Jty......about Psoriasis

[BEG]

I decided to post this in the forum instead of sending you a PM because it may help someone else who may read this.

I went to my rheumatologist appointment on friday and found out I was really low in Vitamin D.  My level was at about 13 or 14 (it was between the two) and it is suppose to be between 20-30.  I found out that Vitamin D deficiency is connected to auto-immune diseases and one of the disease it names specifically is Psoriasis.  It is also connected to my dry eyes and dry mouth thing I have going on.  I think you should have your doctor check your vitamin d levels the next time you are there.  My doctor prescribed a prescription strength vitamin d supplement that I take once a week (50,000 IU).  Anyway, I thought I would let you know and also, when you have a little time, read this article about vitamin d deficiency.  The info on psoriasis is on page two I believe.


Edited to add: I have been googling vitamin d and found other sites that say 50 is the target level for vitamin D.  

[Chris]

I developed a rash on my face after I started taking Loratadine (generic Claratin) for allergies.  I have a nasty red rash on my face and flaking skin around my mouth.  It's awful; I look terrible and its embarrassing. 

I stopped taking the Loratadine a couple days ago and my skin seems to have cleared up a bit.  I don't know if its related... I'm just putting that out there.

[jtyangel]

BEG, thx for this info and it makes sense since my psoriasis subsides quite a bit during the summer when I go out in the sun(a natural source of Vitamin D). It has worsened since I've moved to Ohio and also after all of my pregnancies. Giving what you have put out there, it would make sense on both of those fronts since not only do I have less opportunity for direct exposure to the sunlight in the midwest on a regular basis, but since Vitamin D is a part of healthy bone development, it may have become depleted after each pregnancy and never quite been replenished--perhaps it can't be without the massive amounts of Vit. D you mentioned(for some people).

I will look into this and I really thank you for this info! 

[bkg]

I have Psoriasis - minor case - and it sucks. I OD on vitamine D for other reasons during the Winter months, but good to know there's a link!

[BEG]

BEG, thx for this info and it makes sense since my psoriasis subsides quite a bit during the summer when I go out in the sun(a natural source of Vitamin D). It has worsened since I've moved to Ohio and also after all of my pregnancies. Giving what you have put out there, it would make sense on both of those fronts since not only do I have less opportunity for direct exposure to the sunlight in the midwest on a regular basis, but since Vitamin D is a part of healthy bone development, it may have become depleted after each pregnancy and never quite been replenished--perhaps it can't be without the massive amounts of Vit. D you mentioned(for some people).

I will look into this and I really thank you for this info! 

Apparently the vitamin D producing rays are the UVB rays and because we use so much sunscreen these days it has caused a lot of Vitamin D deficiencies.  It is also hard to get enough vitamin D from food.  I never realized  how important Vitamin D was.  I have basically avoided the sun for over a year because of the UVeitis thing and then I was put on Doxycycline because my eye doctor thought I had Ocular Rosacea (which my new eye doctor doesn't think I have) and you have to stay out of the sun while taking it.  Also I saw another doctor last year who DRILLED into me how important it was to stay out of the sun for the sake of my skin.  I stopped the Doxy about two months ago and now since my rheumatologist said a little sun is actually good for you I'm good to go with the sun.  I'm going to work on getting a little color (not over board) as I have been looking quite anemic for the past year because of absolutely no sun exposure at all so I need a little color. 

[BEG]

I have Psoriasis - minor case - and it sucks. I OD on vitamine D for other reasons during the Winter months, but good to know there's a link!

Why do you OD on vitamin D during the winter months?  Because of "SAD"?

[IassaFTots]

Thanks for posting this BEG.  I have an auto-immune too~  Chronic auto-immune Urticaria.  I take H1 and H2 antihistimines in the summer, and only one in winter.  

Chris, you very well could be allergic to the loratadine, and perhaps the generic at any rate.

[BEG]

Thanks for posting this BEG.  I have an auto-immune too~  Chronic auto-immune Urticaria.  I take H1 and H2 antihistimines in the summer, and only one in winter.  

Chris, you very well could be allergic to the loratadine, and perhaps the generic at any rate.

What is Urticaria?

Here is my list of auto-immune ailments:

Takayasu's Arteritis
UVeitis
reactive arthritis
dry eye/mouth probably sojourners syndrome

[IassaFTots]

Urticaria~ Big ole honking rash.  Looks like I have been whipped.  And/or that I have a major case of ringworm.  I have combined pressure/heat/stress urticaria, which basically means, if I have any of the above, I will rash out.  I can't wear rings, because of the pressure, same with tight fitting clothes.  Pantyhose?  Not in several years, but that wasn't a hardship. 

Can't dye my hair, even with the holistic yada yada from Whole Foods, because the dye makes my head look like a klingon.  If I drive for too long, or wear high heeled shoes, that put pressure in different pressure points, or use a mouse for too long, I develop hives under my skin, that basically feels like golf balls have been implanted in my hands or feet.

The antihistamines help.  I will pretty much do whatever I can to avoid the steroids.  Which, are the primary medication for this stuff.  Yippideedoodah.

[BEG]

Urticaria~ Big ole honking rash.  Looks like I have been whipped.  And/or that I have a major case of ringworm.  I have combined pressure/heat/stress urticaria, which basically means, if I have any of the above, I will rash out.  I can't wear rings, because of the pressure, same with tight fitting clothes.  Pantyhose?  Not in several years, but that wasn't a hardship. 

