesitant about taking any DMARD's. There are many reasons why I'm hesitant about the standard treatments, but I'll cover that another time.

For now, I would just like to say, I'm happy to be here, and welcome any questions about LDN or PsA. I came to help and maybe learn in the process. I try to learn something new everyday.

This study suggests miR-1266 may have an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis.

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Background:
Increasing evidence has shown that serum microRNA (miR) levels are useful biomarkers for the diagnosis, prognosis, and therapeutic value in various diseases. Psoriasis is characterized by a specific miR expression profile, with a characteristic miR signature, distinct from that of healthy skin.

Objectives:
To understand the role of miR-1266 in the pathogenesis of psoriasis and to explore if it has the potential as a blood biomarker. We assessed serum miR-1266 levels in patients with psoriasis before and after treatment and compared it with controls. In addition, we evaluated the relationship between miR-1266 and clinical severity in psoriasis before and after treatment.

Methods:
miR-1266 was measured using real-time polymerase chain reaction in 35 patients with chronic plaque psoriasis and 35 healthy controls before and after treatment. Moreover, the correlation between miR-1266 levels and psoriasis area and severity index score was determined.

Results:
Serum miR-1266 levels were considerably higher in patients with psoriasis than in healthy control subjects. Furthermore, miR-1266 levels showed a strong positive correlation with psoriasis area and severity index score before and after treatment, having a marked decline with therapy.

Conclusion:
miR-1266 may have an important role in the pathogenesis of psoriasis vulgaris. This may presumably have possible future implications on the treatment of this chronic disease.

Took my first (pen) injection 6/17 and it hurt like hell but I could tell it was working on the second day.  By day 6, most of the plaque was gone, though I still had the redness everywhere.  Very Impressed to say the least.

Took my second shot Friday 7/1 in my other thigh.  Didn't hurt as bad, but in a few hours I noticed inflammation was getting worse.   Areas that were fading to normal skin color were now much more red and inflamed, whole patches once again raised above normal skin level.

Yesterday and today, the injection site is very swollen and tender... that's not a big deal.  But I seem to be flaring after the second shot.

Anybody else experience this?  This med was working SOOOO much better than the other 3 biologics I've tried and really don't wanna give it up.


For background, I first noticed scalp psoriasis around 2005 and it got progressively worse, and covered honestly half my body by the time I was afforded health insurance, around 6/2014.  Started on Enbrel twice a week, that took a while to take hold but was working.  After a few months, my insurance cut the dose to 1/week and it started coming back.  Tried Humira, no dice.  Tried Stelara, and after the first and second doses it seemed promising but coming back before my first "maintenance dose".

I have been on Acitretin for 3 months. 25mg a day and am 100percent clear with little side effects.

This study tested the proposed CONTEST questionnaire, which was developed to identify patients with psoriasis who have undiagnosed PsA, and compare it with the validated Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST)

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Background:
Many questionnaires are available for assessment of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), but there is little evidence comparing them.

Objectives:
To test the proposed CONTEST questionnaire, which was developed to identify patients with psoriasis who have undiagnosed PsA, and compare it with the validated Psoriasis Epidemiology Screening Tool (PEST) questionnaire in a primary-care setting.

Methods:
A random sample of adult patients with psoriasis and no diagnosis of arthritis was identified from five general practice surgeries in Yorkshire, U.K. Consenting patients completed both questionnaires and were assessed by a dermatologist and rheumatologist. Diagnosis of PsA was made by the assessing rheumatologist. Receiver operator characteristic (ROC) curve analysis examined the sensitivity and specificity of potential cut points.

