Questio about psoriasis!!!
 

Hi. I post on other forums but I thought I'd give this a try.

My husband has CIDP, and is undergoing IVIG treatment. It's very helpful with his balance, and some pain issues.

But for the past few years, his psoriasis is flaring up big time. I know it's auto-immune. We've tried everything. Clobetasol. Vitamin A D & E, Vitamin E alone. Ointments, etc.

EVERYTHING!!!

I went on Ebay and just typed in Psoriasis creams and holy moly, the choices are all over the place.

If any of you have psoriasis, have you found ANYTHING that helps with the lesions. Alan has it really bad on his elbos and on his calves. Now it's coming on his foot, not the bottom, on the back of the upper foot. Never saw such redness in my life.

After I apply the Vitamin E, or anything else, of course the redness dissipates, and all is well. We don't use any perfumes, I'm careful with laundry detergent. He obviously has SOMETHING going on in his body that sets off these triggers.

The stuff behind his ears cleared up, The stuff between his eyebrows cleared up. But the stuff on his arms and elbows, well, it's spreading. I have no idea why.

He wants to buy something off the Rebuilder Website called Silver Cream. He got a video on this.

Anybody hear of this??

Any help would be much appreciated.

And if you are wondering why I'm writing this instead of him??

That's the way it is. Always has and Always will be.

Thanks much.

Melody

Mel,
 

My husband has psoriasis too.

It has been our experience that ANY thing that puts pressure on the skin activates the psoriasis.

In other words, elbows.... this is obvious.

But other places too. Since Alan has become less active,
he may be putting his feet up on an automan, or some other
furniture?

Any place he touches or puts pressure on regularly
(like a habit) will activate.

They are using Enbrel now for severe cases. This drug interferes with a certain inflammatory molecule in the body:

http://www.psoriasis.org/treatment/p...ics/enbrel.php

I am not suggesting Alan get this.... I won't let my husband use it either. I think it is more dangerous than helps.
But it explains how it works.

Mrs. D.

How can elbows be affected by pressure? Alan doesn't put his elbows on anything? He is on the computer, or he is sitting on the couch watching tv. (or he takes his one block walk to the grocery store).

The psoriasis is spreading on his arms. But behind the ears is much better (I do not understand this at all). I'm only using the E, and the A & D & E ointment.

Oh, and this is interesting. The boot is on his right foot. He normall has this 5 inch lesion on the right side of the right foot. It normally would scale, and I'd do the vitamin E and well, it didn't work. However, for the past week, it's no more scales, and the lesion is disappearing. ?????? Have no clue why. I'm using the same treatment on all of his lesions.

The front bottom of his leg (right underneath the kneecap), is where I had to put the padding because it was rubbing the lesion. Well, since this padding was put in place, there is no rubbing, hence the lesion does not bother him any more. It just doesn't change in any way shape or form, no matter I use the E, or the ointment. It's just there.

Now on the left foot (he normally has NO LESIONS on the left foot). He just developed a little patch on the bottom of the ankle.

So to sum it up. He's had the psoriasis on the right foot for YEARS.

He has never had psoriasis on the left foot EVER, until recently when he got the little patch on the ankle.

His foot doctor said he has psoriatic toes. Always has had this. For years. Nothing can be done they say.

But his arms. Oh my god. He says he's going to Ask Dr. Fred if there's a new creme. Because the clobetasol did nothing. And it's expired. So if anything, they'll give him a new prescription. He hasn't used this in over 2 years because sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

I wonder if the IVIG has ANY affect on his psoriasis because of all the antibodies??

I'm also wondering (when you said pressure on the elbows) how does one put pressure on the elbows??

thanks much.

Melody

does he use the arm rests on chairs or he couch?

rest his arm on the desk while using the keyboard? or his arms on the chair while at the computer?

i can't imagine holding my arms up the whole time i am sitting. :confused:

yep..bad manners here sometimes too. i know i have put my arms on the table while eating. :o

also...the elbow is a sharp joint. bending presses from the inside. so inside friction.

