alcohol and psoriasis

[ele07]

Hi! Am new and appreciative of finding this site via google.
Think I am lucky to have only lived with psoriasis since I turned 40, am 44. It coincided with job difficulties and heavy drinking. I have it on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet, also my lower legs. A week ago the scales which often split turned into puss blisters and my diagnosis is now palmer-plantar pustular psoriasis, I was still prescribed dovobet. I had to go a walk in clinic rather than my GP. My  knuckles are alsoswollen.
Previously I have pretty much used under foot blisters to ease the pain of the cracks on my feet, which helped. But this time when I changed the blisters to keep them clean, the skin peeled off too leaving raw soles and making it impossible to walk on one foot and painful on the other. Does anyone have any suggestions how I might relieve this pain. Am used to thick scales with cracks, not large patches of raw skin?
Also has anyone's psoriasis disappeared when they have stopped heavy drinking (and not come back)?
Excuse  me for asking questions on my very first post.
Hope this finds a lot of you well and coping.
Kind  regards

[Fred]

Hello ele07   to Psoriasis Club.

We're appreciative of you too for joining in and sharing, but please don't be concerned about asking questions it's what it's all about.

I cant help in your question about how to relieve the pain of palmoplantar pustular psoriasis, but I will have a word with Brighteyes as she may have some tips that could help. But for the moment you can read here thread here: Back Into Hell

As for the question about alcohol, I have given it up a few times to see if it made any difference and I'm currently cutting back again. But to be honest although they say it has an effect on psoriasis I'm not convinced, it has made no difference to me as it didn't with giving up smoking.

I have a different thought on alcohol and psoriasis compared to the professionals, my theory is if you are enjoying alcohol and know your limits then it can't be hurting. I know if I have a drink it makes me feel better, and the professionals have not tried living with the pain of both the physical and mental effects that psoriasis can cause and if a drink helps then what the hell life is to short.

That's just my opinion and I'm sure others will have more information and will respond soon, until then please feel free to have a prod around and just dive on in. You will find us a small but friendly group.

Regards.

Fred.

[Grizzly Bear]

Ele.

I'm afraid i can't help you with the pussy part of your P problem, someone on here might be able to help or advise but i can say that the P part, 99.9% of us on here have so we will try to help.

I use a wire brush & bleach for my P !!!!!



I'm the one with common sense on here, all the others are daft as brushes, paint brushes that is !

Happy scratching Ele



Have fun on here Ele



GB

[ele07]

Hello ele07   to Psoriasis Club.

We're appreciative of you too for joining in and sharing, but please don't be concerned about asking questions it's what it's all about.

I cant help in your question about how to relieve the pain of palmoplantar pustular psoriasis, but I will have a word with Brighteyes as she may have some tips that could help. But for the moment you can read here thread here: Back Into Hell

As for the question about alcohol, I have given it up a few times to see if it made any difference and I'm currently cutting back again. But to be honest although they say it has an effect on psoriasis I'm not convinced, it has made no difference to me as it didn't with giving up smoking.

I have a different thought on alcohol and psoriasis compared to the professionals, my theory is if you are enjoying alcohol and know your limits then it can't be hurting. I know if I have a drink it makes me feel better, and the professionals have not tried living with the pain of both the physical and mental effects that psoriasis can cause and if a drink helps then what the hell life is to short.

That's just my opinion and I'm sure others will have more information and will respond soon, until then please feel free to have a prod around and just dive on in. You will find us a small but friendly group.

Regards.

Fred.

Cheers Fred for your prompt reply and the link to 'Back to Hell', sounds really horrendous x100. Good to jot down meds and look up. Yep alcohol does help my frame of mind and is better than stop itch remedies for time. When the itching got crazy I'd often have a drink or 3.
Once again for thanks for the welcome!

[ele07]

Ele.

I'm afraid i can't help you with the pussy part of your P problem, someone on here might be able to help or advise but i can say that the P part, 99.9% of us on here have so we will try to help.

I use a wire brush & bleach for my P !!!!!



I'm the one with common sense on here, all the others are daft as brushes, paint brushes that is !

Happy scratching Ele

Cheers Grizzly, gonna keep in mind your a well of common sense. May be asking for some sage wisdom soon. Take care! Ele


Have fun on here Ele



GB

[ele07]

Ele.

I'm afraid i can't help you with the pussy part of your P problem, someone on here might be able to help or advise but i can say that the P part, 99.9% of us on here have so we will try to help.

I use a wire brush & bleach for my P !!!!!



I'm the one with common sense on here, all the others are daft as brushes, paint brushes that is !

