Please help my husband!

My previous post has apparently disappeared, perhaps the victim of the site crash?

I'm new to this forum, although I've visited a few of the other forums on this site, because of my own multiple autoimmune diseases. Although I do have psoriasis, mine is extremely mild compared to my husband's skin issues.

First, he and I both have celiac disease, although he has the horrible blistery rash that's associated with celiac, called dermatitis herpetiformis (aka DH). You can spot DH by it's tendency to turn dark purple as it heals....I don't think that there are other rashes that do that? The purple spots can linger for months.

But he also has some terrible problems with his hands, particularly the fingers, that do NOT seem to be DH. His dermatologist says it's psoriasis, but none of the medications or creams that he's prescribed have helped at all.

Paul's fingers crack and bleed, and he develops scaly, flaky, itchy patches all over his hands. The cracks are extremely painful and make it difficult to use his hands.

Does this sound familiar to anyone? If so, have you found any treatments that helped you??

Please respond....any input is welcome!!
JoAnn

Hi Sherry,

Thanks so much for your reply! I actually realize that psoriasis is an autoimmune disease....I have it too (plaque psoriasis along the hairline). I take prednisone for another AI disease and my psoriasis gets better from the pred.

Unfortunately my husband has been very much against prednisone or anything like that because he's seen what it's done to me (weight gain). Of course, it saved my life because it saved my liver (I have AIH). But he doesn't want to gain weight. He was on methotrexate for a while but it didn't help.

Apparently no one here has ever had their fingers crack and bleed from psoriasis, because yours is (so far) the only response...?

Thanks also for the link! I do appreciate it!

Take care,
JoAnn

There is a woman that I saw on the TV Channel Veria. She has a diet that has cured Psoriasis. Apparently it's very strict, but it works. I know dairy, carbs, are both no-no's. I don't remember what else. But this woman apparently had psoriasis really bad and started a clinic to help people by changing their diet. I'd go to the Veria channel website and do some research. good luck!

Hi Nasalady! Just read your thread, I have Psoriasis that causes my hands to crack and bleed it is extremely painful, really deep welts in the skin rather than cuts. The advice my doc gave me if the cream didn't work (this was also painful when it went into the cuts) was to superglue the skin back together!!! I must admit I never tried! The only thing I find to help is to put plasters over the sores and and let them heal like that. Sorry I can't be of anymore help but I thought I would post just to let you know there is someone else out there!!!

Hi JoAnn, yes I have the raw cracked hands that are severe. As the skin starts drying out on my hands and my feet they crack open and bleed and become raw. The skin is also thick the plaques.  The places on my hands also tend to turn a little dark as they are drying out. Its not only painful but embarrassing. I am still battling an outbreak that started in August, with two new outbreak on top of that one. Many of the places on my feet become infected and I end up with cellulitis of the legs. I fell three weeks ago here at home and broke my left arm. Well, the stress from that business caused another flare. I also have it in my hairline on my forehead and some new places on my face.

I use Vectical, Taclonex. Clobetasol and one other ointment. I have crohns disease and started taking Humira in Jan of this year. The problem with Humira is the minute you get an infection you must stop taking it. I have probably been off of it more than on it.

Right now I am so disgusted because nothing seems to be able to make this mess go away.

Susie, I'm so sorry to hear that you're going through all of that with your skin! It does sound very similar to my husband's situation. Except he doesn't have it in his hairline. I'm the one with plaque psoriasis in the hairline, LOL!

Paul's using Clobetasol among several other ointments and creams. He just saw his dermatologist a few days ago, and the doctor is apparently tired of messing around. He put Paul on 60 mg of prednisone for one week, and told him to taper down 10 mg every three days to zero after that first week. We'll see if that makes a difference!

One thing that is helping is wearing white cotton gloves to bed with a thick coat of Aquaphor all over his hands before he puts on the gloves. Sometimes he wears them for periods during the day too.

That's just terrible that you broke your arm with everything else going on right now! I really hope you feel better soon!
Take care,
JoAnn

I have to post this because it might help.. My husband has Psoriasis and at one point it was head to toe. It came on after a Gamma Globin treatment for Guillain-Barre Syndrome which at the time was recurring every 5 years.

