I believe turmeric supplements can be hard on the digestive system for some people, I think that is one reason for taking it with meals. I love black pepper too, I'm a crazy fool for spicy food generally. I wonder if my body needs the spices ...
I'm not washing my legs unless I have to wade through pig swill. I just can't see the point of messing with my poor skin any more than I have to. But your recommendations are always spot on so I'll know what to do if I have a farmyard incident!
Jules G said:
Sybil ... if you get to the point where you want to 'wash' the area with psoriasis you could try Epaderm or Hydromol. They are both emoilients but are multipurpose and can be used in the bath as a soak and also a skin cleaner.
Back on the turmeric topic, yes bioperine is black pepper but I also noticed references to fats improving the bioavailability. Wonder if this is why they say 'take with a meal'. Not at all unusual for things to need to be taken with food to improve their processing/absorption. Just so happens that I take mine at the same time as my fish oil capsules in the middle of my main meal. I think I'll stick with that. I'm happy with the quality of the turmeric I buy, it is made in the UK to pharmaceutical standards so I know it contains exactly what it says it contains, no more and no less. Maybe just another grind of black pepper on my dinner ... as my hubby asks "are you eating any food with that pepper on your plate?" I LOVE black pepper :-)
I wouldn't worry too much about the track! We do what we have to do, don't we? I think your psoriasis on the legs is worse than mine, I'm just left with one big stubborn patch really. Plus my feet, which I've disowned. If it was worse I'd be back on the steroid cream too.
Grandma J said:
I don't know if I can get by without the steroid cream--the itch would drive me nuts. But sometimes the cream doesn't work very well and I itch until I bleed and then it feels great!!!! Yesterday my entire legs itched really badly. I used some Gold Bond healing with aloe lotion and it helped. Yes, Sybil, psoriasis is a stubborn swine, and I wish mine would fully disappear, even if just for a few months. It would be a treat to not have to deal with that ugly stuff, even though when you have it so long you get used to it. My mom just shook her head when I showed her my legs once. I know I'd be sad if one of my kids had it. I hope the never do, but I guess there are a lot worse things!
Ooops, I got off track. I started taking the turmeric again yesterday. But, I just checked my bottle and mine don't have bioperine.
I'm sorry to hear about your poor legs. My P is being very naughty lately; it's the right time of year for it to act up. What helps me is this: I do a regular shower but use tepid water. Really hot showers strip the oils right out of your skin. Then, while still wet, I apply a liberal coating of oil. Either Neutrogena Rain Bath Oil, or Melaleuca Tea Tree Bath Oil, or a generic brand I found. Then, iget out and put on a cotton robe. I pat dry my undercarriage, and let myself air dry with the help of the robe. Then I goob-up...Lots of lotions. Eucerin for my feet, legs, knees, elbows and hands; a good body butter for the rest. Then I use Taclonex Ointment (Combo of betamethasone and Dovonex) on the hot-spots. This process takes FOR-E-VER, but works well and has for years. Sometimes when my skin is really bad, I do an every-other-day shower and clean my important spots & use a dry shampoo for my hair. Then I'll re-do all of the lotions and ointments.
Also, I did a Tumeric experiment too a year or so ago, and didn't notice any improvement. At least not enough to make it worth the extra pills and expense. That was one herbal that I relly thought would work. It was a little disappointing.
I see the last discussion on this was six months ago - how are you all doing with the turmeric? A friend of mine is just embarking on it - she had hyper mobility but suffers in much the same way as we do. I was going to see how she got on but you will have the answers already????!
Sybil said:
I've been taking it for a few weeks now. I actually have more pain in my pesky feet but like you Grandma J I think that might be outside of turmeric's brief. I think we need months don't we, to see a difference?
I find that when I do one proactive thing I tend to do several and then it's impossible to work out what's doing what. I pressed my dermy for a proper, detailed plan for managing psoriasis and she obliged and explained it all really well. So now I'm spending approximately an hour a night taking an oily bath and then applying a whole load of different things to my skin in stages. I thought I'd resent the time it takes but I've barely scratched since I started. So for all I know turmeric could be helping my skin too ...... but at least it can't do any harm.
if your friend thinks she may have inflammatory arthritis then she should seek a referral to rheumatology if she hasn't done so already. And of course if she suspects PsA then perhaps she'd like to apply to join us here?
