Cigarettes and Alcohol

[Hellosimon]

One of the questions that I've always wanted to pose to another suffer of psoriasis is whether or not smoking and drinking have any real impact on the way that the plaques deal with such toxins.

As mentioned in a previous thread, I smoke and drink but not to any real extent. Perhaps five or six cigarettes a day and maybe a bottle of wine or so every couple of weeks; I think that's a fair average.

As a very recent prescribed user of acetretin, I have read a confusing degree of information regarding alcohol. The question I have here is; does anyone else think twice before enjoying a pint of hoppy craft beer with their pub lunch or is it an absolute no-no? My partner works with someone who was prescribed methotrexate for psoriasis treatment and apparently drank* throughout the treatment without any problems at all. The effects of psoriasis have all but left.

With regards to smoking, I had my gall bladder removed recently and a nurse in theater said quite plainly that smoking was very bad for psoriasis yet it seems that there is 'no scientific suggestion' that it does otherwise. 

Has anyone recently quit and have noticed a considerable improvement with their skin?

*when I say 'drank throughout', my partners colleague isn't a functioning alcoholic, she just enjoys a drop like most. Just to clear that up! 

Much love, Hellosimon. 

[Fred]

Nope smoking or alcohol has never made any difference whatsoever for me.

I gave up smoking and the only thing I noticed was that I put more weight on, that in turn made psoriatic arthritis worse for my feet as I had to carry the extra weight around, that in turn made psoriasis worse. I still no longer smoke as I do believe it is bad for my health, I was a 40 a day man once and dabbled in all types of smoking but as I got older and saw people around me die it made me decide it's not a good thing to do.

I also stopped alcohol for a while (1 year or so) but again it made no difference whatsoever, apart from it had the opposite effect as I lost weight. Now that was better for psoriatic arthritis as I had less weight to carry around. But I now drink again (probably more than recommended) as I got to a stage of "Sod It" my life is now to short, I've stayed off the smoking so that is 50% of the so called bad stuff but I still want some enjoyment in my life.

Personally I think it's what gives you enjoyment and what you think is best for you is the way to go, would I drink green juice everyday in place of my Merlot? No friggin way I may as well get the rope and call it a day.

In my youth I would and did try anything and my brain probably got fried, but today as I'm still alive I just take it one day at a time and the next one is a bonus.

Studies and people in white coats can tell you anything, but living with it is different so if a smoke or a drink makes you feel good isn't that better for you than say a steroid cream slapped on you skin?  

As for Acitretin I don't know so it would be unfair for me to comment, but with Methotrexate it's best avoided as that stuff will kill the bogies up your nose let alone your liver.  

For what it's worth my opinion is if you are smoking five or six cigarettes a day and drinking a bottle of wine or so every couple of weeks, then you have no problem I went from 40 a day to zero and cut my alcohol down to only one bucket per day but it has made no difference to psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis in it's own right for me.

[bassman]

I've been on MTX and Acitretin and Cyclosporin and though i'm a very light drinker and smoker,  neither has had any affect.

I've given nothing up in terms of diet, booze or ciggies.  I eat what i want - though i havent eaten meat for over 30 years but was a veggie  many many years before the P kicked in, so  there's no connection  to speak of.  I do eat a fairly decent diet.  Fruit, green salads and lowish sugar and fat , but i have my odd moments once in a blue moon, like chips or  a take away, or pizza, but generally stick to what i consider the good stuff.

The food i eat doesnt seem to have any affect either

[jiml]

I haven't smoked for many years now but I was diagnosed with psoriasis at 17 ... I was a smoker then and got into alcohol at 18
I had psoriasis before I started drinking and have had periods when I didn't drink for a few years, I gave up smoking at 30 and haven't smoked since I enjoy a drink or 2 and have been a party animal and drank to excess on many occasions ( in the past) I eat what I want have never dieted and nothing affects my psoriasis

I also drank alcohol while I was on methotrexate because I was never told not to and I don't think I had any ill effect from that although had I been warned I would have abstained ( methotrexate made me nauseous to the extent I had to prise my teeth apart to get the tablets in )

[Kat]

For the most part in the U.S. doctors always advise against either smoking or drinking for general health. Yes, I know there are arguments that wine, etc is beneficial but that's just the general consensus here for good health. So no matter what you have, if you smoke or drink you'll be told you should stop as it will make "whatever you have" worse.

I've heard that smoking can make it harder to heal, but I do not know if that is true or if there is any evidence that supports it. It's obvious that smoking isn't good for your health and that drinking too much is also not good for your liver but doctors here really stress to avoid both. So since it's just a generic response to everything, I don't think it makes most things any better or worse just that you may have better overall health avoiding both.

(I used to smoke and will admit that I feel better since quitting (overall health, quitting didn't help any of my medical conditions that I noticed) and I have a drink every now and then but have never been much of a drinker)

[PurpleMusic]

Gave up smoking almost five years ago - not a jot of difference. What annoys me most is being told stress is the trigger....well, I developed Psoriasis when I was in primary school and the only stressful things in my life then was the choice between fish fingers or fish cakes for tea*.....

*fish fingers obviously. 

[jiml]

Ha ha purple music ....it was stress with me I'm sure .. Although it was around the time I met my wife  

[Kat]

That's funny PurpleMusic!

And brings up a good point. It's easy to associate stress with a flare up, but for me it seems more random than that. I don't get worse every time I'm on the high end of stress, nor do I get better when on the low end of stress. I wonder how much stress actually figures into psoriasis.

[D Foster]

I think it depends on how you deal with stress ,some people are very laid back so it's just like water off a ducks back, I had a very stressful job and I cannot be sure that it made a difference to the P it certainly effected me in many other ways when it got bad such as sleep or the lack of it , stomach upsets could also be a problem . I feel that maybe the P was effected at a secondary level with all the other upsets that kicked in probably causing a lowering of general resistance which did nothing help at all.
I took MTX for nine years and never drank alcohol after a couple of bad blood results when I first started , I did smoke years ago but only cigars and if any thing that helped to calm me down and reduce the stress though I don't think it did my health any good.

[Turnedlight]

I've never smoked but I've drunk alcohol on a regular basis, only light drinking (except when I was a teen! ) I never had P before I was 18 so maybe the alcohol did it but I've also had periods of my life when I haven't drunk anything alcoholic. Perhaps there is a correlation, I should really stop drinking wine and find out.. Sometime..