Happy scratching Ele




Have fun on here Ele



GB

Cheers Grizzly, gonna keep in mind that you're a well of common sense. May be asking for some sage wisdom soon. Take care! Ele

[jiml]

Hi! Am new and appreciative of finding this site via google.
Think I am lucky to have only lived with psoriasis since I turned 40, am 44. It coincided with job difficulties and heavy drinking. I have it on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet, also my lower legs. A week ago the scales which often split turned into puss blisters and my diagnosis is now palmer-plantar pustular psoriasis, I was still prescribed dovobet. I had to go a walk in clinic rather than my GP. My  knuckles are alsoswollen.
Previously I have pretty much used under foot blisters to ease the pain of the cracks on my feet, which helped. But this time when I changed the blisters to keep them clean, the skin peeled off too leaving raw soles and making it impossible to walk on one foot and painful on the other. Does anyone have any suggestions how I might relieve this pain. Am used to thick scales with cracks, not large patches of raw skin?
Also has anyone's psoriasis disappeared when they have stopped heavy drinking (and not come back)?
Excuse  me for asking questions on my very first post.
Hope this finds a lot of you well and coping.
Kind  regards

Hi ele, sorry I wasn't here earlier to    welcome you but unfortunately I had to go to a wine tasting night.

Now I like the title of your thread.

I am sorry you are suffering at the moment with this awful disease, which I have persevered with since I was seventeen. I have been through most of the treatments as they became available, all with short term relief if I was lucky. Your PPP psoriasis I have never had but one psoriasis is much like another, in as far as treatment is concerned ( Im not saying yours is not worse than plaque psoriasis as I'm sure it is and painful with it )
With relation to heavy drinking and psoriasis it has never affected me I have had an overindulgence of falling down water on several occasions and it makes not a scrap of difference to my psoriasis.
It's more likely triggered by the stress of job difficulties

I'm thinking you are being let down by your doctor and you need to get a referral to a dermatologist, creams and potions are ok for mild psoriasis but what you describe sounds as if you need systemic treatment and your GP cannot prescribe those ...
So my advice would be have a drink and go and see your GP tell them that you want a referral to a dermatologist as creams have failed  ( don't take no for an answer) it's your right to be seen by a dermatologist not just a GP .
I wish you much luck and hope to see more of you on the forum ...
Ooooh and despite what anyone tells you its me not grizzly with the common sense as you will see if you venture into the off topic section  

[Kat]

Welcome! Sorry to hear you're having such problems. I agree with Jim that it sounds like you might benefit from something more than just creams. Hope you find some relief soon!

[Brighteyes]

Hi! Am new and appreciative of finding this site via google.
Think I am lucky to have only lived with psoriasis since I turned 40, am 44. It coincided with job difficulties and heavy drinking. I have it on the palms of my hands and soles of my feet, also my lower legs. A week ago the scales which often split turned into puss blisters and my diagnosis is now palmer-plantar pustular psoriasis, I was still prescribed dovobet. I had to go a walk in clinic rather than my GP. My  knuckles are alsoswollen.
Previously I have pretty much used under foot blisters to ease the pain of the cracks on my feet, which helped. But this time when I changed the blisters to keep them clean, the skin peeled off too leaving raw soles and making it impossible to walk on one foot and painful on the other. Does anyone have any suggestions how I might relieve this pain. Am used to thick scales with cracks, not large patches of raw skin?
Also has anyone's psoriasis disappeared when they have stopped heavy drinking (and not come back)?
Excuse  me for asking questions on my very first post.
Hope this finds a lot of you well and coping.
Kind  regards

Your post sounds very similar to my story.
I too did not have any psoriasis until March 2010 ( I was 41 at the time ).
Mine came on after a couple of years of student life ( copious amounts of alcohol + junk food), followed by marriage breakdown, followed by my new babies heart surgery, followed by two miscarriages.
I guess you could say that stress probably had a lot to do with it.
With regard to heavy drinking, I can relate. In the early days of my diagnosis (PPP), I did self- medicate....A LOT! What I have found over the years is that, whilst alcohol does numb the physical pain, it does nothing for the emotional pain.
Stopping drinking did not make my PPP go away, but it has removed a huge stress factor on my body and mind. Drinking became an emotional crutch and the downers got worse every time. I will be straight with you.....between 2010 and 2012 it was not unusual for me to drink a bottle and a half of red wine round 5 times a week.  
I still drink (Thursday nights is my chill in front of the TV evening ) but now it's like a treat to myself.
What has replaced it is reading, crafts, meditation, music, exercise, offloading here on this forum and keeping a journal.
You will see in Back Into Hell how much of a rollercoaster my own personal story has been and I still wobble, the difference is that now I get back up faster because of the coping mechanisms I now have in place.
I really hope some of this makes sense.
As for dressing raw skin......try a nice foot soak ( dead sea salts are good for this ), gently pat dry, massage with coconut oil/prescribed ointment and occlude ( wrap ) in cling film. Apply cotton or bamboo socks to really get those oils soaking in. I also pad my shoes with thick sanitary towels ( yep, you read that right ).
For my hands it's much the same for keeping clean then I apply plastic gloves and cotton gloves ( fingers cut out ). I'm sure it all sounds a bit of a kerfuffle but, over time, it become just as routine as brushing your hair.
Experiment and see what works for you.
Feel free to ask me anything, anytime.



