A good friend of mine, who has had severe psoriasis for as long as I can remember, had been taking the prescription psoriasis drug, Raptiva. I talked to him recently, and he was a little freaked out because his doctor called: Raptiva is now linked to neurological problems and they want him to stop taking it. They asked him to come in so they could change him to another psoriasis drug. He said, “No thanks”, and told me, “Yeah, so I can find out that drug causes something else next?!”
Read an excerpt from this article about Raptiva:
The psoriasis drug Raptiva is getting a “black box” warning, the FDA's sternest warning, about the risk of life-threatening infections including a rare brain infection and meningitis.
Comforting, isn’t it?
He had good results with that drug, so at the time he wasn't ready to try some natural remedies to help with his psoriasis. (Read my sister's first comment at this cod liver oil post about that!) He's now looking into an appointment with a holistic practitioner. I also suggested he Google it like crazy by typing in, “Natural Psoriasis Remedy”, and see what he comes up with. (He said he's done that before, but didn't find much, so if you have psoriasis, I hope you’ll let us know what has worked for you.)
UPDATE: See my new post on how to beat psoriasis naturally!!!!
My main suggestion to him was this:
Keep in mind that every natural remedy doesn't work for every person. (Same with medications for that matter.) But if it was me, I would try any natural psoriasis remedy I could find and give it a good go. (Yes it will cost some money, but think what it could save long-term.) After you've exhausted all your natural options, if you haven't found one that works for you, and you can't stand it anymore, then you can decide if going on more drugs is worth the risk to you.
I believe there is a place for medications, obviously – they have saved many lives, and there are times in all our lives when we have been, or might be, very thankful for them. But personally, in most situations I would look for a natural remedy first before choosing the man-made, chemical option.
However, this is something we all need to figure out for ourselves. I’m a broken record, I know: just don't blindly follow your doctor’s advice, an internet article, or especially anything I might say – let what you read here motivate you to do your own research. You MUST be your own health advocate in this crazy world of big money pharmaceuticals, health care politics, and confusing, conflicting information.
SHARE YOUR REMEDIES:
- As I said above, my sister, Terri, has had great results by taking higher doses of cod liver oil.
- Another sister, different from the one mentioned above, has her own “light box” at home (like a tanning bed with UVB rays only) – I don’t know much about this therapy, but at least she doesn’t take any drugs, and this keeps her psoriasis pretty much under control.
- I can’t remember where I read this, but I saw somewhere that coconut oil mixed with certain essential oils can be very beneficial for those with psoriasis – hopefully some of you can elaborate on this if you’ve tried it.
- Do you have psoriasis? Please tell us what has worked for you?
Glenn Turney says
I am reading more and more that psoriasis can be linked to leaky gut syndrome. This is where food protiens leak through the lining of the gut and are attacked by your immune system. Since those protiens mimic other good cells in your body the immune system attacks those also. The first place I would start is healing the gut by getting on a good probiotic and avoiding all grains. This is a process and can take 6 months to a year. Psoriasis has been linked to an over active immune system so this would tend to make sense.
Karen says
That would be coconut oil mixed with lavendar essential oil. You may have read it in Sally Fallon’s Eat Fat, Lose Fat. At least that is where I read it.
Kelly says
Psoriasis is starting to sound more and more like a GAPS problem as I read more of your comments…Mary, maybe your husband’s psoriasis came back because he hadn’t fully healed his immune system, and avoiding grains is only one piece of that. Just thinking “out loud”…
Check out the GAPS posts (look under the topics on the right) for more info…
I just emailed Peter at the blog Anna recommended above, asking him for any info he can share about the psoriasis/grain connection. Here’s his blog: https://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/
Mary says
re Gluten and psoriasis, when my husband first went Gluten Free, his psoriasis improved initially. Then after a few months it was back to his same level of flare-up. But since both celiac disease and psoriasis are auto-immune disorders/responses, and since no one really knows what causes such auto-immunity issues, it is not surprising that for some people, the same thing triggers both.
There is a guy in Australia who has theorized that all autoimmune disorders can be linked to the Western diet. His special area of interest, if I remember right, was multiple sclerosis; but some of the research included other things such as psoriasis and celiac disease. I can’t find his site right now, but I think I got to him from following some links from here about 3 or 4 months ago. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
Tash says
My husband uses an organic product w/ Sea Buckthorn in it – He says that as long as he puts it on, it works great. But the biggest thing is staying off of gluten…his diet makes the biggest difference.
Kelly says
Very interesting Anna, thank you!!!
Anna says
In my reading on gluten sensitivity, I keep running across psoriasis mentioned as a symptom. Peter of the Hyperlipid blog is gluten-insensitive and his psoriasis cleared up when he gave up grain. He knows a *lot* about how that connection works. Might be worth asking him.
Kelly says
LN, perfect analogy!