Sounds just awful, Melody. :(

Could you tell me what CIDP stands for? Also IVIG?

Such a mystery about the pressure points vs. symptoms. Maybe tell him to lay off the breakdancing until it clears up some??? :p

I had it bad on the palm of my right hand a few months before I was dx with MS. I know it was my MS acting up but I don't know what triggered it.

Have you tried anything with Olive Oil or Rosemary Oil in it? I know there are OTC creams with tar but they smell so bad and they didn't really help me.

I use a lotion from Perlier called "Hemp with Rosemary Oil". It's made from Hemp seed extract and oil of rosemary. I love it and won't be without it. My psoriasis has cleared up (my hand is the only place I had it) and hasn't come back.

Here's the website if you're interested in trying it:

http://www.perlier.com/home.php

Nope, he doesn't rest his elbows on anything. He lays on the couch. (I guess his elbows on resting at his side. Should he be doing anything specific with his arms so there's no friction.

He doesn't rest them anywhere while at the computer. I'm at the computer typing right now. My elbows are free floating in the air as I type. No arms on the chair. They are not hitting the keyboard at all.


Twinks:
CIDP stands for Chronic Inflammatory Demylinating Polyneuropathy. it's an auto-immune thing.

IVIG stands for (well, I don't know the exact wording), but IVIG is when the he gets an infusion of antibodies (gammaglobulin) once a month. The visiting nurse comes, hooks him up and all the good little antibodies go into his body and rev up his immune system.

Melody

my hubby went to the dermatologist today
 

to check for skin cancer (he has an area on one ear that flames up, and she thought it was the psoriasis).. and
got an RX for Dovonex. The doctor said his psoriasis is mild
but didn't like his elbow.

But then our insurance refused it (I looked it up online), so we had to get a prior authorization, for it. This is the mail away Medco.

The doctor said she is getting good results in psoriasis that is not severe with it.

He is also to use Aquaphor ointment on it.

I'll let you know in September how it worked. We won't even receive it for two weeks!

Just about everyone with psoriasis gets it on the elbows.

Alan has used Dovonex (we got little samples from the dermatologist), when he first went YEARS AGO. He used Aquaphor. He did the clobetasol.

I put Olive Oil on him. I do the Vitamin A D & E ointment every day. The odd thing is that the big lesion on the right leg is clearing up. His elbows are not flaming red (at least not today). But behind his ear is all this dried skin. He seems to shed his skin.

He has thin skin. When I put the ointment between his eyes and behind his ears, it's much better the next day. I tell him "you are like a reptile, you shed your skin". Never saw such a thing in all my life. You should have seen the lesion on his leg, when the cast came off after a few weeks (after his foot operation). Oh my god, it was like orange peels. I thought IT WAS ORANGE PEELS. I said to him "are you eating an orange?" and he said 'No, that's my skin, all the top skin came off"

It's like the skin accumulates in over-drive. Maybe this is a result (I mean that it got worse), because he gets the IVIG?? I kind of thought the psoriasis would clear up with the infusions but not a chance.

But as long as he moisturizes at least they are not flaming red.

But little patches are showing up now, here and there.

I just do not understand why this is happening.

I told him he needs to make an appointment with the skin doctor once again. But this is up to him.

Psoriasis is a rapid turnover of skin. Up to 10 times faster than others. It is autoimmune to some extent, but people on IVIG have different reactions with it. I looked it up. The bottom line was that it improves in most patients.

My husband has a patch on his upper thigh on the side where he keeps his keys and change in his pocket. Just that weight on the skin or the mild rubbing...gave him a patch.

He has this spot on his ear... which has lasted about a year.
It was finally healing up when he had his appointment (which was postponed due the the storms and the power out at the doctor's office that week) So she took pictures of it, and said to come back in Oct for a recheck. Some of the lesions on the face/head can look like skin cancer.

There is a new ointment:
http://www.taclonex.com/

It is a combo of Dovonex and Betamethasone (steroid)...
but she is holding this back since she is getting mixed reviews on it. For mild cases like my husband she finds Dovonex good enough.