Plaque psoriasis

[NancyB]

I was wondering if the AP has ever been used with Plaque psoriasis.

I have a friend who has it, as does her mother. She is vegan and gluten-free and I think it’s somewhat better than it used to be. She doesn’t want to use the immuno-suppressant drugs. She doesn’t have any arthritic symptoms just the skin issues.
Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Nancy

[Maz]

@NancyB wrote:

I was wondering if the AP has ever been used with Plaque psoriasis.

She doesn’t have any arthritic symptoms just the skin issues.

Nancy, I have been hoping that someone here with plaque psoriasis might chime in on their personal experience on this for you. I’m afraid I don’t recall anyone using abx therapy for psoriasis alone, but this doesn’t mean it isn’t effective…just that I think someone with just the psoriasis component might not be visiting a rheumatic site like this. Minocycline does have some pretty great immune-modulating and anti-inflammatory capabilities, which is why its used for acne (though am sure the anti-microbial effects play into acne treatment, too 😉 ).

My money is on the table that it would also have some benefit for plaque psoriasis and is benign enough as a treatment for acne…so why not give it a go for plaque psoriasis, too? I’m guessing that your average dermatologist would probably laugh at the suggestion, so an AP doc would likely be the way to go, if your friend wanted to try the therapy.

Although I’m not suggesting your friend has PsA, at all, it is sometimes the case that psoriasis precedes the arthritis of PsA and vice-versa….as PsA really doesn’t have any definitive antibody markers that distinguish it from other arthritides, this is one of the reasons why it can take so long for PsAers to receive a firm diagnosis. It took a rheumy several years to confirm my MIL’s PsA, because her psoriasis and arthritis came spaced apart at different times.

[lynnie_sydney]

Nancy – I know my AP doc treats PsA with abx – and treated the daughter of someone who used to post here. She no longer visits the forum so cant ask her how it worked etc. although I do remember the psoriasis seemed to be improving and she was eventually dxd with juvenile PsA. Thought it worth mentioning because of te reasons Maz put forward in the last post.

Be well! Lynnie

Palindromic RA 30 yrs (Chronic Lyme?)
Mino 2003-2008 100mg MWF - can no longer tolerate any tetracyclines
rotating abx protocol now. From Sep 2018 MWF - a.m. Augmentin Duo 440mg + 150mg Biaxsig (roxithromycin). p.m. Cefaclor (375mg) + Klacid 125mg + LDN 3mg + Annual Clindy IV's
Diet: no gluten, dairy, sulphites, low salicylates
Supps: 600mg N-AC BID, 1000mg Vit C, P5P 40mg, zinc picolinate 60mg, Lithium orotate 20mg, Magnesium Oil, Bio-identical hormones (DHEA + Prog + Estrog)

[NancyB]

Maz and Lynnie,

The person I’m talking about is a friend of my son (21 yrs old) and her mom also has psoriasis which hasn’t developed into PsA at this point. Her mom is on enbrel or some such immune modulator and has a long-term sinus infection–crazy stuff!

M is vegan and is now trying a gluten-free diet as well. She wants to avoid the heavy drugs. I guess her case would be considered mild to moderate, but it’s still there. Like you said, without a doc to recommend the treatment, she most likely wouldn’t be able to try it. It’s such a shame since it is more benign than the treatment for acne!

We may be getting a FIR sauna in the future–have been using one locally and I’m definitely herxing with it and then feeling better. If we get it, she will be welcome to use it. I’ve heard that it is helpful for skin conditions.

Thanks for your responses,
Nancy

[A Friend]

@NancyB wrote:

I was wondering if the AP has ever been used with Plaque psoriasis.

I have a friend who has it, as does her mother. She is vegan and gluten-free and I think it’s somewhat better than it used to be. She doesn’t want to use the immuno-suppressant drugs. She doesn’t have any arthritic symptoms just the skin issues.
Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Nancy

Hi Nancy,
Just saw your post. If you will go to General Discussion (where the topics are listed), there is a little search window that can search all posts. I just typed in psoriasis, and there are 28 pages of posts that showed up under this word (several posts on each page). At bottom of each of these, there is a link to the next page found in the search.

