Hello,
I'm Andy. I'm 44, live in Minnesota, USA.
I've had psoriasis since I was 30. (OK. It was on my head as a child, but I didn't know what it was. )
I found out about 4 years ago I have psoriatic arthritis.
If I recall correctly over 80 % of my spine.
I also have degenerative disk disorder.
Ha, and Add, and aspergers (that is technically undiagnosed, but I have taken several tests
and I score very high, and a clinical diagnosis won't do anything so, I assume I likely
have it.)
I'm going in soon to discuss treatment for psoriasis. It's spread wildly in the past few months,
from my elbows to total scalp, eyes and nose, ears, face, groin..
Anyway, I work everyday, I am married (2nd) to a wonderful woman.
I'm fairly quiet, I like to be alone. I love comics and cartoons, animals, anything that makes me laugh.
I guess I tend to be negative, I'm working on that. ... I wife to live in a happy home.
OK. I feel I am rambling.
So, hello! Nice to meet you all.
Andy.

This may seem a bit crazy but bare with me.
I recently had a blood test done and the phlebotomist commented on my skin (nothing unusual there) So I started doing my normal ramblings. Such as 'Oh I know. Don't it look 'orrible' etc (Sorry about the wording but I am from Essex)
But then she told me about her friend who had psoriasis who she said used a waxing strip on a small spot of skin and that it made it much better.
Now i'm willing to try most things in order to make it look better so I gave it a try.
I'm not saying it's a miracle cure or anything and wouldn't recommend it as a regular treatment but it did actually help. Probably because I was just ripping off all the dead skin and so it looked a bit smoother...

Anyway, just thought I'd share that with you but please don't go injuring yourselves! And please don't ban me either!!!  

Guess this all started earlier in the year. Started having cracks and dryness in my fingers and palms, then on to my feet. What's real bad is I'm a guitarist and I also build guitars and basses on the side. Talk about cruel. I think I could handle it anywhere else, but this is for the birds.

I went through all the usual self diagnosis for most of the year. Was it this chemical or that substance that I was exposed to at work (water plant operator)? I normally protect myself from harsh chemicals, but went above and beyond to rule everything out. Was down to a couple of things. One was the fluoride room door. I noticed my fingerprints on the window where the fluoride has etched to glass. Crap, so I wear vinyl gloves when I get near that room. Same with the silicone oil used on lab glassware. It seemed to cause my skin to itch. So on to protect myself and rule it out.

This went on for most of the year. Tried various crèmes and remedies until I was talking to a relative who had it bad in her feet. She had several jars of a topical steroid crème and swore by them to relieve her pain. She gave me a jar with a little left and I tried it out. Hoky smokes, seemed to clear up, almost. She said go see the Dermatologist in town, another friend confirmed he was good, so I made an apt and went.

Well it's been about a month and a half and the results are mixed. They prescribed  Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream 0.1%. I have also been using various other ointments, crèmes, oils and anything that looks like it could help. At first it seemed to clear right up. thought I had it licked. Then it came back with a vengeance. My next apt was upon me and I told them of what happened. They gave me a shot of cortosteroid (sp?) to help it out. It knocked me on my tail for two weeks, and really didn't do anything to clear it up. Not doing that again.

So I've lost my calluses on my fingertips from years of playing, which really ticks me off as I love jamming out the blues, SRV style. Well I don't know I can beat this thing or if it's something I'm going to live with the rest of my life. Well I have 2 guitars I'm building right now, one is an acoustic bass project and the other is a neck thru body strat. Gonna go ahead and finish them as my optimistic side says this is just another minor setback. I'll find a way.

Jim

Hi everybody,

I have just discovered the Psoriasis Club and would like to wish all members a very Happy New Year. I hope you all had a good Christmas and have now recovered!!!!

Best wishes

More good news today for Cosentyx (secukinumab) as they today announce receiving full approval for it's use in Japan for treating psoriasis.

Quote:

---

Novartis announced today that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) approved Cosentyx™ (secukinumab, formerly known as AIN457), for the treatment of both psoriasis vulgaris and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in adults.