Can't dye my hair, even with the holistic yada yada from Whole Foods, because the dye makes my head look like a klingon.  If I drive for too long, or wear high heeled shoes, that put pressure in different pressure points, or use a mouse for too long, I develop hives under my skin, that basically feels like golf balls have been implanted in my hands or feet.

The antihistamines help.  I will pretty much do whatever I can to avoid the steroids.  Which, are the primary medication for this stuff.  Yippideedoodah.

when I was diagnosed with Takayasu's I was put on high dose prednisone. I was on varying doses for about 10 years so I know of the suckness that is prednisone. Hold off as long as you can before you even think of using it. Of couse if you end up having to take it then take it. It saved my life.

[IassaFTots]

when I was diagnosed with Takayasu's I was put on high dose prednisone. I was on varying doses for about 10 years so I know of the suckness that is prednisone. Hold off as long as you can before you even think of using it. Of couse if you end up having to take it then take it. It saved my life.

At my first onset, which was about 4 years ago, they gave me prednisone, then I got it under control with the antihistamines.  THEN I swelled up my head, to the point my eyes nearly swelled shut, and I got a medrol dose pack.  Thankfully, I haven't needed any in the last 3 years, and I hope to keep it that way.  That stuff makes me very mean.  My biggest suckness is that I can't wear rings, or color my hair, which means I look like I have dirty hair all the time~  Natural is brown with a signficant amount of grey. 

Not really all that much to complain about, all things considered.

[vesta111]

At my first onset, which was about 4 years ago, they gave me prednisone, then I got it under control with the antihistamines.  THEN I swelled up my head, to the point my eyes nearly swelled shut, and I got a medrol dose pack.  Thankfully, I haven't needed any in the last 3 years, and I hope to keep it that way.  That stuff makes me very mean.  My biggest suckness is that I can't wear rings, or color my hair, which means I look like I have dirty hair all the time~  Natural is brown with a signficant amount of grey. 

Not really all that much to complain about, all things considered.

Well now what a surprise to read this.

Perhaps I belong to the club as my blood tests also showed extremely low D.

I do not have any rash but I believe I will take a gander at the Auto immune page

A huge thank you for this topic.

[BEG]

Found another reason to take Vitamin D.....

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/doctors-start-to-include-vitamin-d-in-fight-against-cancer/article1352956/


Doctors start to include vitamin D in fight against cancer
The Globe and Mail ^ | Nov. 06, 2009 | Martin Mittelstaedt
Posted on November 8, 2009 7:29:05 PM CST by neverdem

With new studies showing the sun vitamin may slow come cancers, some physicians are eager to add it to treatment programs

Responding to research indicating that vitamin D may slow the progression of breast, colon and other common cancers, some doctors have begun adding the supplement to their tool kit of cancer therapies alongside more conventional treatments such as radiation, surgery and chemotherapy.

While not all physicians are convinced the evidence is strong enough to warrant taking an extra dollop of the sunshine vitamin, those recommending the course say popping the pills is a simple health strategy that has few, if any, risks and has the added benefit of also improving bone health in those with cancer.

“There is emerging data on breast cancer recurrence rates and vitamin D levels that are quite compelling,” says Tracey O'Connor, an oncologist at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo who treats breast cancer and is having her patients take the vitamin.

Giving vitamin D as part of a treatment program for cancer is still relatively new in the medical community, and Roswell Park is one of the first major cancer institutions in North America to have a number of doctors investigating whether wider use of the nutrient may make a difference in the outcome of the disease.

Speaking at a conference this week in Toronto, Dr. O'Connor outlined a protocol she is using for vitamin D in breast-cancer treatment. It involves giving high doses of the supplement to the most deficient patients immediately after they are diagnosed to quickly raise blood levels of the nutrient.

Dr. O'Connor says that having a low level of vitamin D “is quite common” among women with breast cancer, and most patients, typically about 80 per cent, are either deficient or have insufficient amounts.

*more at the link

[Eupher]

The Vitamin D thing has become the physician's answer to 95% of the world's problems.

I went to the doc and he told me, literally, that my Vitamin D levels "suck". When I told him how often I'm in the sun, he laughed. He told me that he has patients who are snowbirds in Florida, that they come back damned near black from the sun, and their D levels "suck."

My problem was fever blisters. I was getting them just about constantly. He put me on 15,000 units of D per day for about six weeks, then I cut back to about 5,000 per day.

Since that time - NOT ONE fever blister.

Now if I could do something about the neurodermatitis I was diagnosed with, I'd be in good shape. Constant itching on as many as a half-dozen patches of skin.

It's the kind of itching that is never relieved, except through some high-powered steroids.

No wonder I'm a raving lunatic.....

[Thor]

I've been using Vitamin D as a pain killer/ reliever. I stumbled across an article in the VFW Magazine that was about how the VA was using Vitamin D for chronic pain. I figured little loss if I tried it. It seems to work for me. I don't get rashes much unless I am really sick. I've developed allergies since my return from Desert Storm.

[bkg]

Why do you OD on vitamin D during the winter months?  Because of "SAD"?

SAD and the fact that my psoriasis is worse in the Winter. Seems to help... some.