His Doctor put him on Enbrel injections twice a week.. His Gastro put him on Antibiotics for a Diverticulitis problem. When I say a walking scab and that's what he looked like I am NOT kidding. He would also be on a steroid every now and then during this year but was on this treatment for a year and it DID clear up the Psoriasis to a manageable point. He was finally able to get the intestinal surgery he needed because they wouldn't do it while he was so inflamed.

Now.. he has it on the knuckles, fingers, and patches on the arms, elbows and large patches on his shins. Course he doesn't like going to the doc and wouldn't use his creams nightly.. I now am putting non latex gloves on his hands with the ointment that was given to me for mine which is mild and it's working. I cut the tips to allow "some" air.. and will pop pin holes for air but not much.. We use Fluocinonide .05 and it seems to help.. doesn't cure of course but he can bend his fingers now.

well I hae heard of he superglue working . But there is another solution that can help if the cracks are on the fingertips then he can get finger cots You cab
n get these at the bandaid section or somtimes in office supply stores . you may also want to trya bandaid that is specifically made for blisters . They are simpy calledadvanced healing blister for fingers and toes . they wrap around and can be left on for a few days and are tretty sturdy and g
help relieve pain . You can also get a square or rectangular blister ban daid . they meld right to the skin so you can barely see them . Walgreens has a some in walgreens brand .
oftry amazon. cathy from ma these too . they are not too cheap 3 dollars for 8 but are good .

Ok I have it on the back of both hands at present also arms, back and stomach I find the creams the GP'S give seldom work I am using lanolin cream made from the grease from a sheeps wool. It cost me $3.00 from Woolworths [in Australia] it takes the scalie look away straight away. I swear by it, also several weeks ago on Dr Oz he said that putting cream on then wrapping it in cling wrap over night and washing it off the next day would help.
I have not tried that yet but I have found massive relief. I also have it in my hair and have found when I dye my hair it will go away for about 6 weeks, now why no one can tell me but after telling a GP about it she told other women and was surprised when they also found relief. It does not matter why dye I use it works.

Kathy

Look up Pagano's book in your library for dietary recommendations other than mine for treating psoriasis. My last recipe goes through me with _nearly_ diarrhea, although it seemed to be working. When I posted that recipe, I was using light therapy. I am not, now, haven't been for about a month, and I am still seeing improvement. I simplified my recipe and put it into two parts.

Turmeric is an anti-inflammatory herb in curry powder. It is bitter, which is why my recipes hav sugar in them. Licorice root powder protects livers. So does Milk Thistle. Horseradish (Wasabi) protects my stomach from Helicobacter Pylori infections, which often rezult in colitis or even bowel cancer.

I brew tea with licorice root, cool it with three ice cubes, add a teaspoon of Wasabi powder, a teaspoon of Turmeric, and three to six capsules of Milk Thistle extract. Add two to four heaping tablespoons of sugar. It takes less than five minutes.

Doctor Pagano says onions are cleansing. I do not know what that means. People in a newsgroup about psoriasis use Fenugreek, and I am trying it out. I hav seen some research on it, and it seems to be good for body-builders, producing breastmilk, and livers (which pretty much control everything about blood chemistry).

I put a heaping tablespoon of Fenugreek powder into a beer mug, add water, and break up lumps with a spoon against the side of that mug. Then I put it into a blender with half of an onion.

Both mixtures are hard to drink (the first is quite hot, and the second is bitter), and I am confident that the plaque psoriasis on my arm is going away because of these concoctions, because I hav not changed anything else.

My recipe just got a lot simpler and more effective for this particular problem. I started taking a smoothie:
1/3 of a pineapple
1 cucumber

I started taking that just last week (no other changes to my diet), and the kraks on my right hand are almost clear, except for the inside of my middle finger. I suspect that bitter, long English Cucumbers are more effective than Mexican. It's easy to take the bitterness of cucumbers with the sweetness and sourness of pineapple, so much easier that I plan to take a trip to a Chinese store tomorrow to get Bitter Melons, which are cousins of Cucumbers.

I forgot to mention that I take Milk Thistle to control kraks. I hav been for three years or more. I prefer the jel-kaps (liquid), and i suspect they are more effective. I take three to six capsules per day.