"We are pleased that Japan is the first country to approve Cosentyx for both psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, providing an alternative treatment option for more than 400,000 Japanese citizens who are living with psoriasis, and those also living with psoriatic arthritis," said David Epstein, Division Head, Novartis Pharmaceuticals. "Nearly half of patients with psoriasis and PsA are unhappy with their current therapies. With this approval, we are able to address this critical unmet need and aim to make a real difference in the quality of life of these patients."

This approval was based on the safety and efficacy results from more than 10 Phase II and Phase III studies which included nearly 4,000 patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis and supported by two pivotal Phase III studies, FUTURE 1 and FUTURE 2, involving more than 1,000 patients with PsA. In all studies, Cosentyx demonstrated a favorable safety profile, with similar incidence and severity of adverse events (AEs) between Cosentyx treatment arms (300 mg and 150 mg).

The positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommending Cosentyx as a first-line treatment of moderate-to-severe psoriasis patients in Europe was obtained in November 2014. US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in the same indication is anticipated in early 2015 following the unanimous recommendation of approval in October 2014 from the Dermatologic and Ophthalmic Drugs Advisory Committee (DODAC) to the US FDA.

Hi all:

I'm a newbie and wondering if anyone else had their first major outbreak of psoriasis in their late 50s? I seem to have the type that effects mostly my feet and hands ... other spots occur when I get chafed or injured.

I've just started low dose Naltrexone -- up to 3 mg but can't really tell if it's working :( Anyone having much luck with a change in diet??

Merry Christmas to everyone -- no snow here -- just lots of rain.

Maud

• Text
  
• More text
  
• And some more text
  

1. Text
   
2. More text
   
3. And some more text
   

Quote:Text goes here

Hi I have seen many new members looking through the introductions.
If you are one and are new to forums this may help you with your first post.
.
#1 From main menu click on Introductions
.
#2 Above the introductions is a button new thread
.
#3 Click on this a box will open
.
#4 On the left of the box second line down is Thread Subject write your description in here for instance " jimbos  Intro" or whatever you want to name it
.
#5 Below that is a big box to click on and write your introduction when you are happy with it and want to see what it looks like
.
#6 At the bottom of the box past the green section it gives three options... Post thread ..... Preview post ... Or save as draft.
The first thing to do is click Preview Post ..... You can then see what others will see when posted... If there are changes to be made you can change it before you post it by clicking Post Thread
That's it its basic but simple if you follow the instructions.

If you want a more comprehensive instruction go here Starting a new thread
When you have done this and want to do more posts there is a tutorial here Posting A Reply

This study on Mice looked at the possibilities of a topical application of delphinidin modulating the pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions in flaky skin, delphinidin is a plant pigment, and also an antioxidant. It gives Blue Hues to to plants and fruits such as Delphinium, Cranberries, Pomegranates, the Cabernet Sauvignon grape. (Could be time to switch from the Merlot Fred)

Quote:

---

Background:
Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease characterized by hyperproliferation and aberrant keratinocyte differentiation. We have shown that treatment of reconstituted human skin with delphinidin, an anthocyanidin, present in pigmented fruits and vegetables, increased the expression and processing of caspase-14, which is involved in cornification. Delphinidin also increases the expression of epidermal differentiation marker proteins.

Objectives:
To determine whether topical application of delphinidin can modulate pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions in flaky skin mice and if this is associated with increased epidermal differentiation and a reduction in proliferation and inflammation.

Methods:
Five-week-old female homozygous flaky skin mice (fsn/fsn) were treated topically with delphinidin (0·5 mg cm−2 and 1 mg cm−2 skin areas, respectively), five times a week, up to 14 weeks of age.

Results:
Treatment of flaky skin mice with delphinidin resulted in a reduction in (i) pathological markers of psoriasiform lesions; (ii) infiltration of inflammatory cells; and (iii) mRNA and protein expression of inflammatory cytokines. Delphinidin treatment also increased the expression and processing of caspase-14, and expression of filaggrin, loricrin, keratin-1 and keratin-10. Furthermore, there was a decrease in the expression of markers for cell proliferation (proliferating cell nuclear antigen and keratin-14) and modulation of tight junction proteins (occludin and claudin-1). In addition, delphinidin treatment increased the expression of activator protein-1 transcription factor proteins (JunB, JunD, Fra1 and Fra2).

