Re: to orin

[Guest guest]

Hi Orin

Thanks for the humor this morning. I think from now on we call you Mr. Salty

(lol).

By the way, saw my rheumatologist yesterday and for the time being she thinks

the Azulfidene is definitely doing something but only wants to increase the

dose. Also, she wants me to wear a support on my elbow. My PA seems to

manifest itself more into chronic tendonitis.

She was in awe that my nails reattached after about 30 years of being bad.

Still look funny underneath, but definitely attached and they don't even hurt

or fall off when I bang a finger. It used to be terrible pain.

She really wants to watch this nail thing. She has never had a patient that

the nail have reattached.

Thank goodness I have a doctor that so nice and caring.

Feel better and take care

Barb

[Guest guest]

Hi Soudi I apologize for being so late in responding.

I couldnt begin to list all the resources that I have used over the years to

come to whatever understanding I have of how the human body works. I would say

it all started with a set of 1965 WorldBook Encyclopedias LOL

I have always been fascinated by how life in general perpetuates but

particularly the human body and since psoriasis visited itself upon me that

natural

curiosity became focused.

I have studied, to one extent or another, every conceivable angle on what

might be causing psoriasis, what might be remotely related or what other subtle

symptoms tend to show up with the more obvious ones. Yet with the thousands of

hours I have invested in studying psoriasis, for each answer I have found

there were 40 more questions. Nobody yet understands THE cause, and there is

much

disagreement on true contributing factors.

One of the more commonly cited contributing factors is diet. I suppose that

is the logical starting point because most of us believe something to the

effect of " you are what you eat " but my own trials with dietary modification and

accounts from others who have tried to combat the symptoms of psoriasis via

dietary measures alone for most have been less than fully successful. I have

convinced myself however that you can improve your situation through diet.

As another member recently posted, anything that upsets your system can cause

a worsening of psoriasis, especially if that something involves irritation of

the skin. So a psoriatic might do well to identify substances that they are

allergic or even just sensitive to. I dont think that avoidance of allergens

could ever be considered a cure for psoriasis but it might prevent worsening of

the condition or failure of pharmaceutical attempts at treatment.

Here's something that most people dont realise that I would have you

consider; The inside of the digestive system is actually outside the body. All

the way

from the mouth to the other end is lined with various types of specialized

skin which acts as a barrier between the outside world and the inside world of

your body, designed to control what is absorbed and what is secreted. It seems

perfectly logical to me that if you have spots of externally visible skin that

are malformed and represent a comprimised barrier that the same situation

could be occuring on the skin of the stomach lining, the small intestine or

colon. Bear that in mind when you consider the shortened villi in the small

intestine of psoriatics or if you peruse the idea of " leaky gut syndrome "

Perhaps

those observations are just other symptoms of psoriasis rather than causative

factors.

I just got back from a week doing quite physical work outside in the freezing

cold deserts of the Southwest U.S. From prior experiences I knew this to be

the worst case scenario for my skin. I happened to take notice one morning as

we headed out to work just before sunup, the temperature was 17F and 17%

humidity and we were at about 5000 feet above sea level. Thank God for Vaseline

and Bextra. Ya I know, I know there is increased risk for heart problems with

Bextra but I would have been forced by my right shoulder to just quit by the

third day without it. Electing to take 10mg per day was a well understood and

calculated risk.

The latter part of the trip had us in El Paso Texas, right on the U.S./Mexico

border. Seeing my bootlegged supply of Bextra being rapidly depleted with no

clear means to replenish it I got on the internet at the hotel we were staying

at to look up pharmacies in Mexico that will allow you to purchase many drugs

OTC that would require a prescription in the US and for those that do require

a prescription in Mexico the Farmacia will refer you to a doctor nearby to

verify your condition and write the script for a charge that is very modest

relative to US prices. Well I chickened out on going across the border into

Ciudad Juarez alone and at night and those I work with questioned the wisdom of

" self prescribing " and/or trusting the judgement of Mexican healthcare

Professionals so I didnt get to go.

