Scared parents of a 7 years old with psoriasis

[Quest4Cure]

Hello Vvvv5,
Not to worry. This is a disease that waxes and waines. I have had it since 3 yrs. developed PSA . But not all Psoriasis patients develop it. It's a very small % of us lucky ones

There are a lot of therapies today more than ever. Your child will do fine. Follow what your derm prescribes. Remember it's a manageable disease. Best thing I ever did was to learn as much as I could about psoriasis.
If you click on "What is psoriasis" on this forum at the top of the page, there is a lot of info.

There's lots of support here for you as a parent. It can be tough at first. A lot of experience to share is available here.

What type of psoriasis does your child have? There are many different types. Sunlight, vit-d is very helpful for plaque p.


QUEST  

[Turnedlight]

Hi and welcome!

I did not have psoriasis until I was 18 but I did have childhood eczema. It isn't nice hearing you have a condition that you can't cure, it felt suffocating for me and I panicked a bit - but not for very long. You do get past that feeling and the psoriasis becomes just a part of life.
It varies so much as to how bad it is, so people do have times where it is worse, and at the front of their minds and affecting life but also there are years where you might not even think about it much at all. Other times there might be remission - I had about ten years between my first outbreak and my second, with no psoriasis in between at all.
I have known people with it who never got arthritis too. And even if it is diagnosed, again it varies widely as to how badly you get it.
Try not to feel too worried, there are plenty of effective treatments to try out and you are in company, there are many more people with it than you even realise.

[Vvvv5]

Hello all,
Thank you so much for the replies and sincere welcome.
Would have responded sooner if we were not battling cold and ear infection here. And we also have a seven month old baby, so it has been rough. 
My son has plaque psoriasis. It does not cover large part of his skin, only small spots on his elbows, and bottom of feet under the big toes. But the skin looks so dry and cracked in several places. I also notice some of his nails has pitting. What is the definition of nail psoriasis by the way? Is nail pitting considered nail psoriasis? 
After a discussion with my mom, we agree that my Dad had psoriasis, and one of his sister too had it.  They never did formally diagnosed. Though theirs did not start until much later in life. We know they did not have psoriatic arthritis though. So I am holding on to the hope that my son wont develop it either. My heart aches to think that he might  have to live with such pain this early in life and for the rest if his life too. He is one active and energetic little boy and I can not bear to think that the arthritis might prevent him to do the things that he loves to do. 
We will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist next week. Meanwhile we are giving the anti inflammatory diet a try. And removing some food from his diet, gluten and night shade vegetables.  He has always been eating healthy though, so it is not a big change. He always prefers his veggies and fruit, but he does like bread and butter and sweets. We are also giving him tart cherry juice, which he loves. And also add turmeric to some of my cooking. 
Has anybody ever tried tart cherry, turmeric or omega 3? And did you notice any benefit at all?

[Vvvv5]

Also, Quest4cure, if you dont mind me asking, at what age were you diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis?

[jiml]

Hello all,
Thank you so much for the replies and sincere welcome.
Would have responded sooner if we were not battling cold and ear infection here. And we also have a seven month old baby, so it has been rough. 
My son has plaque psoriasis. It does not cover large part of his skin, only small spots on his elbows, and bottom of feet under the big toes. But the skin looks so dry and cracked in several places. I also notice some of his nails has pitting. What is the definition of nail psoriasis by the way? Is nail pitting considered nail psoriasis? 
After a discussion with my mom, we agree that my Dad had psoriasis, and one of his sister too had it.  They never did formally diagnosed. Though theirs did not start until much later in life. We know they did not have psoriatic arthritis though. So I am holding on to the hope that my son wont develop it either. My heart aches to think that he might  have to live with such pain this early in life and for the rest if his life too. He is one active and energetic little boy and I can not bear to think that the arthritis might prevent him to do the things that he loves to do. 
We will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist next week. Meanwhile we are giving the anti inflammatory diet a try. And removing some food from his diet, gluten and night shade vegetables.  He has always been eating healthy though, so it is not a big change. He always prefers his veggies and fruit, but he does like bread and butter and sweets. We are also giving him tart cherry juice, which he loves. And also add turmeric to some of my cooking. 
Has anybody ever tried tart cherry, turmeric or omega 3? And did you notice any benefit at all?

