What a wonderful site for all searching for support in living with psoriasis. Of my four amazing children, two have guttate; daughter, 29, controls with diet and I am here to tell you it has made the biggest difference, while my son at 21, and in college, has just been dealing with first major flare(well almost for a year and a half now). 29 year old daughter has had psoriasis since 2nd grade, following strep, and son has had since 15, ninth grade, but just on scalp, forehead and around ears. My mother's brother, no longer with us in the physical sense, is only other family member so I'm told. Although I've read lots of messages here and attended Capitol Hill day, this is my first time to write.(sorry for rambling) I've been moved to write to seek info @ a visit to the Dead Sea. All of us worry about pharmaceuticals(sp?) and rebound, side effect...but my son doesn't seem to feel diet, at this point, is his avenue of choice....so hoping light box or some other miracle like Dead Sea would benefit. Thanks for input and i'll now be a regular, maybe together we can all support one another. Praying and working for cure and sending good energy

Hi Bsavanigilbert,
Welcome to the Board! :cool: Nice to meet you. We've must have met at Capital Hill Day, but I'm drawing a blank at the moment! :o Please forgive me. Hopefully you'll be joining us again this year.
Mickels413 went to the Dead Sea earlier this year. She describes her experience in this thread: .
Rhonda (gumbygirl) usually goes to the Dead Sea every year. It's the one thing that clears her. (I saw her when she came back in November of last year. All I can say is WOW!!!) She discusses the Dead Sea experience in this thread: .
Joyce (JSimantov) has family in Israel and sometimes goes to the Dead Sea while visting her family. Here's a link to a thread where she discusses her experience: .
Paul (mattellie) is a frequent visitor to the Dead Sea. Here's a link to one of the posts where he discusses his experience: .
Dead Sea is just one of many treatment options that are available to us. A lot of people who post here go for UVB treatments. Going for UVB treatments can be a pain because your son would have to go three times a week for several months for treatment. You may also run into insurance issues. (The NPF has an insurance advocacy service that goes to bat for people who are having insurance issues.) Not everyone responds well to UVB treatments (some people have been burned by them) but they can be a very safe and effective treatment option. Home units are also available and may be covered by insurance. Not everyone responds well to UVB treatments, so most doctors and insurance companies generally insist that patients undergo their initial UVB treatments at a doctors office. Some people who post here have been able to waive that requirement and have been able to get a home unit covered by insurance without have to receive their initial treatments at a doctor's office.
I hope this helps.
Good luck. Keep us posted and please don't be a stranger.
Mike

hi bsavanigilbert,
sorry i can't help but welcome to the p family. you have met some of the wonderful people on here and will find alot of great info. welcome and nice to meet you. i wish i could help some
have good night all
richard

MikeK...such a big help...thanks tons. I'm not sure if this is the only way to respond or how best to use this site, so excuse me as I fumble through. At 50 some, i'm timid to try tecnology's tools but love when i figure something out! My son is so tech tight, but I'm still trying to get him to try the site. Anyway, I was on Capitol Hill last year and live in PA, so those were the offices I visited. This year, schedules conflicted; sorry to have missed. The thought of finding a cure is so very exciting, and doable, and after so many years of dealing with this cream and that drug, and worry of strep, or my teens' feelings, long due. But in the big scheme of things, there are far more serious agendas with which one could have to deal. Not sure whose writings I've read, but so much good stuff on guttate and interesting tidbits about changing the balance of bacteria on your face, which applies to my son. Have a great afternoon...it is lovely in PA today..even though season change wrecks havoc with p.

Hi Bsavanigilbert,
My daughter, 12, has been dealing with psoriasis for about a year and a half. She is clear now (just has a few spots on her scalp), but with winter around the corner I am checking her more often. We tried many alternative therapies, and she finally got clear last spring using a combination of narrowband UVB and a coal tar/steroid regimen. She hasn't been on that regimen since June.
Can you tell me exactly how your 29-year-old daughter controls her psoriasis through diet? I am very interested as we've tried to go this route with my daughter; she has had food allergy testing and maybe it's just too early to tell if it's helping. Thanks for any info.
Katy

I read somewhere that there is a place in Canada that is alot like the Dead Sea... I wish I could remember where I saw this. Maybe it was in the "it worked for me" section of the NPF web site, but you'd have to scroll through a few stories to find it. This place is good becuase it can cost a lot less.
Another alternative that some people do is bathe in dead sea salt or epsome salt a couple of times a week. I have read that bathing in these salts help detox the body, but it also helps soften any tough p lesions. I will use a sea salt scrub on my son's p spots occasionally, let him sit in the bath water while he plays (we also have a water softener which uses salt) and then I apply any medications just after. He's 7.
Welcome to the group. You will find good information and great friends here.

This link shows many climatotherepy options, FYI. Just was curious about this sea in Canada, which is actually a lake, and didn't realize there were others.

my daughter finds eating organic, no preservative, limited meat(she was a vegetarian, however newly pregnant,and now eating free range poultry) very helpful. it can be pricey, but she believes less so in the long run. my son, on the other hand, eating on college campus and not willing to make those changes(yet!) has been trying the medical route. yesterday, being one of the worst days in my life, as he had an appointment that I went along to inquire about a home light box. the doctor suggested trying to pop some cortisone and novacaine or lidocaine? right into some of the spots on his forearm. my son agreed and after got up to leave, felt sick at his stomach, passed out, and seemed to convulse somewhat...i'm still shaking...anyway about four minutes later, he seemed ok, then came home with me to spend the day. wow, it seems as though,even though the appt was at noon, my son did not eat, so i'm praying that's all it was, but my heart really needs to rest. maybe he'll see the advantage of no quick fixes, but lifestyle changes. he is so bright and says people had p before presevatives in food, yada,yada. hope this helps with your daughter. by the way, pregnant, my daughter is totally clear, unbelievable..even scalp.

Hey - Are you the pretty blonde woman that comes to CHD and the conference with her husband? If so, I think I know you!!!
I am the Dead Sea's biggest fan and would LOVE to answer any questions that you have about it. I did write a detailed post in the past which Mike posted that gives some info about it.
The first time I went, it changed my life forever. I try to back go every 1.5 years. If not for the healing (which works), for the wonderful people, and relaxation.
I'd love to talk to you and tell you everything I know about the Dead Sea. PM me your phone number (or I can send you mine) and give you all of the info you may need.
It is a majical place and worth every penny!!!

Every year I visit the dead sea for getting rid of my pso.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~grtoost/verslag/index.htm
At this address you can find pictures and my story.
Unfortunately all is in duch.
Maybe there is anyone that can help to translate into english for my english is not so very good.
Here you can find my homepage:
http://home.hetnet.nl/~doost01/index.html
Pieter