Results:
In total 932 packs were sent to recruit 191 (20·5%) participants. Of these, 169 (88·5%) were confirmed to have current or previous psoriasis. Using physician diagnosis 17 (10·1%) were found to have previously undiagnosed PsA, while 90 (53·3%) had another musculoskeletal complaint and 62 (36·7%) had no musculoskeletal problems. Using ROC curve analysis, all of the questionnaires showed a significant ability to identify PsA. The area under the curve (AUC) for the CONTEST questionnaires was slightly higher than that of PEST (0·69 and 0·70 vs. 0·65), but there was no significant difference identified. Examining the sensitivities and specificities for the different cut points suggested that a PEST score ≥ 2 would perform better in this dataset, and the optimal scores for CONTEST and CONTEST plus joint manikin were 3 and 4, respectively.

Conclusions:
The accuracy of the questionnaires to identify PsA appeared similar, with a slightly higher AUC for the CONTEST questionnaires. The optimal cut points in this study appeared lower than in previous studies.

This study set out to see if systemic treatment is any better than UV for psoriasis patients quality of life.

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Background:
Psoriasis is a skin inflammatory chronic disease with negative physical, psychological and social repercussions for those affected. However, patients suffering from mild disease also complain about negative impact on their quality of life, making it difficult for physicians to choose the best treatment strategy.

Objectives:
Understanding the impact of systemic treatments on Quality of Life (QoL) in patients with mild psoriasis in daily practice.

Methods:
This is a monocentric retrospective study analysing patients affected by mild psoriasis [Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) ≤ 6]. Patients were divided into two groups, depending on the treatment decision taken by the physicians: patients who received local and/or UV light therapies and patients who were treated with systemic therapies as a first choice. PASI and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) scores were measured at each visit.

Results:
Patients who received systemic therapies as a first choice reported higher QoL impairment, mainly due to psoriasis lesions localized on visible areas. During Follow-up, this group showed better improvement of PASI score and DLQI compared to patients receiving local and/or UV light treatment.

Conclusions:
Our findings highlight the potential benefit of using systemic therapies in patients with mild psoriasis and high QoL impairment. This study will help physicians to make the right therapeutic decision in patients suffering from mild psoriasis.

My name is Sally, i am 59 and have had Psoriasis for 27 years now, diagnosed just after the passing of my Uncle in 1988.

I was hospitalized when first diagnosed as doctors didn't know what it was, and by the time they got around to sending me to a specialist at the hospital, i was covered in it.  Back then i was given coal tar treatments which worked brilliantly, but since they where band here some years back now i have struggled to find anything that works for my plaque Psoroasis,  head and shoulders is brilliant for my scalp, i have tried varies things for my skin though, currently using aveeno, though it stops the itching, it doesn't clear it, E45 makes it itch more as does epaderm.

I would be greatful for any suggestions.

Thanks guys

Hi To All.

I have had this terrible disease for over 25yrs,and in that time have had all the treatments available. No matter what i take the psorasis always comes back,and at the moment i am at breaking point as my plaque psorasis it is worse than ever I am presently on my 3rd week of fumaderm ,and feel if i have permanent sunburn and prickly heat,has anyone else had these symptons ?

Nordimet (Methotrexate) has been given positive opinion from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for use in psoriatic arthritis.

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The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion, recommending the granting of a marketing authorisation for the medicinal product Nordimet, intended for the treatment of active rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and severe psoriatic arthritis. The applicant for this medicinal product is Nordic Group B.V.

Nordimet will be available as a solution for injection (7.5 mg, 10 mg, 12.5 mg, 15 mg, 17.5 mg, 20 mg, 22.5 mg and 25 mg). The active substance of Nordimet is methotrexate, an anti-metabolite folic acid analogue (ATC code: L01BA01) which inhibits DNA synthesis through the competitive inhibition of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase.

The benefits with Nordimet are its ability to reduce the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. The most common side effects are abnormal liver function tests, stomatitis, dyspepsia, nausea, abdominal pain and loss of appetite.

Nordimet is a hybrid of Lantarel FS (25 mg solution for injection), a medicine containing the same active substance that has been authorised in Germany since 1992.

'Nordimet is indicated for the treatment of: active rheumatoid arthritis in adult patients, polyarthritic forms of severe, active juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), when the response to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) has been inadequate, severe recalcitrant disabling psoriasis, which is not adequately responsive to other forms of therapy such as phototherapy, PUVA, and retinoids, and severe psoriatic arthritis in adult patients.'

