How I healed my Psoriasis

Ask-Seek-Knock

Ask-Seek-Knock

Padawan Learner
I wanted to share my positive experience in controlling my psoriasis in hopes that it could help someone else. I'm 38yrs old and have had my condition under control for about 5 years now. I was diagnosed with plaque psoriasis around 7 or 8yrs old. I am the only one in my family to have it. No one on my mother or father's side ever remembers anyone else having it. At one point it covered 30% of my body. I've used every type of medicine and over-the-counter cream/ointment you can think of and yes, I used to wash my hair with tar shampoo. I have long, naturally blonde, curly hair and I use to cry when I washed it because I though it would turn my hair brown. :)

I have perplexed many dermatologists during examinations and two doctors expressed that they normally don't encounter psoriasis on someone with my physique. I have a toned, muscular frame (from playing sports my whole life and bodybuilding). I'm not including this to brag. I just found that to be an odd observation and after hearing it the second time it made me think of what is causing my condition because I was exercising and eating right...so I thought.

In my teens and 20's, I use to control it quite well through tanning beds. Because of the 30% coverage it was very hard to smear nearly my entire body with ointment each night. Gosh that stuff is so gross, your pajamas stick to you, I cringe just typing about it. But then I hit my 30's and worried about the side effects of tanning. Plus I started noticing psoriasis showing up on my fingernails. That was the last straw. I started reading everything I could online and at the book store about healing your body naturally.

At that same time I met my husband who is a competitive bodybuilder and with his knowledge and my research this is what I found to work for me. I am stressing that this works for me and it may not work for you but when I was searching for answers I tried anything and everything. Also, I am not a doctor or a nutritionist. Just a determined individual! I was going to help myself no matter what!

As a side note...I was pleasantly surprised to find that you all are following a lot of the practices that bodybuilders use. For example, the ketogenic diet, melatonin, DMSO, just to name a few. Bodybuilders use the ketogenic diet during contest preparation. In fact my husband has read the Ketogenic diet book so much that it is starting to fall apart. They're not the dumb jocks they're made out to be, at least not some of them. ;)

Now to the details of what works for me:

Eating Plan
I follow the Eat for your Bloodtype diet - I am O+
This is what I attribute the most to my healing. Can not stress that enough! Any time I stray off of it for a long period of time I get a tiny flare up and I start to gain weight. Now that I am pushing 40 the gaining weight part is a new challenge. Just another reason for me to stick to my eating plan. ;) I use the term eating plan because it is not a "diet". I eat like this ALL the time. With the occasional cheat meal to keep me sane.

Skincare
I use Aubrey Organics Honeysuckle Rose Shampoo and Conditioner
I can only find it at the Vitamin Shoppe. It is the only brand I can use that won't flare up my scalp. Seriously the only!

I wash my body/face with Kiss my Face Pure Oilve Oil soap. And I also use Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil soap on my face. My face feels cleaner when I use both.

After showering, I swab my face with Thayers Lavender Witch Hazel (Alcohol-free toner). I do not wear makeup on a daily basis. I live in Tampa, FL and the humidity makes my face feel gross if I wear makeup. If I want to apply makeup for a special occasion I use mineral makeup from Sephora.

I do not use face lotion. The humidity moisturizers my face enough, especially in the Summer. I do dab a cream under my eyes to fight aging and it's a combination of 100% organic shea butter and olive oil. If you are ever in Tarpon Springs, FL at the sponge docks there are several shops that sell it.

Styling Product
Since I have naturally curly hair I need to use a lot with the humidity. Currently I am using L'Oreal Evercurl Sulfate free curl care system, Hydracharge leave-in cream. LOVE IT!! So much better than mousse or gel.

Supplements
Multi-vitamin
Multi-mineral
Probiotics
Fish Oil
Hyaluronic Acid/MSM
Raw Green Super Food caps
Chocolate Peanut Butter Whey protein (Yummy!)

This combination has worked for me for the past 5 years. It took me a long time to get to this point. But I can finally say that this works for me. I hope in sharing this information that it will help someone out there who is suffering like I did.

Good Luck!
 
Thanks for sharing!

Have you tried to go into ketosis full-time? Would be interesting to see what happens to your psoriasis.
 
I believe I've been close to ketosis but I've never confirmed it using the ketone sticks my husband bought when he was dieting for a show. But, I may try it sometime. My husband is approaching 50 and wants to compete in one last bodybuilding show before he officially retires and I may diet alongside him in support. I have to admit a competition diet is grueling. I don't know how any of them do it over and over again. It's the only sport, I swear, that makes you go through such a massive body transformation. I totally respect the dedication. I never had to do that kind of thing for any of the sports I participated in, thank god! I'll follow up if I do.
 
nicklebleu said:
Thanks for sharing!

Have you tried to go into ketosis full-time? Would be interesting to see what happens to your psoriasis.
Click to expand...

I have psoriasis only on my elbows and underarms - since twenty years - and as in Ask-Seeks case nothing really helped. It must be so tough to have 30% of the body covered! :hug2:

t already got better when I cut out gluten and went paleo three years ago, then after only one week in ketosis a couple of months ago it shrank another 70%. The itch is gone, it doesn't flake and the skin is healing over.

If you go ketogenic full-time, Ask, you might not need the supplements. It's a small miracle in my case ...

M.T.
 
After suffering from severe psoriasis on the palms of my hands for 15 years, my investigation led me to understand that it was caused by leaky gut syndrome, a result of eating gluten.

One year of a gluten free diet reduced the symptoms about 75% and healing my gut with L-glutamine and Colostrum on an empty stomach healed me completely. The psoriasis has not returned after three years on a grain-free keto-adapted lifestyle.
 