Conclusions:
Delphinidin could be a promising agent for treatment of psoriasis and other hyperproliferative skin disorders.

Although it's always said smoking is bad for psoriasis, I've never been a believer myself all giving up ever done for me was make me put weight on. (Though I will admit it makes breathing easier, but that's another issue) This study looked at smoking and systemic treatments for psoriasis and suggests smoking did not affect response to systemic treatment in patients with psoriasis.

Quote:

---

Background:
Smoking is a well-established risk factor for developing psoriasis and is associated with development of more severe disease. Smoking cessation does not appear to result in clinical improvement of psoriasis. Whether smoking in patients with psoriasis impacts response to systemic therapy is unknown.

Objectives:
To determine whether smokers with psoriasis with or without psoriatic arthritis respond to systemic agents as well as nonsmokers do.

Methods:
We performed a retrospective review of patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis with or without psoriatic arthritis seen at our institution, who were either active smokers or nonsmokers, and calculated changes in Physician's Global Assessment (PGA) scores after 3–16 months of systemic treatment. We also calculated the average number of systemic treatments tried per patient.

Results:
Sixty-six patients (46 nonsmokers, 20 smokers) met our inclusion criteria. Changes in PGA scores between baseline and 3–16 months after initiation of systemic treatment did not significantly differ between smokers and nonsmokers, nor did the average number of systemic treatments tried per patient. We detected a borderline significant trend in the percentage of patients who had significant outcomes after treatment, with a higher percentage of patients smoking < 10 cigarettes daily achieving target PGA scores compared with those smoking > 10 cigarettes daily. Limitations of our study include its retrospective nature and the relatively small number of patients meeting our inclusion criteria.

Conclusions:
In our retrospectively studied cohort, smoking did not affect response to systemic treatment in patients with psoriasis. A prospective study examining the complex relationship between smoking, psoriasis and response to systemic therapy is warranted to explore this association better.

This study looked at the risk of kidney disease in people with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, it suggests they are at higher risk and that the use of Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) increases that risk.

Quote:

---

Background:
Few studies have examined the association between psoriasis and glomerulonephritis (GN) as well as chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Objectives:
To determine the risk of CKD in patients with psoriasis and evaluate the impact of the severity of psoriasis, comorbidities, and concomitant medications on the risk of GN and CKD in patients with psoriasis.

Methods:
We identified 4344 patients with psoriasis for the study cohort and randomly selected 13032 subjects as a control cohort. Each subject was individually followed up for a 5-year period to identify those who subsequently developed GN and CKD.

Results:
After adjustment with traditional CKD risk factors, psoriasis was found to be independently associated with an increased risk of CKD during the 5-year follow-up period (hazard ratio (HR), 1.28; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.14-1.44). The increased incidence GN in psoriasis patients (HR, 1.50; 95% CI, 1.24-1.81) may partly contributed to the positive association between psoriasis and CKD. Both patients with mild and severe psoriasis had an increased risk of CKD and GN compared with control cohort and the risk increased with severity. Psoriasis patients with arthritis exhibited a higher risk of CKD than patients without arthritis (HR, 1.62 vs. 1.26). Among medication, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have the strongest association with CKD in patients with psoriasis (Adjusted Odds Ratio, 1.69; 95% CI, 1.14-2.49).

Conclusions:
Psoriasis was associated with a higher risk of developing CKD and GN. High severity, psoriatic arthritis involvement and concomitant NSAIDs use further increased the risk of CKD in patients with psoriasis.

I'm new here. While I'm fortunate enough to not suffer from psoriasis myself, my husband was recently diagnosed with PPPP and has been put on Stelara. We do lots of research on the disease, and read a lot of crap also. I spent some time over at the TalkPsoriasis/National Psoriasis Foundation forum, but got frustrated with all the spam, junk science, and mysticism, not to mention the people SHOUTING in ALL CAPS about diet being the ONLY WAY. I've been lurking here for a few days and it seems like a better place to be. So hi everyone!

I may be new to this forum, but my psoriasis is very old and familiar!
It mainly affects my hands, feet, elbows and knees. Have tried hundreds of things over the years. Treatments seem to work at first then after a few weeks I have a flare up again.
I also have psoriatic arthritis now. I'm only 34 years old. My joints have hurt (mainly my knees) for the last 10 years but I only had a diagnosis a few years ago.