It is proposed that Nordimet be prescribed by physicians with experience in the various properties of the medicinal product and its mode of action.

Detailed recommendations for the use of this product will be described in the summary of product characteristics (SmPC), which will be published in the European public assessment report (EPAR) and made available in all official European Union languages after the marketing authorisation has been granted by the European Commission.

Hi Friends,
My name is Sananda and i am excited to be a part of this club.
Looking forward to getting to know your stories and sharing experiences here.

Thanks!

Does anyone have any recommendations on numbing agents for injections?  In the past, even though the injections stung a little, it wasn't too bad.  I started taking Taltz last night and the injections (two to start) hurt much worse than others.  Thankfully its only going to be one injection every other week for a while, then once a month later (assuming it works).



Thank you.

-Daniel

(Please move if it's not in the right place)

I have a beef about the quality of life questions, and I'd be interested to know who wrote them, is there a standard in the uk or are they individual to the hospital? I guess I would have to ask them.

My problem is, they ask if you work, and if you work, how does psoriasis affect you at work.
But there's no way of saying you gave up your job in a primary school because you have p and it got too much with all the colds and bugs going around the school and the lack of sleep from the itchy skin etc.

Hi All,

New to the forum - I hope this is in the right place! P sufferer all my life. I am 25 now with P covering my torso, back legs and arms.

I have recently been approved to start Cosentyx (Secukinumab) targets the protein interleukin 17A).  Has anyone been on this before and how did you find it?

I was previously on Humira, so used to injecting but unfortunately although it worked wonders on my skin, it also made eradicated all my taste and smell. A whole year went by before I had enough! My previous treatments included, MTX, Clyclosporin, UVB plus all number of creams and lotions.  

look forward to chatting with you all,

Alex

This study suggests there is no increased risk of autoimmune thyroiditis in psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis patients. Autoimmune thyroiditis is a disease in which the body interprets the thyroid glands and its hormone products T3, T4 and TSH as threats, therefore producing special antibodies that target the thyroid’s cells, thereby destroying it.

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Background:
Common autoimmune diseases tend to coexist in the same patients. Few studies have examined the possible association between autoimmune thyroiditis and psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis (PsA), with inconsistent results.

Objective:
To investigate the prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis in psoriatic patients with or without PsA, living in an iodine-sufficient area.

Methods:
We studied prospectively, 114 psoriatic patients with disease duration of 5–38 years, 30 of them with PsA, and 286 age- and body mass index (BMI)-matched subjects without psoriasis or known thyroid disease or autoimmune disease. A detailed medical history was obtained from all participants and clinical examination and laboratory evaluation was performed. Psoriasis severity was assessed with Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI). Autoimmune thyroiditis was defined by the presence of positive autoantibodies to thyroid peroxidase and/or thyroglobulin.

Results:
There was no difference in the prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis between psoriatic patients and controls (20.2% vs. 19.6%). The prevalence of autoimmune thyroiditis in male and female psoriatic patients was similar (9.6% and 10.5% respectively), in contrast to the increased, as expected, prevalence in female vs. male controls (14.7% vs. 4.9%, P < 0.01). Detected cases with hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis were similar in psoriatic patients and controls (7.9% and 7.0% respectively). Autoimmune thyroiditis in psoriatic patients was not related with age of psoriasis onset, psoriasis duration, PASI score, PsA and obesity.

Conclusion:
These data support that psoriatic patients with or without PsA do not have an increased risk for autoimmune thyroiditis.

19 June 2016

So as promised a quick resume of all the lotions potions used over the years. I may have missed the odd one that didn't make it into the bag I took to all my appointments so there were no repeat wasted treatments.


Dovonex Ointment (calcipotriol)
Used this for just over 3 weeks and to be honest all it had no impact whatsoever.