Some people whose immune systems are not working well will go on to develop different maladies. One malady is when in this weakened immune state, we can develop a fungal overgrowth. As diverse/different people, some are more prone to developing a “systemic fungal overgrowth.” And never have a clue! (I didn’t… never had a typical woman’s type yeast problem, but did have systemic problem.) And some of these apparently have a (perhaps) genetic predisposition to developing psoriasis. A family member has had psoriasis on the foot/ankle area for a number of years. But, has not developed one of the typical rheumatic diagnoses (i.e. RA, Lupus,etc.) If I were in this person’s place, I would immediately read and learn everything I could on the yeast connection and psoriasis. Not a gambler myself, but I wouldn’t hesitate to place a “small” bet that a fungal overgrowth is involved… these overgrowths are involved in many, many diagnoses, but we as different persons manifest them differently. Fungal/yeast presence proceeds to make our bodies very acidic and the perfect environment for it to spread, multiply, and cause problems. (I first read about psoriasis relationship to fungus in one or two of Dr. William Crook’s books, and his thoughts were similar about psoriasis being related. (Dr. Crook was a pediatric allergist… who began researching yeast overgrowth when he couldn’t get some of his young patients well… then went on to write about 14 books, while also treating adults as well.)

For myself, the last thing I would do is to take an immune suppressant for this problem, but rather read/study. Since Dr. Crook’s death, my favorite yeast/fungal advisors can be found in books and the free newsletter online: KnowTheCause.com — these books can be read about on some links in the newsletter and probably by doing a search. Doug Kaufmann is a longtime expert on this subject, and has assembled a broad base of knowledgeable experts who write columns in his free newsletter. (If a person with psoriasis has other rheumatic diagnosis and doing poorly, based on my long experience with AP and watching related yeast/fungal problems, after intensively addressing the fungal issues, if needed to help get well from the rheumatic pains and problems, I would consider taking AP on a Mon-Wed-Fri basis, while continuing to address the fungal issues with excellent probiotics and strict dietary measures.)

Good luck to you and your friends.

[Maz]

@NancyB wrote:

The person I’m talking about is a friend of my son (21 yrs old) and her mom also has psoriasis which hasn’t developed into PsA at this point. Her mom is on enbrel or some such immune modulator and has a long-term sinus infection–crazy stuff!

Hi Nancy,

Yup, Enbrel is used for psoriasis in mainstream med…the only trouble with being on this drug in terms of a PsA diagnosis is that this lady might not know she has the arthritis component unless she, at some point, has to come off the drug. This is when exacerbation and rebound could occur. Of course, I am not in the medical field and would never attempt to offer a diagnosis…but it occurred to me that being on an immune-suppressive drug can mask other “autoimmune” symptoms that were not evident at the start of treatment.

YES! FIR sauna is great for the skin! Also, I recall my dermatologist mentioning that he used light therapy (PUVA) in his office with tremendous success for plaque psoriasis. The nurse showed me the “light box” enclosure they use for these patients. Maybe this is something that might also help your young friend during flares of her psoriasis that would be less invasive if she can’t somehow get a doc to prescribe low dose AP to her? Does she have acne by any chance? 😉

[NancyB]

Thanks for the replies FRIEND and Maz…
I will pass info along to her and see if she is receptive. Interesting about the PUVA light therapy…will have to check that out.
Nancy

[A Friend]

@Maz wrote:

@NancyB wrote:

The person I’m talking about is a friend of my son (21 yrs old) and her mom also has psoriasis which hasn’t developed into PsA at this point. Her mom is on enbrel or some such immune modulator and has a long-term sinus infection–crazy stuff!

Nancy, glad you included the above quote about the mom having a long-term sinus infection, as well as psoriasis. Just now, as I read that, it triggered information from a few years ago about Mayo Research findings about fungus and sinus infections. You probably will want to share this with her. A search found the link and I pasted it below:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/09/990910080344.htm

[Author]

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