Help me help my DH (psoriasis) page

[TillyMonstar]

Ok more like help me force him to clean up his act!

He's been suffering with psoriasis for about 5 years now. It all came on right before we got married (don't blame this one on me!) and I'm guessing was stress-related. I feel like he's got many other issues which caused his psoriasis. He sneezes and gets congested after a few alcoholic drinks (um, hello intolerance!), refuses to give up soda entirely, was eating junk fast food 1-3x a week, just had a continuous headache that lasted 48 hours. He's currently on Enbrel (which isn't working anymore) and some steroid creams. I also think he's got a raging yeast infection. Poor guy.

Where do I start? I've read about 10 billion recommendations for vitamin A & D supplementation, candida diet, coconut oil and ACV, chickweed salves, yoga and meditation. Nightshade, dairy, egg and grain removal from the diet. He's not too keen on a crazy elimination diet so where to start gradually? Does kombucha and kefir count as a fermented food? I'm thinking about trying to incorporate more of this in our diet.

We've both been pretty much primal (me more-so then him) since about April. I have Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and I've seen a GREAT improvement in symptoms from going primal but still have some lingering issues. I want to start something in January and have him go off all of the drugs, especially enbrel.

Thanks for reading my rambling!

[BestBetter]

My husband has psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis (what every dude in his twenties wants!). We've spent years experimenting on him. One thing that we've learned is what helps one person might not do anything for someone else with the same diagnosis, so buckle up because you've got a lot of experimenting ahead of you.

First thing that jumps out is the sneezing congestion after alcohol...that could very well be a sign of histamine intolerance. It's an easy thing to google to find some symptoms and ways to experiment with dietary things to see if that's the case.

Rather than telling you all the things we tried that didn't work, the one thing that DOES work is getting sun (a tanning bed works, too). However, even taking high dosed of Vitamin D for months did nothing for him, but getting direct sunlight in the areas where he is prone to getting some psoriasis works everytime. Now that it's winter, his psoriasis is a little worse, and he really needs to be using a tanning bed regularly.

From my research and our brainstorming and Sherlock Holmes work, his psoriasis doesn't seem to be affected by any foods in particular (we've done years of painstaking elimination diets), but we are convinced that it is somehow related to digestion. My husband has issues with this; he's not intolerant of any specific foods, but he has some IBS tendencies and low stomach acid...and likely a leaky gut. I've read that leaky gut problems are often involved in many autoimmune disorders, especially psoriasis. Does your husband have any digestive issues that you know about (symptoms like gassiness from either end, acid reflux, etc...)

Also, how his is sleep? The body views lack of good quality sleep as a stressor, and over time this kind of chronic stress can lead to autoimmune problems, like psoriasis. We've figured out that the major culprit for my husband is sleep; completely unrelated to what he's eating, if he's not been sleeping well for a period of time, he gets flares, but when his sleep is better, his autoimmune stuff quiets down.

If you can share some more info, I could try to give more detailed suggestions, but in a nutshell, I would suggest:
1) Sunlight/tanning bed time
2) Focus on good digestion, which should include plenty of probiotics, not too much fiber, bone broth, and L-Glutamine (an amino acid that the body uses to repair leaky gut issues, among other things)
3) Good sleep, reduced stress, and general relaxation

[zoebird]

My husband had psoriasis since he was a kiddo.

I would recommend going to a good naturopath first, but otherwise, I"ll tell you what DH did.

First, he went completely whole foods (at the time Weston A Price Foundation recommendations), and began using cod liver oil (the A/D recommendations). This made a huge difference in his overall health and the psoriasis went basically away. If he was off cod liver oil for more than a week or two, he would get "patches" of psoriasis.

Then, he started to have massive reactions to breads and such. He went to a naturopath, and in addition to a particular herbal protocol and pre-boitic protocol based on his gut flora (from a stool sample), she put him on a modified GAPS diet, as well as paleo.