The only thing that has worked for me (for both my skin and joints) has been Methotrexate. But have reluctantly stopped taking it now...

Anyway that's my situation at the moment. I look forward to finding out how everyone else copes with this horrible, horrible, incurable condition! Bah!!!
Charlotte

As we all know GSM have stopped making polytar here in the UK.

Have you all seen how much polytar is on fleabay ?

I nearly fell off my perch when i saw £30 for a small bottle !!!!!!!!!

Hope to god they start making it soon so as to stop greedy so & so's making money

Happy scratching everyone

This study looked at back pain in patients with psoriasis, it concludes that there is a higher chance of lower back pain in people with psoriasis.

Quote:

---

Objective

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting 3% of the population. The objective of our study was to provide prevalence estimates for inflammatory back pain (IBP) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) in those subjects with psoriasis using 2009-2010 NHANES data.

Methods
In the NHANES 2009-2010 sample set, 6,684 persons between 20-69 years of age were screened for participation and 5,103 answered questions regarding onset of back pain, location of pain and functional limitations. Dataset assembly and statistical analysis were performed using SASTM and SUDAAN™. Standard errors were estimated by Taylor series linearization. The equality of the prevalence estimates for selected variables were tested (univariately) at the α=0.05 level using a 2-sided Student's t statistic with appropriate degrees of freedom.

Results
148 persons had self-reported medically diagnosed psoriasis. The psoriasis group, versus the non-psoriasis group, had a significantly higher prevalence of axial pain using the 3-month duration criterion (31.1% vs. 18.9%; p=0.04) and alternating buttock pain (7.2% vs. 2.4%; p=0.03) and met IBP criteria – Berlin 7b and 8a – more frequently (p=0.04, 0.02 respectively). The prevalence of SpA was significantly higher in the psoriasis group versus the non-psoriasis group when using Amor or ESSG criteria (14.3% vs. 1.5%; p<0.001). Sudden-onset of axial pain was significantly higher in the psoriasis group (23.3% vs. 13.0%; p=0.01).

Conclusion
There is a higher prevalence of lower axial pain, IBP, SpA, and alternating buttock pain associated with a prior diagnosis of psoriasis. This data may influence the way psoriasis patients are approached in primary care and speciality clinics.

• National Center for Health Statistics
  
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
• CTSI. Grant Numbers: UL1RR033176, PO1-AR052915
  

Good morning fellow P sufferers 

Bear with me.................

This morning i had my ELF test done.

I got told that the results will not be ready until mid Jan !!!!!

So, i have to keep on slapping lots of Aveeno on me until then.

Now, how many on here use Aveeno products ?

I have Aveeno bath oil, cream, lotion & body wash.

All are very good indeed at reducing the scaling of my P.

It seems that the oatmeal in them works.

I know that Aveeno do shampoo but not sure if you can get it from the GP ? Anyone know if you can ????

Right, time to go & play on the swings now.

GB

Thanks United...


Bird UHC!

Fred can you fix the link, I messed it up!

Recently, I have been giving a the diagnosis of Vasculitis and my dermatologist wants me to try compression socks. So far they absolutely suck. How is someone with bad hands suppose to put these on? Any bright ideas? Also, I have a sausage toe on the right foot. These sucks are absolute murder on both the toe and the back of my ankle. I am tempted to take some NSAIDs just to relieve the pain the socks have given me. Any suggestions?

Morning,
Just stumbled upon this forum, Have had P for around 10 years now, scalp, elbows, knees and hands mainly, with the odd patch in other areas. I have been through all of the creams, all which have worked to start with then slowly lost their effectivness. UVB treatment has worked well each time i have had it, but within weeks of stopping the dreaded patches start to return.
Currently taking vitamin d3 and zinc after reading about their use on the net.
Its been about 3 weeks now, and the scale has completely gone, i had terrible trouble with my knees and elbows cracking and bleeding, but now they are smooth and supple. Its not a wonder cure, you can still see the areas of P, but it just looks like big areas of healed skin, but it doesnt hurt or bleed and looks 100% better than the scale.
Would like to hear of anyone elses experiance of vit d and zinc

Regards Jay