Dovobet Ointment (calcipotriol + betamethasone)
We came to a very quick understanding this ointment and I. We hate each other with a vengeance. I managed three days worth of applications and couldn’t take any more. It just made it more angry itchier and stung to high heaven when applied.
I did have a warm discussion with a regarding this treatment with a Locum Dermy who had only briefly glanced at my notes was only prepared to give me a prescription for this toxic goo and told to go away try it again everybody can use it. It didn’t go down well and yes there was a complaint lodged. It is odd I didn’t get on with it because neither of its constituents on their own were a problem.

Betnovate (Betamethasone)
A corticosteroid, I was on this twice a day, but canned it after 4 weeks of doing next to nothing

Dermovate (Clobetasol propionate)
Another corticosteroid that failed miserably within the 4 week trial

Trimovate (Clobetasone butyrate)
Yet another corticosteroid that had an antifungal/biotic twist. It took away a bit of redness but the plaques remained the same.

Micanol (Dithranol)
This one actually made some impact. Started off on the 1% ½ an hour before showering and washed it off in the shower. Its a short contact treatment. Thinned the plaques and reduced the redness. Went on to the 3% version to try to knock the P on the head unfortunately it tailed off after a couple of months on it. Oh and it stained – everything.

Synalar (Fluocinolone)
Again a corticosteroid not a lot of impact on the plaques, but did thin my finger tips through application and made them very tender and sore.

Zorac (Tazaraotene)
A retinoid (vitamin A derivative). To be honest I don’t remember this apart from having a tube of 0.05% and a tube of 0.1%. As the 1% remained unopened I’m guessing things didn’t go well.

Carbo-Dome (Coal Tar)
Messy, not exactly the best smell in the world and has a propensity to stain anything within fume distance, but was one of the better performing products I tried when the P was only on my legs. It got shut of almost all but a couple of stubborn patches. Was quite prepared to give it another go when I was trying to avoid the inevitable systemics but it has apparently been discontinued.

Sebco (Coal Tar / Cocnut Oil)
So I went on this instead (It is only supposed to be available to treat scalp P). It was helping but no where near as good as Carbo-Dome and by this time I had an awful lot more blotches, so gave up with it.

Psoriderm Cream (Coal Tar)
Bejeezus does this stuff stink. I guess it may have been beneficial, but to give it a fair trial I would need a month off work and lock myself away from the rest of the world

Tri-Adcortyl
Memory has failed me here. A nearly empty tube so it got a fair run but its a weird one its a corticosteroid to treat fungal infections and inflammation but I’m pretty sure I used it for the P. It’s now not available in the UK.

Exorex lotion (Coal Tar)
Was prescribed for use on my elbows as it was suggested that the Carbo-Dome may be a little too vicious. Only used it once as I found it a bit thin and weedy, not easy to apply with any precision.

Lotriderm
I put this one in – it is used to treat fungal infections and was prescribed for what looked like athletes foot. As this has all but disappeared on Acitretin so I’m guessing it wasn’t athletes foot. I did have scrapings done but these were helpfully ‘inconclusive’.

Dear All,

This remedy worked for me, I hope you did not already try it

I stopped eating gluten, and after 1month & half, the psoriasis stopped & never came back

So take your drugs, creams & so on on the bin, & just stop gluten


The thing is : You have to stop gluten long enough to see results  !!
even a little brownie in this 1 month & half, and that is one more 1month& half to wait to see the psoriasis stop

I think this is the main reason why people did not get success with this option...



Personally I wanted to eat bread & so on after 3 weeks, because after 3 weeks of stopping gluten, there was no result, and this was even worst !!

So be patient
Please give this treatment around you and on other forum if this is not already on other forums

Happy no gluten diet!
(yes goodbye bread, pizzas, pastas, croissants in the morning....but come on ! no more pso ! that's worst doing it!)

This review looked at treatments for scalp psoriasis.

