Almost all gone

[arfy]

Hey all

Been dealing with psoriasis now for over 10 years, always trying new things, products, diets etc to try to find something that would alter my condition.
At the beginning of this year I started a (not due to psoriasis) low fat diet, which indirectly led me to go full vegan. I kept this up for about 1½-2 months and to my surprise this actually affected my rashes. It took a while for it to be noticeable, but today about 80-90% of all my rashes are gone and it has been pretty bad.
I have noticed that for example, a week or so ago I eat crackers several days in a row that contained milk powder and butter. Not in any large quantities at all, but this was apparently enough to flare up. Initially, when I first started the low fat diet I though it was the fat that was the issue, but after eating cod that only has 1% fat it I am sure it is animal protein that is the problem. Be it eggs, milk, butter, meat or fish, I seem to react the same to them all.

I know that not all psoriasis are the same, but if you are looking for an alternative way to handle your psoriasis and you have not tried this, perhaps going full/strict vegan for a couple of months would be worth giving a shot.

Cheers!

[jiml]

Hi Arfy    to the forum   I hope you enjoy your time with us we are just a small group of sufferers who exchange ideas on what works and what doesn't , and I thank you for sharing what works for you, I wish I had the willpower to eat healthily I'm not sure I could go vegetarian let alone vegan . There are too many things I would miss
But I take my hat off to anyone who can live happily on a vegan diet, I would be interested to follow your story if you continue with it, to see the long term results, I'm sure many of our members would like to read your experience.
There are many good threads in the Natural Treatment board so I hope you will have a look through as  there may be some useful tips to help you further.
Feel free to join us in the off topic section where members meet and just chat or join in various threads
There is always something there to raise a smile
Thanks for joining and sharing your experience so far, but I'm afraid it's not for me ( no will power )
Jim

[Caroline]

Hello Arfy,

Welcome to psoriasisclub!

Yes indeed it is known that certain diets, which most often are very heavy, can help against psoriasis. Somehow it keeps the trigger of our common problem away. Great that the vegan approach helps for you !!
I also think it is very interesting that when you ate a cracker, your P immediately flared up. That is an important discovery. At least it shows that the psoriasis is never away, but also it shows that apparantly this trigger is available in crackers, and probably in alike food.

Absolutely very interesting. Thanks for you contribution.

Have fun over here with us and tell us more about the things you eat and specifically do not eat.

Caroline

[arfy]

Thanks for the welcome

jiml: I guess it all depends on how bad the condition is. If it would be bad enough it would probably motivate you
Although it was not that hard quitting animal-products. Cravings after a nice steak, is easily "suppressed" with beans or other legumes with proper seasoning. Next time you are at the store, pick up a pack of veggie burgers and try telling me they dont taste like regular meat hehe.

Caroline: To be fair, I eat like a whole pack of crackers each day for like four days in a row ; But yeah, its still there. Although now it feels more like a form of food intolerance than anything else.
I should add my psoriasis condition have never improved over this +decade. Basically I have been on different types of medication and light treatment, but as soon as the treatment was finished the psoriasis has come back. Growing slowly, increasing in size and spreading to more parts of my body. So to be able to reverse the past 10 years is a real relief. Hm, although one thing I have noticed that is quite odd is that my legs cleared up much quicker than what my arms are doing. Odd because when on treatment, medication or light therapy, its always the arms/elbows that are easy to heal.

So, specifically what I do not eat now is anything that comes from animals. Nothing milk based (milk, butter, yoghurt, cheese, milk powder etc), no fish, no eggs, no meat. When buying finished products (like crackers), reading the ingredients label is important.
This part of my diet has been changed to beans and legumes instead, so still get my protein.

First time ever I have been without medication for this long, feels awesome :
No problems sleeping at night any more either, as this has been a big issue before. Happy to not have to contaminate my body with any more medication, as the medication has always worried me more than the disease itself (specially when you read about the side effects, and studies made for like cancer and for example Methotrexate).

[Grizzly Bear]

Welcome arfy to the loony bin.

I'm on a sort l diet and so far, no change on my P

What creams, lotions and potions etc do you use on your P if I may ask ,?

As everyone says, join in the fun on here

Happy scratching

GB

[arfy]

Thanks Grizzly Bear

What kind of diet are you on?

Cant remember the names of all of the medication right now, there has been a few.. Last one I used was Betnovat. Its only to be used on the scalp, but the last creme I had for my skin gave me terrible side effects (just cant remember what it was named) so I started using Betnovat on my skin instead and have been using it for a while.
A couple of times there has been cortisone creams, but they dont work as well for me.
Also, got one of those narrow UV band lights from Dermalight (90). Quite expensive, but it works okay.

[Grizzly Bear]

Thanks Grizzly Bear

What kind of diet are you on?

The slimming world one, i'm shedding a fair bit, thank god.

Be good Arfy

[stoatula]

In desperation, I've finally decided to try diet. I looked up a bunch of diets online -- anti-inflammatory diets, anti-yeast diets, specific anti-psoriasis diets -- and smashed them together. Resulting diet: NO alcohol (this one hurt), no sugar (nearly impossible, as there's sugar in everything), no wheat (ditto, as it's just that hard to avoid). Lots of veg. Some other stuff -- what my husband calls stupid hippie foods -- teas, herbs, probiotics.

Been at it about ten days. So far, no improvement in my psoriasis, but I've lost almost a stone in weight. I sleep better, feel better in the morning and my, ummm...intestinal health has improved. I'll keep you posted.


p.s. I tried the duct tape thing. Result: the psoriatic areas improved, but more healthy skin became psoriatic. Yeah, I'll try anything.

[jiml]

In desperation, I've finally decided to try diet. I looked up a bunch of diets online -- anti-inflammatory diets, anti-yeast diets, specific anti-psoriasis diets -- and smashed them together. Resulting diet: NO alcohol (this one hurt), no sugar (nearly impossible, as there's sugar in everything), no wheat (ditto, as it's just that hard to avoid). Lots of veg. Some other stuff -- what my husband calls stupid hippie foods -- teas, herbs, probiotics.

Been at it about ten days. So far, no improvement in my psoriasis, but I've lost almost a stone in weight. I sleep better, feel better in the morning and my, ummm...intestinal health has improved. I'll keep you posted.


p.s. I tried the duct tape thing. Result: the psoriatic areas improved, but more healthy skin became psoriatic. Yeah, I'll try anything.

Nice to see you back again
I take my hat off to you trying the diet thing ....  sadly I have no willpower ......but well done shedding weight that way ..... Shame no effect on the psoriasis ....
so the duct tape was a Nono then.. But you are still trying ... I'm sure you will succeed .... Have you read the iodine thread   NATURAL CURE ! SPREAD THE NEWS do read it to the end before deciding to try it or not

[stoatula]

Thanks for the welcome back (I never really left, I just didn't have anything to report). I did read the iodine thread, yes. I've put it on my mental to-do list.

If you follow the news, the thing they're all going nuts for at the moment is gut bacteria. So my made-up diet is sort of aimed in that direction, plus I'm trying various teas and probiotics. Hoping to adjust my inner bugs. Eh, it's an idea.

Given the huge variability in what works for people, I'd be willing to bet the main factor in improvement is the placebo effect. But that's okay -- I believe the placebo effect is one of the most important and most grievously under-studied clinical issues of our time.