I sit here staring at an empty tube of betamethasone dipropionate thinking

about the fact that it costed more to get that US doctor who looked at me for 5

seconds to write the script than it did to fill the script. Orin

In a message dated 12/4/05 8:58:51 PM Central Standard Time,

rahaee@... writes:

I am

very interested to know where you get this information about digestive

system I really appreciate if you let me know your resources. Thank you

Soudi

[Guest guest]

Orin,

What type of shoulder problems are you having? I too am having

a right shoulder problem. It started with numbness in my right two

middle finger tips. The numbness comes and goes. Sometimes my

right index finger is numb too. Then I realized my right shoulder hurt.

This disease throws us a curve every now and then. I guess it's a

reminder for the blessings of being pain free when we aren't having a

flare. That's the trouble, I'm in the middle of a flare now. Then

everything hurts.

Thanks for letting me vent!!

Rhonda

-- Re: [ ] To Orin

Hi Soudi I apologize for being so late in responding.

I couldnt begin to list all the resources that I have used over the years to

come to whatever understanding I have of how the human body works. I would

say

it all started with a set of 1965 WorldBook Encyclopedias LOL

I have always been fascinated by how life in general perpetuates but

particularly the human body and since psoriasis visited itself upon me that

natural

curiosity became focused.

I have studied, to one extent or another, every conceivable angle on what

might be causing psoriasis, what might be remotely related or what other

subtle

symptoms tend to show up with the more obvious ones. Yet with the thousands

of

hours I have invested in studying psoriasis, for each answer I have found

there were 40 more questions. Nobody yet understands THE cause, and there

is much

disagreement on true contributing factors.

One of the more commonly cited contributing factors is diet. I suppose that

is the logical starting point because most of us believe something to the

effect of " you are what you eat " but my own trials with dietary modification

and

accounts from others who have tried to combat the symptoms of psoriasis via

dietary measures alone for most have been less than fully successful. I have

convinced myself however that you can improve your situation through diet.

As another member recently posted, anything that upsets your system can

cause

a worsening of psoriasis, especially if that something involves irritation

of

the skin. So a psoriatic might do well to identify substances that they are

allergic or even just sensitive to. I dont think that avoidance of

allergens

could ever be considered a cure for psoriasis but it might prevent worsening

of

the condition or failure of pharmaceutical attempts at treatment.

Here's something that most people dont realise that I would have you

consider; The inside of the digestive system is actually outside the body.

All the way

from the mouth to the other end is lined with various types of specialized

skin which acts as a barrier between the outside world and the inside world

of

your body, designed to control what is absorbed and what is secreted. It

seems

perfectly logical to me that if you have spots of externally visible skin

that

are malformed and represent a comprimised barrier that the same situation

could be occuring on the skin of the stomach lining, the small intestine or

colon. Bear that in mind when you consider the shortened villi in the small

intestine of psoriatics or if you peruse the idea of " leaky gut syndrome "

Perhaps

those observations are just other symptoms of psoriasis rather than

causative

factors.

I just got back from a week doing quite physical work outside in the

freezing

cold deserts of the Southwest U.S. From prior experiences I knew this to be

the worst case scenario for my skin. I happened to take notice one morning

as

we headed out to work just before sunup, the temperature was 17F and 17%

humidity and we were at about 5000 feet above sea level. Thank God for

Vaseline

and Bextra. Ya I know, I know there is increased risk for heart problems

with

Bextra but I would have been forced by my right shoulder to just quit by the

third day without it. Electing to take 10mg per day was a well understood

and

calculated risk.

The latter part of the trip had us in El Paso Texas, right on the U.S

/Mexico

border. Seeing my bootlegged supply of Bextra being rapidly depleted with no

clear means to replenish it I got on the internet at the hotel we were

staying

at to look up pharmacies in Mexico that will allow you to purchase many

drugs

OTC that would require a prescription in the US and for those that do

require

a prescription in Mexico the Farmacia will refer you to a doctor nearby to

verify your condition and write the script for a charge that is very modest

relative to US prices. Well I chickened out on going across the border into

Ciudad Juarez alone and at night and those I work with questioned the wisdom

of

" self prescribing " and/or trusting the judgement of Mexican healthcare

Professionals so I didnt get to go.

I sit here staring at an empty tube of betamethasone dipropionate thinking

about the fact that it costed more to get that US doctor who looked at me

for 5

seconds to write the script than it did to fill the script. Orin