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Abstract:
People with chronic plaque psoriasis often have lesions on the scalp that are difficult to treat. This is a summary of a Cochrane review on efficacy and safety of topical treatments for scalp psoriasis. For quality of evidence assessment, we used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group approach. Only randomised controlled trials (RCTs) were eligible for inclusion.

We searched the Cochrane Skin Group Specialised Register, CENTRAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE and LILACS, ongoing trials, index of included studies and screened abstracts of six psoriasis-specific conferences up to August 2015.

We included 59 RCTs, with overall 11,561 participants. Most findings were limited to short-term treatments (< six months). According to the clinician and patients’ self-assessment a corticosteroid/vitamin D combination (e.g. betamethasone dipropionate plus calcipotriol) and corticosteroids of high and very high potency were better than vitamin D. The two-compound combination was superior to the corticosteroid alone, but the additional benefit was small. Reporting of quality of life data was insufficient. The two-compound combination and corticosteroids caused fewer withdrawals due to adverse events (AEs) than vitamin D. There was no difference between the two-compound combination and corticosteroid monotherapy concerning this outcome. Overall evidence was of moderate quality. Evaluation of other topical treatments was limited.

Given the comparable safety profile and only slim benefit of the two-compound combination over the corticosteroid alone, monotherapy with generic topical corticosteroids of high and very high potency may be fully acceptable for short-term therapy. More quality of life data and long-term assessments are needed.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Can-Fite BioPharma will present data on its psoriasis treatment "Piclidenoson" at the 5th Congress of the Psoriasis International Network, in Paris, France on July 7, 2016.

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Can-Fite BioPharma Ltd, a biotechnology company with a pipeline of proprietary small molecule drugs being developed to treat inflammatory diseases, cancer and sexual dysfunction, today announced new mechanism of action data indicating its lead drug candidate, Piclidenoson (CF101) inhibits two inflammatory cytokines, interleukin 17 (IL-17) and interleukin 23 (IL-23) which are known to play a major role in the inflammatory process of psoriasis.

Biologic drugs, which are injectable immunomodulators, for the treatment of psoriasis currently on the market and in development, also work via a similar mechanism of action by inhibiting IL-17 and IL-23. These systemic drugs offer good efficacy, however, as biologics they can cause serious side effects.

Piclidenoson binds to the Gi protein associated A3 adenosine receptor (A3AR), which is over- expressed in psoriasis patients. This binding action has shown to induce a robust anti-inflammatory effect by inhibiting IL-17 and IL-23 as demonstrated in in-vitro studies. An orally administered small molecule drug, Piclidenoson, potentially offers safety superior to biologics as shown in clinical studies in approximately 1,000 people.  

These findings will be presented at Psoriasis 2016, the 5th Congress of the Psoriasis International Network, in Paris, France on July 7, 2016. The oral presentation titled, "CF101 via A3AR Activation inhibits IL-17 and IL-23" is scheduled for 10:10 am during the Late Breaking News Session.

"We believe that the discovery of this new mechanistic pathway of Piclidenoson will position it as a strong drug candidate to treat psoriasis with potential efficacy similar to biologics on the market today, while potentially offering superior safety as a small molecule oral drug," stated Can-Fite CEO, Dr. Pnina Fishman.

The global psoriasis market is estimated to reach $9 billion by 2018 (Visiongain). Can-Fite recently announced the submission of its Phase III protocol design to the European Medicines Agency for Piclidenoson in the treatment of psoriasis and expects to commence the trial in 2016.

About Piclidenoson (CF101)
Piclidenoson is a novel, first-in-class, A3 adenosine receptor agonist (A3AR) small molecule, orally bioavailable drug with a favorable therapeutic index demonstrated in Phase II clinical studies. Piclidenoson is currently under development for the treatment of autoimmune inflammatory diseases including rheumatoid arthritis (completed Phase II) and psoriasis (completed Phase II/III).

If one were to use a hydrocortisone cream for say 1 month and the Psoriasis decreased by 50%, if one were to stop using the cream for a week, could it come back?