Another new patient

[JimO]

Guess this all started earlier in the year. Started having cracks and dryness in my fingers and palms, then on to my feet. What's real bad is I'm a guitarist and I also build guitars and basses on the side. Talk about cruel. I think I could handle it anywhere else, but this is for the birds.

I went through all the usual self diagnosis for most of the year. Was it this chemical or that substance that I was exposed to at work (water plant operator)? I normally protect myself from harsh chemicals, but went above and beyond to rule everything out. Was down to a couple of things. One was the fluoride room door. I noticed my fingerprints on the window where the fluoride has etched to glass. Crap, so I wear vinyl gloves when I get near that room. Same with the silicone oil used on lab glassware. It seemed to cause my skin to itch. So on to protect myself and rule it out.

This went on for most of the year. Tried various crèmes and remedies until I was talking to a relative who had it bad in her feet. She had several jars of a topical steroid crème and swore by them to relieve her pain. She gave me a jar with a little left and I tried it out. Hoky smokes, seemed to clear up, almost. She said go see the Dermatologist in town, another friend confirmed he was good, so I made an apt and went.

Well it's been about a month and a half and the results are mixed. They prescribed  Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream 0.1%. I have also been using various other ointments, crèmes, oils and anything that looks like it could help. At first it seemed to clear right up. thought I had it licked. Then it came back with a vengeance. My next apt was upon me and I told them of what happened. They gave me a shot of cortosteroid (sp?) to help it out. It knocked me on my tail for two weeks, and really didn't do anything to clear it up. Not doing that again.

So I've lost my calluses on my fingertips from years of playing, which really ticks me off as I love jamming out the blues, SRV style. Well I don't know I can beat this thing or if it's something I'm going to live with the rest of my life. Well I have 2 guitars I'm building right now, one is an acoustic bass project and the other is a neck thru body strat. Gonna go ahead and finish them as my optimistic side says this is just another minor setback. I'll find a way.

Jim

[Fred]

Hello JimO   to Psoriasis Club

We have another Jim on here but he wouldn't know who SRV was even if he was to come back and slap around the face.  

Shame about your fingers, but there is hope. And I'm sure our Jim will tell you about Fumaderm (DMF) as will Caroline, Bill and a few others. I would say talk to your dermatologist about trying one of the Bio's they have given me my life back, and will have your fingers working pretty quick too. The problem with those suggestions is you won't usually get offered the bio's until all else has failed, but as it's your hands are very important to you it may be worth asking.

You've got a positive attitude and that will help, there are other things that you could try and I would say have a good look through some threads to get some ideas. But like I said all is not lost and although it may take time to find something that works for you, there are a lot of people getting sorted these days.

Failing that it's a Plectrum and Slide till you get sorted.  

As you can tell I'm the sensible one around here, and I'm sure you will like some of my posts  

Regards.

Fred  

[Caroline]

Dear Jim,

Welcome to psoriasis club.

We over here recognize your symptoms. So I think you have come to the right place, a place where there is much to learn.
Take your time to do so. Over here there are wonderful people who can give you some advice and who can talk to you.

And by all means, enjoy yourself. We don't have a guitarist yet.
Caroline

[jiml]

Hi Jim (good name by the way) a big    to the club I see you have met several members already and they have probably told you that I'm the sensible one on the forum.. Which you should find out in due course.
We are a small but happy band of sufferers that Share our experiences the highs and the lows of the disease. We are not medical professionals and we just give advice from the knowledge of sharing and from our experiences
I am lucky at the moment and have been scale free for over three years but have spent my life fighting it
You say it is mainly on your hands and feet and they have prescribed  cocortosteroid cream for you its a very strong one they have given and if that's not doing the trick ( of which I'm not that surprised) as they are not treating the cause just the visible symptom . I would be inclined to go back and say these aren't working and you need something to treat the cause ( to work on your autoimmune system) they have a varietyy of options open to them like  methotrexate which I couldn't get on with but some say it works for them or Acetretin, or cyclosporin or one of the biological treatments  there is so much they can do these days and steroids is not a good option in my opinion. Although with mild psoriasis steroid ointments like Dovobet can give quick relief. I do hope you can get some relief so you can go back to guitar playing and building ....
They say I won't know of SRV .... HUH


No to be honest Fred try's to get me onto the blues and I had to google to find who you meant  
Good luck with beating this awful unforgiving disease. You now have a bunch of sufferers to turn to anytime you want to chat or discuss how things are progressing ........ There's always an open door and usually a friendly ear although non of us are here 24 hours a day
Come back often and update us and let us know how the guitar building is going
It's good to have a guitar player on board you will have to team up with our blues singer .
Jim. L

[Kat]

Welcome Jim O!

I was put on topicals at first too. When that didn't work the dermatologist put me on light therapy and acitretin. There are many different treatments available as you'll see from other's posting but it's just a matter of finding out what works for you.

Glad to see you here, it's a nice group and if Fred and Jim are the sensible ones then I must be the sane one.

[JimO]

Thanks. Looks like I found a good place to learn and figure out how to beat this thing.

Spent a few hours reading today. Beginning to get a handle on what I'm dealing with.

[Caroline]

Hello Jim,

The other Jim mentions DMARDS to start with like methotrexate, cyclosporine and Acetretin.
Here on the forum, and Jim knows that, we are not so in favor of at least the first two of those as they are very bad for your health.
So please do prevent them.

The other logical options are dimethylfumarates and biologicals. Both attack the psoriasis there where it belongs, the immune system.
The first is more or less a DMARD, but not bad for your health. The second is targeting very specific parts of the immune system.

Cheers,
Caroline

[JimO]

So Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream is bad for me? It really hasn't done a whole lot. I'm actually getting better results from baby oil and Corona Horse ointment (from tractor supply, 40% lanolin), and have started taking vitamin D3. I may wean myself off of it, read about not stopping cold turkey and try to figure out my options. I'm supposed to wait 6 months for another appt. So far I've only seen the Physician's Assistant, unless I wanted to wait another month to get in to see the doctor. She seems knowledgeable, but I wonder...

So I'll try to pick up as much info from ya'll and then if it doesn't clear up in a month or so go back and see the doctor and really talk about my options. I am interested in "natural" remedies as I've always been the kind to heal myself rather than rely on drugs.

[Fred]

So Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream is bad for me? It really hasn't done a whole lot. I'm actually getting better results from baby oil and Corona Horse ointment (from tractor supply, 40% lanolin), and have started taking vitamin D3. I may wean myself off of it, read about not stopping cold turkey and try to figure out my options. I'm supposed to wait 6 months for another appt. So far I've only seen the Physician's Assistant, unless I wanted to wait another month to get in to see the doctor. She seems knowledgeable, but I wonder...

So I'll try to pick up as much info from ya'll and then if it doesn't clear up in a month or so go back and see the doctor and really talk about my options. I am interested in "natural" remedies as I've always been the kind to heal myself rather than rely on drugs.

I've heard Lanolin is not good though never tried it myself, have you tried a good quality Coconut Oil? I'm a big fan and use it every day see here: Coconut Oil

I'm not a believer myself in the Natural approach but there are some threads here you may find interesting: Natural Treatments For Psoriasis

Also this thread may help Vitamin D the natural way.

[THE GRAND WIZARD]

Hi Jim,

Welcome aboard.

My advice is to avoid Methotrexate if you possibly can. There are much better alternatives out there in the form of the newer biologics. Unfortunately, here in the UK, the biologics are only prescribed when the first line therapies like Methotrexate fail the patient. I notice that you are based in Georgia, so your medical journey may offer a different route(s).

The Grand Wizard