Well, some good news–finally! My inner thigh “rash” has gone through a noticeable change. I kept wondering why my entire body was almost free from psoriasis except these few small areas. And they were stubbornly hanging on. And they felt hot (not itchy). And the spots were raised and red.
A. One night, in frustration, I went to the pharmacy and bought Extra Strength Allergy Relief (non-drowsy). Contents: Cetirizine Hydrochloride tablets 10 mg. If they were non-drowsy I’ll eat my hat because I slept for 10 hours and woke up feeling like a zombie. But my skin looked a bit better.
I decided to split the pills in half and take one half earlier in the day and the second half later. It didn’t work as well. I went back to a full tablet at 9pm. By the fourth day my skin was looking much better. And I wasn’t a zombie.
That gave me a few questions.
- Was this actually psoriasis? (I think it is)
- Could this type of allergy pill improve psoriasis? (I’m not sure)
My dermatologist (in 2014 when I had the major flare) said that antihistamines would not help with itching. He was wrong. Because in desperation I had bought some and the itching was relieved.
B. Then (another example of “dumb luck”)– I was walking my dog, Lucky, and we ran into a woman who asked me about the dog and we got to talking. It turns out that she’s a naturopath. I showed her the much-reduced rash and where it was (lower inner thigh, inner arm by elbow) and she immediately recognized it as a “lymphatic problem“.
She told me to get a lymphatic flush tincture (which I did) and I googled natural ways to improve lymph. Here are some of the suggestions:
- yoga shoulder stand or feet up against a wall (higher than the head)
- water with lemon or lime (in the morning, or sip all day)
- a tea with red clover and cleavers (I had some)
- raw foods
- wireless bra (or not too tight around the body)
- yoga exercises
- dry brushing (I tried that but it irritated my spots, so I avoid those areas)
- lymphatic massage (found some youtube examples-easy to do)
So I added these to my regimen. I’ll keep you posted on results.
C. I found out that you can drink lots of water but you may only actually absorb 10%. So I wrapped a damp chamois (fake ones-you can find them at any place that sells stuff for cars) over the spots and slept with them on. My skin was less red and raised the next morning.
D. My neighbor told me that he used to work with water heaters back East and that the problem there was that the water was high in calcium (the devil for psoriasis sufferers). Now, here on the West Coast our water is “soft” but for people on the East Coast (or those who know that they have “hard water”) it might be helpful to drink bottled water or distilled water when having a flare. Just a thought.
See, you never know what’s going to work. Doctors aren’t trained in much beside the allopathic remedies–tar, anthralin, UVB, methotrexate, biologics, etc. And pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in keeping us in the dark about natural remedies (bottom line=money).
The good news about being my own lab rat is that I can see, almost immediately, if something is making my skin better or worse. Most research people don’t have that advantage.
So, it has been a busy time here in the Dakota Psoriasis Lab and I’m constantly learning something new–and hopefully helpful to some of you who may be having a flare or feeling desperate. My goal is to, jokingly, “heal the world of psoriasis, one flake at a time”:)
I hope this heat wave is not causing you too much grief and that your skin is getting better by the day, week, or month. We shall overcome!
Much love,
Dakota, Lucky and Charlie, too.
Someone said that Lucky looked like a Pansy and, judging by the photo…It’s true!:)
I am interested to know what kind / brand of Lymph Flush Tincture you purchased. Thank you!
Hi: I got St. Francis, Laprinol, Lymphatic Congestion tincture. You can find it on line. If you’re in Canada, some health food stores carry it (Whole Foods is where I got mine). But I don’t think the U.S.Whole Foods carries it.