Sorry, Kat. I understood you perfectly, but I like to add little thoughts as I think of them.

It happens that I was at my doctor's office last week for my checkup. This was my first opportunity to discuss my findings with her. She had known I was using the combination on my knees with some arthritis pain relief, but she was genuinely surprised at its effects on my psoriasis.

I'd love to pass my information on to some research fellow in the dermatology department of a medical school or teaching hospital, but I have no contacts. If someone on the forum has been part of a clinical trial in such a setting, and can put me in touch with an appropriate person, I'd be glad to participate.

(Sun-08-03-2015, 21:26 PM)Christopher Wrote: If someone on the forum has been part of a clinical trial in such a setting, and can put me in touch with an appropriate person, I'd be glad to participate.

Christopher I'm sorry but we don't allow posts for recruitment of our members or the promotion of any trials, so if anyone was to answer you with some relevant contact information it would be deleted immediately.  

Sorry, Fred. I'm not good about reading and following instructions. Otherwise I wouldn't be experimenting on myself. Don't reply to my previous post, folks.

I just had another thought, Fred. Just on the chance a forum member wanted to contact me outside the forum, would it be imprudent of me to post my e-mail address?

Christopher, I think it's great that you want to share this information and also that you seem so passionate about it.

I also think it's great that Fred keeps the forum free from spammers and people wanting to promote their products... and yes! I know that isn't what you are doing, you are not looking for any personal gain and are excited about finding a treatment that is working for you and wanting to know if others get good results. But it's a fine line between allowing one and not the other as you seem to understand.

I'm quite interested, although I will be totally honest and admit that science, medicines, etc tend to go over my head. I also have osteoarthritis and you say it works well for that. I am curious about that one and if I say something that is well... ignorant then I'll apologize in advance. How do you think it works for osteo? I know that is the wearing of the joints and the damage is irreversible. For me, I have an anti-inflammatory that is to help with the pain, but it doesn't help at all with the limited movement. I've had physical therapy to strengthen other muscles to help ease the burden on my knee (or so they say) which possibly has helped keep it from getting worse quicker but again it can't fix the already damaged joint. What do you feel has been the benefit of your treatment for osteoarthritis? I ask because I am curious and interested, not trying to say it doesn't help (I would never say that!) but to learn.

Dear Kat,

PENNSAID is a combination of Diclofenac Sodium and DMSO. It works quite well in reducing the inflammation and pain of osteoarthritis. Eventually, we might both need knee replacement surgery, but it's my goal to put that off as long as possible. Voltaren (Diclofenac gel) plus DMSO gel help to reduce the inflammation and pain of osteoarthritis in the same way PENNSAID does. It's not perfect, but it does allow relatively pain-free movement. (except for downstairs walking). And it's much cheaper than PENNSAID. I recommend that you try it.

The fact that it also seems to clear up plaque psoriasis is a purely accidental discovery.

If you are taking an oral NSAID, discontinue it before using the topical.

Good luck, and please let me know if it works for you.

(Mon-09-03-2015, 00:40 AM)Christopher Wrote: I just had another thought, Fred. Just on the chance a forum member wanted to contact me outside the forum, would it be imprudent of me to post my e-mail address?

Hello Christopher, sorry but we don't allow Email addresses to be posted either.

As you have probably guessed by now it's my job to do all the bad cop stuff on Psoriasis Club.  

It's like Kat said we know you're not trying to make anything from this, but we have these rules in place so we can keep Psoriasis Club totally independent and free from spammers and scammers (I'm not suggesting you are in that category) but if we was to allow one then there would be no way of us stopping others.

I have always made a promise that Psoriasis Club will always be a safe place free from advertising, sponsors, spammers, trolls, bullies, and we will never accept donations. The rules that we do have in place are not liked by all but my argument is that we are not supplying Psoriasis Club for the promotion of anything, there is no ulterior motive of Psoriasis Club and this is what keeps us independent.

Also please do not go approaching our members first via private message as that will probably get reported and could get you banned.
(Another way we stop spammers and scammers)  

Some of this may sound overkill to some people, but the past five years has taught me that it's what most of our loyal active members prefer and it will always be that way.  

Fred.

Hi Fred ... Yes it is your site and it runs calmly and smoothly for all the members thanks to the few rules there are. You have said not everyone agrees with all the rules. But they are for a reason, as you have explained very well . It's a shame you have to play bad cop although I don't see it that way

I agree with Christopher as I'm sure you do that his excitement and wanting to prove or disprove his treatment is admirable. But he has to remember that it's unlikely to happen overnight it will take time for people to come off existing treatment which they are unlikely to do on the off chance of this working .
The only people likely to try the remedy are those that are struggling to find anything that works. There are a few on here that might be inclined to try it but it's unlikely to be any of the english members,  Who get free healthcare on the National Health Service.

