No Dairy

[Tanita2010]

Hi Everyone,

Ive just started my second stint of cutting out all dairy in my diet and i just wondered if anyone else had done it and found any good outcomes? If there is anyone who is trying to reduce their P only using the no dairy diet i would love to hear if it worked for you or not.

So ill tell you my story....

I'm a 6ft 1", 20 year old girl who has has P since i was 5. I have a rare form of psoriasis which looks like an early form of guta psoriasis but i've had it now for 15 years no change. Ive been through all the treatments; creams, tars, UVB (3 times) and the ones i haven't tried usually have some extreme side affects which id like to avoid. After my last block of UVB treatment they recommended not to have anymore due to the high risk of skin cancer (being 20 also means i'm quite a sun worshipper). I avoided UVB and left it, back then i wasn't too fussed about my psoriasis. I had a severe sore throat and was prescribed penicillin to help. After a week i had red spots everywhere, every bit of normally clear skin was covered, around my neck, on my hands, on the top of my feet. I stopped the penicillin and my allergy was recorded, but the damage had already been done. My doctor had said that the red spots would go and i would be just be left with my original psoriasis. He was wrong. Every single spot turned into psoriasis. It was the worst i had ever seen it and i had then given up that anything would work.

So i presumed that was it and that it would never go, until my mum found a chapter in a book about diet affecting psoriasis. It mainly pointed at dairy being the main trigger of P. So i cut it out and i had amazing results. Everything was clearer and much less painful. However summer came and i dived straight back into the icecream, pizza and chocolate. It all came back with vengeance and now i've been on it (strictly) again for about 5 days. I have psoriasis that covers my legs, arms, front and back, ears, eyebrows and scalp. So anyone who is going through anything similar please post because id love to know that there was someone else that is going through the same as me.


Looking forward to hearing from you

Tanita

[arizona]

Hi
It may have been the severe sore throat rather than the penicillin that caused that. Though saying that, mine started after having shingles and being on a strong antibiotic so who knows. It wasnt penicillin as i got really ill taking that once so now they dont prescribe it.
I find i am somewhat clearer if i can avoid having any dairy
Also take a look round the forum there are other foods which seem to make a difference too. i.e bread, potatoes,pork,tomato

[Tanita2010]

Hi
It may have been the severe sore throat rather than the penicillin that caused that. Though saying that, mine started after having shingles and being on a strong antibiotic so who knows. It wasnt penicillin as i got really ill taking that once so now they dont prescribe it.
I find i am somewhat clearer if i can avoid having any dairy
Also take a look round the forum there are other foods which seem to make a difference too. i.e bread, potatoes,pork,tomato

The only thing is i dont want to have to cut everything out of my diet as im a poor student and im limited on the money front. I just wondered if anyone else had done this type of diet and got any promising results just from cutting out dairy. The rash that i obtained was from the penicillin as i had the sore throat repeatedly over that year and it was only when i was prescribed the penicillin that it occured.

Do you have a particular strict diet Arizona?

[arizona]

Pretty much, have fallen off the wagon recently and skin isnt so good. Am also on a tight budget.

My diet usually consists of porridge made with water in the microwave (bout 4 mins) with goat yoghurt and honey mixed in after, sometimes with banana sliced on top, supposed to be breakfast but usually ends up being mid morning or lunchtime
Brown rice n vegetables, sometimes with fish or chicken mostly for dinner

Bread doesnt agree with me anyway i know and neither does dairy, feel much better without it
But i do miss lattes and chunky sarnies 

[babyblue]

Hi Tanita,

There are some brilliant threads re diet here .. those by MadCat, Totoro and BJ certainly make for thought-provoking reading and provide inspiration too.  Some others use a combination of high doses of Vitamin D and sunbed as a maintenance regime.  I cut out dairy and it improved perhaps slightly.  However, following a serious throat and ear infection on my return to Ireland from UK - think I picked it up on the flight home - was put on antibiotics which  seemed to worsen my P - I thought I could live with it before that. Now on MTX and hoping for improvement - more for PsA than P ... as long term I needed to tackle it.

Hope you improve with dietary changes, it's certainly worth a shot.  Try cutting out wheat in a few weeks and see if that makes a difference and also nightshades and tomato which appear to cause a worsening of the condition ... its a learning curve and very individual - what works for one might not for another ... also include flaxoils, omega 3's to your diet.

Hugs
BB

[Tanita2010]

I am looking into getting the vitamin d into my diet but i dont think i will be able to afford it until the new year. It surprising how much my P has changed over 5 days, on sunday my skin felt like it was going to rip because i had gorged on so much dairy the week before. Now i cant feel it at all and its not as red at all. Its hard to cut out so many things when being a student, its all about socialising and having meals out. Not easy. But im doing ok at the moment.

Also Arizona you brought up an interesting point, is goats not classed as dairy then? Ive heard contradicting views on this.

Tanita

[arizona]

I'm not sure with the goats thing but if i drink cows milk i feel very mucasy and if i eat cheese it literally makes my skin crawl when it goes in my mouth. A lady at a farmers market noticed that reaction when i tried a sample of strong cheese. She said it was a reaction to it and to try the goats, that didnt have the reaction but it might have been because was milder, i dont know.
I use the goat yoghurt , only need a couple of good dessert spoons mixed in, to get the probiotics

[Lazza]

Tanita, hi.  I had severe psoriasis on my hands and feet.  Complete elimination of dairy was key for me in gradually clearing my psoriasis; it is now quite mild.  Dairy sensitivity is not uncommon among psoriatics.  Gluten sensitivity is also quite common, and there are many other potential trigger foods (for example, legumes).

I might suggest you start eating a lot of fruits/veggies and cut back on processed foods and deep fried foods.  I've found eating healthily is not costly overall.


_Lazza

[arizona]

I think it can cost less 

[LittlePinkPuss]

The dairy & P connection is pretty well-known.

Over twenty years ago my derm told me that if I gave up dairy, it would help clear my P.

I didn’t take any notice of him as I was a real cheese and ice-cream addict at the time and could not imagine life without it.

I was also a big milk chocolate addict. All that soy, milk and sugar in the chocolate can't have been good.

And so I had bad ongoing P for years afterwards.

I did give up dairy about ten years ago for a year but I don’t recall any dramatic effect on my P. But then again, at that time I was still eating wheat and other things that I now know negatively affect my P.

Seven years ago I found out I was lactose intolerant but still kept eating dairy, although I did cut down dramatically.

In 2007, I HAD to make drastic changes to my diet due to another health issue and as a result stopped dairy completely.

Now days I have it once in a blue moon because every time I do, I have terrible stomach cramps and terrible mucus the next day. The pain and after effects are simply not worth it.

I found it very hard to break my addiction to cheese until somebody said to think of a mucus pus pizza instead of stringy cheese pizza, and that helped put me off eating it.

Having said all that:

I have been clear from P since May 2008. Twice between May 2008 and now I have had “sessions” on cheese and other dairy products and had P reappear. But I also blame chicken and also especially wheat for those outbreaks. Chicken & cheese sandwiches are my downfall every time.

In my experience, you have to give up dairy 100% (as even small amounts tend to set you off again) AND also make other small diet adjustments.

On the plus side, I have noticed I have less sore throats, colds, flu, chest congestions, runny nose, itchy skin and rashes since I gave it up.

And if I ever get the urge to consume lots of dairy, I just think about pus pizzas and I read the Not Milk website.

Regards

MadCat



EDITED: Spelling Error