P.S RE: The Itch.
Yes, the itch is horrendous but scratching is really bad for already raw skin. When you have your feet wrapped and covered with socks try dealing with the itch by applying pressure with your fingertips then releasing. I found that gave me relief about 80% of the time. Walking on it stops itching too.....bl**dy cruel irony though.

[Quest4Cure]

Hi,

Alcohol can be a problem when heavy drinking is involved. I am concerned about how much you drink and the long term health effects, it can cause many other serious diseases. There are many drugs on the market to help cut down the cravings for alcohol. I'm concerned that you may be dependent on alcohol. Addiction is a brain hormone controlled disease. Please see your GP to discuss your daily consumption.

I have hand and feet psoriasis which developed into psoriatic psoriasis which sounds like what you described in your fingers, it's very painful. Also there is another disease connected to psoriasis called Dupuytrens Contracture. This disease will cause the tendons to thicken with collagen made in the body to attack the tendons which will cause the fingers to curl. I am one of the lucky ones to have this link to P. as well.

Your Psoriasis is in a serious level of damage and pain to your body. Alcohol is only numbing the pain and you. You need to be free from alcohol if you qualify for medications such as, MTX or a bio drug which will clear up this debilitating disease in a short time. put it remission, as this P. waxes & wanes. There are many new drugs on the market for P. Please see a dermatologist who is familiar with the new drugs and also a rhumy for a blood test for PSA. There are so many new drugs to help block the iL-17-23 pathways that feed the Psoriasis as well as PSA and Dupurytrens. The science and studies of many new approved bio drugs have a higher level of statistics in remission for P. Than ever before.

Researchers found that the drug that directly blocks IL-17, called ixekizumab, improved psoriasis plaques by 75 percent for about 77 percent of patients at the lowest effective dose and for 82 percent patients at the highest dose after 12 weeks. Between about 38 percent and 39 percent of patients had a 100 percent improvement in lesions in that time period.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) blockers:

Cimzia (certolizumab pegol), Cosentyx (secukinumab), Enbrel (etanercept), Humira (adalimumab), Remicade (infliximab), Simponi (golimumab) and Stelara (ustekinumab) are drugs that block TNF-alpha. TNF-alpha is a cytokine, or a protein, that prompts the body to create inflammation. In psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis, there is excess production of TNF-alpha in the skin or joints. That leads to the rapid growth of skin cells and/or damage to joint tissue. Blocking TNF-alpha production helps stop the inflammatory cycle of psoriatic disease.
This has also just recently been concluded thru clinical studies that Dupuytrens Contracture also is connected to patients with psoriasis.

There are many good medical links online for you to study this disease and the new drugs recommended for P.
I feel your pain, & I sympathize wih the frustration of docs and meds! Been there many times. I also have Dupuytrens contracture and hoping to keep it under control. All these are connected to bones, joints and skin thru Psoriasis a autoimmune disease there is no cure.
This disease is more than skin deep. There are many new drugs to get you back on your feet literally.

There is also sunshine a valuable factor for clearing P. Sitting in sunshine early am or after the hottest part of the day helps the skin produce vit-D3 ,there is a chart for the length of time it takes for the body to produce a sufficient amount of vit D-3. See online google. Never burn, or a take the Vit-D supplement. There is also light UVB treatment or laser treatments available thru your derm. I won't get started on Topical treatments as I'm sure your familiar with all those.

If you need more info for treatment or doctors please consult your physicians speciality directory in your area.

to the forum . There is a great group of friends here. A lot of experience to share and hopefully get you back walking and finding that life is better once P. can be put in remission.

YIKES this got too long... I wii conclude that sometimes it's better to quit while your ahead. I'm done....