A few american members may try the treatment as the cost of drugs over there is expensive and if I lived over there I would use it in the hope of cutting costs

But I agree this is not the place to recruit people to trial it, although I think it may well work for some and a proper trial would prove or disprove Christopher's theory.
But if Fred were to give one person the platform to promote their treatment ( I know it's for no gain) there are others on this site who in the past have been told no, and it's likely to upset them and then Fred would feel it right to give them the same platform.
We are then defeating the object of the site

I agree with Freds stance on this, and I understand your frustration and hope you can get a chance to prove your treatment....
By the way you have now had 500 hits on this thread.
So my advice is be patient , many are reading your posts, if a guest is sufficiently intrigued, they can join and make contact via your thread

I don't want to discourage you from promoting your idea, as I think it has some merit, but just urge patience.

(Mon-09-03-2015, 11:45 AM)jiml Wrote: Hi Fred ... Yes it is your site and it runs calmly and smoothly for all the members thanks to the few rules there are. You have said not everyone agrees with all the rules. But they are for a reason, as you have explained very well . It's a shame you have to play bad cop although I don't see it that way.

Someone has to do it Jim, as you know I'm the only moderator on Psoriasis Club but I do try to not over moderate and the members do a good job of it themselves mostly by way of self moderation. For newbies such as Christopher it may not be easy to understand, but he has asked before posting which is nice.  

(Mon-09-03-2015, 11:45 AM)jiml Wrote: I agree with Christopher as I'm sure you do that his excitement and wanting to prove or disprove his treatment is admirable.

As for my personal opinion on what he is doing. Yes I do agree trying to prove the white coats wrong is something to be looked up to, but it's not for me. I personally prefer to use something that has a tested proven track record and is regulated, I have good faith in the health care here in France and like you say I don't have to pay but I find a lot of these types of things a bit like living in the stone age.

It seems mostly the members from the USA (and Bill) that seem to play around with things, whereas us Europeans tend to stick to our health care professionals. Why this I don't know, is it down to cost? possibly but I don't understand the USA system enough to be able to comment though I do have a theory but won't take Christopher's thread off topic.

(Mon-09-03-2015, 12:09 PM)Fred Wrote: It seems mostly the members from the USA (and Bill) that seem to play around with things, whereas us Europeans tend to stick to our health care professionals. Why this I don't know, is it down to cost? possibly but I don't understand the USA system enough to be able to comment though I do have a theory but won't take Christopher's thread off topic.

Being American, I can express why it interests me. First, I also like to go the tried and true route, I'm not really in to experiments as I've mentioned numerous times I am not very scientific and so I prefer to trust the professionals over going off on my own. Not that doctors always get it right. It is true that cost is a factor here in the U.S. Most people here have limited coverage on prescriptions, and psoriasis medications do not run cheap. My interest is that I am currently only using topicals anyway and also have osteoarthritis. But I'm not going to make a special appointment to discuss this with my dermatologist or rheumatologist or orthopedic surgeon. Since this isn't a known method for psoriasis, I don't think my dermatologist will be on board (just a hunch as I think doctors have to worry about prescribing things that are not on an approved list, all it would take is one bad reaction and a lawsuit occurs, we are the land of lawsuits here after all) and so it is something I plan to talk over with my rheumatologist since that may fall under something he would prescribe, but my next appointment isn't for a few months. My orthopedic surgeon is ready to go with replacement, I'm not there yet. So, if my doctor says sure let's give it a try then I'll also try it on my psoriasis (which is fairly clear so if that remains the case I'm not sure I'd be much help there anyway as I wouldn't necessarily know if it is helping) But anytime I use a prescription medication, it will be under a doctor's care. That's just how I personally do things. If this were over the counter, then no problem. I also have other health issues and other medications so I'm not brave enough to go out on my own.

I see Christopher's posts as simply saying what is working for him (as we all share that info.) And I understand wanting to know if it would work for someone else. So for me, the interest is there however it will take a doctor on board for me to try it. And if that happens, I'll certainly share the results.

Back to Americans more being on board, I think it's partly cost and we are so consumed here with trying to go as natural as possible that I think we try to go with anything that sounds the least invasive. Topicals (although we could discuss how using some of them long term can be detrimental, but that is another topic) sound better than taking medicine orally. Foods should not be processed, yet going all natural is practically impossible unless you either grow your own or can handle the expense. Organic is expensive. Even most pet forums will tell you to get dogs off pet food and go to a raw diet (not saying this is good or bad, simply that here things are being pushed to get back to "natural") Sorry, I know this is a bit off topic and also getting long, but trying to make a point in as few words as possible, and not sure I succeeded. So although this isn't a discussion of a natural treatment, it is a discussion of going topical which doctors here seem to prefer as a first choice over other medications.

So thanks Christopher for sharing your information. And Fred, thanks as always for keeping the site under control. You aren't the bad guy, although it may limit what people can post, we do have the option to use pm's to ask for more information and it keeps the forum running smoothly and spam free.