No dairy, no grains, no beans, no soy. Bone broth daily, plus fermented veggies, and otherwise paleo. butter/ghee was ok after some testing/experimenting.

He's now onto the second leg of the protocol, so he's technically "off GAPS modified" but is continuing with it anyway because it doesn't hurt him to continue to have bone broth and fermented veggies every day! This next part of this protocol involves some vitamin supplementation as well as some herbal supplements to support those.

My husband had it really bad from the time he was about 12/13 years old until he was 25 or 27 or so. Since then, he occasionally gets a small spot -- like the precursor to the full blown thing -- and he clears out his diet again.

So, cod liver oil, bone broth, fermented veggies, and whatever specifically he'll need to heal his gut, etc.

[TillyMonstar]

Thank you all for these responses. I'm going to get some cod liver oil for both of us though i am nauseated about an hour after taking the capsule form. Maybe liquid will be better.

What fermented veggies are we talking? For bone broths, just a cup everyday?

[zoebird]

The liquid is better than capsule. Capsule is often rancid.

I think my husband has two cups a day or so, himself, and fermented veggies are simple. Go to the weston a price foundation site, and they'll tell you about fermented veggies.

That being said, unless *he* wants to clean up his diet to solve the problem (and again, I recommend a naturopath to get to the source of the particular gut issue that may be causing it), it's not going to heal up completely.

[MamaGrok]

Psoriasis is often associated with the autoimmune disease rheumatoid arthritis, and the first attack of one or the other is often triggered by stress. It is a big deal, not just annoying skin problems. I hope he can see what's going well with you and be inspired by it, b/c you can't make people do stuff.

You could get him an autoimmune disease test like ANA blood test or anti-gliadin sIgA stool test and see if that scares him straight. Or see if you can get him to do 30 days primal. Just 30 days. Promise him something he likes. The 30 day trial sells a lot of people, b/c they see how bad things get once they're back on the junk.

[TillyMonstar]

Well yes, I know I can't *make* him do anything but he is inspired by my results, though they are not super obvious. You get SO much conflicting info with psoriasis and hugely varied results so he's basically overwhelmed. I'll see what he says he can commit to, 21 days might be easier and he's almost eating full-on primal right now anyway. Thanks again for the info!

[MamaGrok]

Sounds like a GREAT Start! If I were him, I'd focus on full paleo, but the autoimmune version (no dairy, eggs, nuts, or nightshades) until I got some major results, then maybe add back in eggs and see what happens, then try small amounts of my one favorite nightshade (for me, it's hot peppers!).

[emmie]

I think psoriasis is caused by various factors and may be different for every individual. My sister was afflicted with severe psoriasis that came on suddenly all over her body (except her face) and was resistant to every medical intervention. She saw 3 different derms, all treated her extensively, and she had no improvement.

I heard a naturopath on the radio talking about food sensitivities and psoriasis, and he said that dairy was the most common issue, and many of his patients got immediate relief by eliminating dairy. She tried eliminating dairy--and then eggs--and neither had any effect.

Several years later, after she'd given up hope of finding any relief, her internist, doing standard blood work as part of her regular check up, noticed she had very low Vit. D and told her to supplement with OTC. I'd already been supplementing and advised her to try 6,000 IU. She immediately felt better--and to her surprise, her psoriasis cleared up--and is now barely noticeable (some tiny patches remain).

Ironically, all the derms had given her 'light treatments' which is standard for psoriasis, but not one of them ever mentioned or tested Vit. D.

[valmason01]

My 25 year old son also has it. He is morbidly obese and stubborn as hell. He has lost weight over the last year, he says 100 lbs but I am unsure of that one. He does not get enough sleep, no outside time, and thinks I am crazy to eat the way I do. He is taking a nutrition class at community college and of course they know more than I do! Any ideas on how to convince him to try??? I worry about things like rheumatoid arthritis.