fish oil - how much!

[elgrande]

Hey guys

I'm a big fan of fish oil as I do feel it helps in the overall management of P aside from all the other health benefits. I've never been that sure about proper dosage though although I have experimented with this a bit. Currently I'm taking 3 x 1000mg gel caps however I've read about people taking as many as 9 a day (9000mg) for their P. Interested in hearing your experiences or thoughts on the subject including dosages etc.

Thanks

[Hanna]

Hey guys

I'm a big fan of fish oil as I do feel it helps in the overall management of P aside from all the other health benefits. I've never been that sure about proper dosage though although I have experimented with this a bit. Currently I'm taking 3 x 1000mg gel caps however I've read about people taking as many as 9 a day (9000mg) for their P. Interested in hearing your experiences or thoughts on the subject including dosages etc.

Thanks

I read in a book that what you are looking out for is the highest amount of EPA from your fish oil.....so you could get one 1000mg tab that has less EPA than another.
I bought high strength high omega 3 1000mg with the highest EPA and DPA from holland and barrett, i take 2 in the morning one at lunch and 1 0r 2 in the eve depending on my mood and what i've eaten. I will also take a 1000mg flaxseed oil and a one a day veggie omega 3 tablet!!
Also trying to increase the amount of fish I eat!!

x

[elgrande]

Thanks. What is the difference between EPA and DPA and why is better to take higher EPA? Answers on a postcard!

[Eveloftus]

hi elgrande, EPA and DHA are 2 fatty acids found in fish oil, they are supposed to vary slightly in how they affect us, EPA is more for the heart, skin and DHA more used by the brain. It seems EPA is the one we psoriatics need the most. Some supplements concentrate EPA more than DHA, so in theory may be better for psoriatics. 

[wexfordfox]

I take a teaspoon of 'extra strength' cod liver oil (has no vitamin A) every AM and a half teaspoon every PM unless I eat fish that evening.

The extra strength refers to the extra omega 3s i.e EPA/DHA.

[elgrande]

Interesting article - You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login

[Spotted_owl]

HI.  New here, but I take a combination fish oil, flaxseed oil, borage oil in a 1 gr gelcap twice a day, evening primrose oil in a 1 gr gelcap twice a day, and milk thistle in a 1 gr cap twice a day.  Along with 2000 units of vit d3 twice a day.  At night I have been taking 1 tab of allegra 180.

I have had psoriasis in a mild form for years.  This last year I had a huge blow up.  70% of my skin, about half in plaque type and half in erythro-dermic, plus hands and feet.  After a month on the above, the erythro is gone and the plaque is slowly fading.  Right now the plaque lesions look like faded pink flowers in an abstract painting.  The thick skin on my feet is sloughing off and my hands are very near normal.

The oils are high in omega 3,6,9.  Both oils contain epa and dha.  The milk thistle both improves liver function as well as has been indicated to help with t-cell moderation.  Both the milk thistle and the oils are reported to have some tnfa moderation as well.

This combination has been little short of a miracle for me.  I wanted to avoid metho trexate or steroids so I searched for every possible answer.  Anyone who wants, I will give a list of the databases I went through to find the above.  All do have at least a few studies to show their effectiveness.

It works.

[Spotted_owl]

I decided to post some links that lead me to begin the regimen that worked for me.

Regarding the anti-inflammatory properties of the omega oils:

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Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Inflammation and Autoimmune Diseases

This is a very informative article from the American Journal of the College of Nutrition.  It is not terribly difficult to read and carries a lot of very good information.  It primarily concerns the effects of Omega 3, but it does go into detail about the mechanics of why Fatty acids helps deal with inflammation.

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Omega-3 fatty acid-based lipid infusion in patients with chronic plaque psoriasis: results of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial.

This is an abstract from the NIH med pub database.  The article describes a study of injected fatty acid based lipids and the effect on psoriasis. 

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Study on the use of omega-3 fatty acids as a therapeutic supplement in treatment of psoriasis

This article describes a study in which Oravex was given as an adjuct to tacalcitol topical treatment.  The result is that those taking oravex showed more improvement over tacalcitol alone.

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The effect of dietary supplementation with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids on the synthesis of interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor by mononuclear cells.

This article details a study of the why and how of the interactions of fatty acids in suppressing some of the actions which has been determined to be processes in why psoriasis does what it does.

These, plus a lot of other reading convinced me that there is something to fatty acid oils in general.  There is solid reasons behind why fish oils can be beneficial in reducing the inflammation of Psoriasis.

milk thistle
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Inhibition of T-Cell Inflammatory Cytokines, Hepatocyte NF-κB Signaling, and HCV Infection by Standardized Silymarin (Milk thistle)

This is a long and complicated article about milk thistle tested in vivo (test tube) regarding hepatitus C, again from NIH  Med pub.  However a lot of what is described is also true about psoriasis.  Now this is in vivo testing and may not carry into humans, but it seems to me it shows there is potential for milk thistle to be viable when dealing with psoriasis.

As I said, my regimen worked well for me.  I did not decide upon it by accident, as the above shows.  I did a lot of research to find the most viable alternatives I could.

[elgrande]

What type of milk thistle product do you use spotted owl?

[Spotted_owl]

What type of milk thistle product do you use spotted owl?

It is a 1 gram concentrated extract in a soft gel cap.  Not quite sure what the label means but it says 250mg from 4:1 extract.  I take it orally twice a day.