Jerry - I did read about leaking gut syndrome on the Edgar Cayce site during my research and that helped me find a better diet.

But what's odd is that when I was 18 I took a year off between high school and college and moved to San Diego, CA. During my adventures there I ate the worst diet possible, living off of Tombstone pizzas, burger and fries. Typical teenager diet. :D And my psoriasis went away on its own for the first time in my life. I couldn't believe it. I was smoking, drinking coffee/alcohol, living it up. I think some of the factors at least with me are environmental.

I never had allergies like the rest of my family so it made me think my allergies were manifesting through my skin. Since San Diego is a semi-arid climate I assumed that type of climate was beneficial. The worst I've seen my skin is while living in Tampa, FL. But then stress probably plays a huge factor because in Cali I had NO stress, no worries. In Tampa at the time of the worst flare up ever, I was working in a corporate job on stressful projects, traveling a lot and up to my eyeballs in loan debt. At the present I am debt free and working a low stress job and my skin is looking healthy.

It's definitely a work in progress with this condition and I'm glad that I've learned to recognize what triggers a flare up.

Thanks Minas Tirith and Jerry for your replies.
 
Thanks for that. Im interested because I have been suffering from acne for about ten years now, and the only thing that has ever helped me is Accutane. which im just finishing now, but not exactly where Id like to be with skin clarity. Plus, Accutane is such a harsh drug, you practically have to sign your life away and have psych evals. before you can even start it. Anyway, Im very curious to see if some of the tips you mentioned will help as well, such as the blood type diet.
Thanks a Bunch
Danielle
 
I guess that's one thing I didn't mention...I don't miss the acne! I've had pimples my whole life, and I very rarely get them now. Whether it's because of the wheat or sugar I don't know, but cutting out both definitely made a difference.
 
I was having psoriasis-like symptom on my palms and soles for two years before finding this forum. It went away after I changed my diet and removed my dental amalgams. My sister has psoriasis longer than me, and went to many useless doctors. I told her about the diet change but I'm not sure if she is willing to commit.
 
Ask-Seek-Knock said:
But what's odd is that when I was 18 I took a year off between high school and college and moved to San Diego, CA.
Click to expand...

Lots of sun, in San Diego - UV radiation is know to better, or heal, psoriatic symptoms. Of course nowadays that's all considered dangerous, with the actual sun-phobia.
 
Yes, the sun is definitely my friend! I am actually one of the few people that my dermatologist tells to get 10-15 minutes of sun every other day due to the coverage of my psoriasis (30% at one point). I do not get lectured for being slightly tan when I get my annual visit. He knows I need to lay out. It helps living in Florida. I can tan even in the winter months. I try not to get anymore than 15 minutes though as I am fair skinned. The tanning also helps my body get my daily vitamin D, another plus!
 
An update to my original post... recently I tried the shampoo and conditioner that goes along with the L'Oreal Evercurl Sulfate free curl care system and it made my scalp flare up after only 2 uses, so that is off the list. The styling product is still working fine because I don't apply it directly to my scalp. So I am back to using the Aubrey Organics shampoo/conditioner and my scalp is healthy once again. Phew!! So glad I caught it before it got any worse. I usually notice the flare up faintly appear along my hairline, jawline and cheekbones and thats when I stop using whatever it is I tried.

Also, Jojoba oil works wonders on my legs after shaving. Beware if you use it though because you'll have to wipe off the excess before putting on your clothes or it will seep through the fabric. Learned that the hard way. :-[
 
I have severe Psoriasis. Back in November I entered a clinical trial (placebo controlled) for a new drug from Merck. Participants would either receive the new drug, a placebo, or Enbrel. If I was to receive the new drug and it was working, I would have been able to continue for two years with an option for five years. If I was on Enbrel and it wasn't"t working I would be switched to the Merck drug. If the Enbrel was working the study would end after seven months. Whatever I was on; my skin cleared, I started exercising with a gym membership, I was on the Keto diet with fat bombs. I was doing my breathing exercises a couple times a week. Things were going well. I felt like me and the Universe were pretty tight. I thought sure I was on the Merck drug, but after 7 months the study ended.

"Okay, I thought, maybe with the Keto diet I can stay clear. With the possibility of a plague in the near future, I don't need to be on an immune compromising drug anyway." Things went well for a while. However, being honest here, I sometimes fell off the wagon with Carbs. But would go back to Keto within usually 6 weeks or so. My Psoriasis really started coming back when I was actually on the Keto diet. I had moved to a new location which disrupted my exercise routine which then came to an end. Then I kept getting these colds that lasted up to two weeks. I got into a frame of mind where I just basically said to heck with it, I just want some comfort food.

So things just started going downhill from there. I finally made an appointment with the skin doctor at the same place where the study was conducted and saw them about a month ago. They filled out paperwork for a free Enbrel program and I gave them my tax return for 2013 to show that my income level would qualify me. I had an appointment last Monday but the office closed due to an Ice storm. So, I rescheduled for this coming Monday. I am at a point where I'm ready to fix my diet again. I have been Gluten free for several days and eating fairly low carb but not Keto adapted yet.

I will say that this has been a problem for the better part of my life. I've tried every imaginable natural solution and not had any results except when I was on the Macrobiotic Diet. No wheat, no dairy. Only a little fish for protein. Basically brown rice, legumes, and vegetables. Miso soup. My skin cleared completely.

I don't know why I've waited so long to reach out. It such a stubborn problem I think I just feel like no one can help me. I'm thinking about going on some modified Macrobiotic diet but I don"t know what to do. There's been no word on the Enbrel so far. Any thoughts or ideas welcome. Thanks for listening.
 
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