Naomi, I don’t have psoriasis or a rash problem, but I am SO getting me an aloe vera plant after reading your comment – good to have in the house for whatever might come up!
Thanks for all the good suggestions everyone, I’m going to go check out those links/sites that were mentioned.
Kelly
CHEESESLAVE says
It says on the Weston A. Price site that vitamin A can help:
“Vitamin A can be helpful in the treatment of psoriasis. Researchers found that patients suffering from severe psoriasis had low blood levels of vitamin A (Acta Derm Venereol Jul 1994 74(4):298-301). ”
https://westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitaminasaga.html
Also, B12:
“Researchers in Germany have reported using B12 as part of the successful treatment of a variety of skin conditions, such as hives, seborrhea, dermatitis, eczema, shingles and lupus.49 One journal article describes a successful treatment for psoriasis.50 Huge doses were needed–30 injections of 1000 micrograms each. B12 has been used to treat both hypopigmentation (vitiligo) and hyperpigmentation.51”
https://www.westonaprice.org/basicnutrition/vitaminb12.html
CHEESESLAVE
Mary says
A tea made from the root of the burdock plant is supposed to help. I think one is supposed to drink several cups a day, let the tea steep for several hours before drinking, and the results don’t show up for 3-4 months. So it’s kind of putzy. My husband has severe psoriasis and will not try it. I think he just doesn’t feel like dealing with the hassle.
There is also a product called JC Tonic (altermately called The Youth Solution) that shows some anecdotal evidence of working for psoriasis. It is quite cost-prohibitve, is “a blend of 18 bi-directional tonic herbs with added minerals.” My husband tried that for a while when someone gave us three bottles. He said it tastes horrible, but he thought he did less run down when taking it. But unfortunately he did not see a change in his psoriasis.
Everyone is different and what works for some may not work for another and vice versa.
Mary
Yael C says
Hi, Kelly. I’ve been learning from your site since Dec ’08. Since then, I’ve seen changes in my family. Anyways, there is a product I have learned from a cousin to help with eczema or psoriasis. It was recommended by a dermatologist in CA and the best one money can find. Pls google skin-e-dip. I have used it for my twin daughters when they were 2 years old for eczema and never had a break out since. hope it will help your good friend. God bless!
Janet W says
I knew someone else who had psoriasis and used a light box. If cod liver oil works so well, then maybe what is working with the light box is the increased vitamin D. Several posts recently on other blogs have been talking about the importance of sufficient amounts of vitamin D. One other place to check is Adelle Davis’ Let’s Get Well. I love Adelle Davis (she literally saved my life and opened my mind so that when I discovered Weston Price, who influenced her, I was ready to accept what he had to say) and this book always gave me some place to start.
Rosy says
Look at http://www.earthclinic.com it has personal acounts of natural healing remedies. There are a lot of psoriasis ones on there. I use it a lot before I try anything. I think I saw that coconut oil one you mentioned there too.
Naomi says
I don’t have psoriasis, but I do get other difficult rashes (I am diabetic, read hard-to-heal). What I use and it works consistently for me where in the past nothing worded except steroids, is fresh juice from my aloe vera plant. This stuff is called “medicine in a plant” and I’ve heard claims that it IS also good for psoriasis. I believe it. I used to get horrible rashes, ones that would cause swelling, leaking, pain, itching-from-hell, spreading over other body parts, taking months to heal, leaving dry scaly skin in its wake. Now, as soon as I see the telltale symptoms of a rash coming on (which btw is far less often now, for whatever reason), I reach for the aloe plant. Keep the area bathed, cut a small portion of leaf, cut open and squeeze and spread the liquid on, using the leaf as the applicator . I will never let myself be without some of this plant again. It is truly a miracle from our loving and awesome God. For someone like me with difficult to heal situations, aloe has given me new life! Thanks be to God!!! AND the plant is next to impossible to kill. Just keep clipping off pieces of it and it seems the more you cut off the better it likes it and grows back. So no, it is NOT hard to grow, even inside, even in low light. If you need some and you don’t have a plant, you can always visit a hispanic/international type market and they sell huge leaves of it. It’s also good for burns and any other skin conditions, kills lice, and good internally. We probably don’t know the extent of its miracle-healing properties yet. Sorry, I can rave about it all day. Tell your friend to try it.
Sara says
I don’t know where I heard it, but I’ve heard the coconut oil treatment works too.
Local Nourishment says
I explain it to the “guys” I talk to like this: first you talk to the problem. Then you seek diplomatic solutions. Then the embargo. Then the sanctions. Then you send your army. Then you nuke ’em. You don’t start out with the nukes!
I know, it’s a silly analogy, and the warfare part is not even something I necessarily agree with, but it gets the testosterone-laden of the species thinking about the smallest “gun” they can use to solve a problem. That’s when I hit them with my thesis. Your first step should always be the big 5: sleep, sun, water, air, food, spirit. Look to these before you start sitting in doctors’ waiting rooms.
Local Nourishment