Hi and welcome back, yes change in diet may well help him, I wouldn't worry to much about arthritis, as it's not something you can influence, so I would deal with it when and if it ever happens,
I have striated and pitted nails and they have been that way since I developed psoriasis at age 17 , and have never spread to my joints

I wish you good luck with the paediatric dermatologist next week, I hope it will give you more hope for the future....remember not everyone develops moderate to severe psoriasis, for some it stays mild for the bulk of their lives and can be successfully treated with topicals as and when it pops up

I haven't tried turmeric, but read good things about it
Haven't tried tart cherry juice ....((( shudder))))
Good luck Jim  

[jiml]

One more thing to remember while you are pondering your sons future .... Ok it's not a nice disease we have........but if we have to have it now is as good a time as there has ever been, the future looks very bright for psoriasis sufferers ... There are new drugs coming on stream all the time, there is research going on to modify genes, also drugs to specifically target parts of blood cells.
So when you feel helpless that this has struck your son ....just stay positive in the knowledge that even if a cure is not on the horizon there will certainly be control with minimal side effects in the near future  ... Of that I am certain .... The race is on

[Fred]

We will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist next week. Meanwhile we are giving the anti inflammatory diet a try. And removing some food from his diet, gluten and night shade vegetables.  He has always been eating healthy though, so it is not a big change. He always prefers his veggies and fruit, but he does like bread and butter and sweets. We are also giving him tart cherry juice, which he loves. And also add turmeric to some of my cooking. 
Has anybody ever tried tart cherry, turmeric or omega 3? And did you notice any benefit at all?

Turmeric and Omega are good. But in my opinion it won't make a lot of difference. If you can introduce them in his diet and he is happy with it then by all means do so, but I would say let him enjoy the foods he likes as long as it's not junk food.

There is so much stuff to be read about diets and psoriasis, but unless you can keep to a very strict (and it is strict as in 100%) a diet isn't going to change things that much.

Eat what he wants in moderation, and be sensible. No junk food etc, try and throw in some anti inflammatory foods if he likes them. But let the lad enjoy life, it sounds like he is eating healthy anyway but a bit of bread and butter won't make it any worse.

Just my opinion, and I often get shot down by the diet people but a diet will only work in a small percentage of cases and it has to be a very strict diet at that. Enjoy life in moderation is the best way to go, and I've never seen any convincing proof that psoriasis is cured with a diet. (it may help, but the placebo effect is probably more than the diet itself) As for him getting psoriatic arthritis, worry about that if/when it happens.

He has all his life ahead of him so I say take it one day at a time.  

[D Foster]

We will be seeing a pediatric dermatologist next week. Meanwhile we are giving the anti inflammatory diet a try. And removing some food from his diet, gluten and night shade vegetables.  He has always been eating healthy though, so it is not a big change. He always prefers his veggies and fruit, but he does like bread and butter and sweets. We are also giving him tart cherry juice, which he loves. And also add turmeric to some of my cooking. 
Has anybody ever tried tart cherry, turmeric or omega 3? And did you notice any benefit at all?

Turmeric and Omega are good. But in my opinion it won't make a lot of difference. If you can introduce them in his diet and he is happy with it then by all means do so, but I would say let him enjoy the foods he likes as long as it's not junk food.

There is so much stuff to be read about diets and psoriasis, but unless you can keep to a very strict (and it is strict as in 100%) a diet isn't going to change things that much.

Eat what he wants in moderation, and be sensible. No junk food etc, try and throw in some anti inflammatory foods if he likes them. But let the lad enjoy life, it sounds like he is eating healthy anyway but a bit of bread and butter won't make it any worse.

Just my opinion, and I often get shot down by the diet people but a diet will only work in a small percentage of cases and it has to be a very strict diet at that. Enjoy life in moderation is the best way to go, and I've never seen any convincing proof that psoriasis is cured with a diet. (it may help, but the placebo effect is probably more than the diet itself) As for him getting psoriatic arthritis, worry about that if/when it happens.

He has all his life ahead of him so I say take it one day at a time.  

Hi and welcome, I agree with everything that Fred has said, don't worry about arthritis it is only a small percentage that get that , I was in my 20s when I got P but much later when I got PsA and as I said not everyone gets it by a long way. I have had P now for nearly 50 years and in all that time there has been more progress n the last few years and this is continuing at a fast rate now.
Take care and just don't get to worried about it all, use some good emollient cream plus make sure you have a good dermatologist.
Dave