To answer your main question, taking turmeric daily corresponds with my best period ever. I guess that's as much as I can say because I'm also on Humira and Methotrexate so it's impossible to know how much, if at all, turmeric is contributing to the improvement. It's not doing any harm, that's for sure!
E.Rose said:
I see the last discussion on this was six months ago - how are you all doing with the turmeric? A friend of mine is just embarking on it - she had hyper mobility but suffers in much the same way as we do. I was going to see how she got on but you will have the answers already????!
if your friend thinks she may have inflammatory arthritis then she should seek a referral to rheumatology if she hasn't done so already. And of course if she suspects PsA then perhaps she'd like to apply to join us here?
To answer your main question, taking turmeric daily corresponds with my best period ever. I guess that's as much as I can say because I'm also on Humira and Methotrexate so it's impossible to know how much, if at all, turmeric is contributing to the improvement. It's not doing any harm, that's for sure!
E.Rose said:
I see the last discussion on this was six months ago - how are you all doing with the turmeric? A friend of mine is just embarking on it - she had hyper mobility but suffers in much the same way as we do. I was going to see how she got on but you will have the answers already????!
Thank you Sybil for you r prompt reply - it's so good to have people to talk to who are in the same boat. Having PsA can be very lonely - most of my friends think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill and that my pain and fatigue are just the ageing process.
My friend has hyper mobilty and sees a consultant about it, she has started turmeric to help with inflammation.
I have started omega 3 fish oils this week plus ginger but have thought about turmeric. I am on Humira and have just come off Rrednisilone (after nearly four years) - hence more pain etc. I couldn't take methotrexate. So at the moment I am looking for anything I can do to help myself until I see my consultant in September.
I was talking to someone yesterday who has RA and thinks she's got it right by never complaining or indeed talking or thinking about the disease (I kind of dragged it out of her) and refusing to take disease modifying drugs. However it then emerged that she is constantly exhausted, has had two knee replacements and takes a whole ton of heavy duty pain killers. If that is the price people pay for not provoking the doubters who think we're exaggerating then truly it's not worth it.
If there's anything you want to discuss we're here & we get it.
E.Rose said:
Thank you Sybil for you r prompt reply - it's so good to have people to talk to who are in the same boat. Having PsA can be very lonely - most of my friends think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill and that my pain and fatigue are just the ageing process.
My friend has hyper mobilty and sees a consultant about it, she has started turmeric to help with inflammation.
I have started omega 3 fish oils this week plus ginger but have thought about turmeric. I am on Humira and have just come off Rrednisilone (after nearly four years) - hence more pain etc. I couldn't take methotrexate. So at the moment I am looking for anything I can do to help myself until I see my consultant in September.
Thank you - your friend with RA is rather silly missing out on help and support. Although I don't know how she manages to cover it up - I look like a ninety year old when I get out of chairs etc - difficult not to at least try and laugh it off!
I have PMR as well - my consultant says it's very unusual. Do you know of anyone else who has the two? Sometimes it's difficult to work out which is causing the pain - but pain is pain!!
Sybil said:
It's good to hear from you E.Rose.
I was talking to someone yesterday who has RA and thinks she's got it right by never complaining or indeed talking or thinking about the disease (I kind of dragged it out of her) and refusing to take disease modifying drugs. However it then emerged that she is constantly exhausted, has had two knee replacements and takes a whole ton of heavy duty pain killers. If that is the price people pay for not provoking the doubters who think we're exaggerating then truly it's not worth it.
If there's anything you want to discuss we're here & we get it.
E.Rose said:
Thank you Sybil for you r prompt reply - it's so good to have people to talk to who are in the same boat. Having PsA can be very lonely - most of my friends think I am making a mountain out of a mole hill and that my pain and fatigue are just the ageing process.
My friend has hyper mobilty and sees a consultant about it, she has started turmeric to help with inflammation.
I have started omega 3 fish oils this week plus ginger but have thought about turmeric. I am on Humira and have just come off Rrednisilone (after nearly four years) - hence more pain etc. I couldn't take methotrexate. So at the moment I am looking for anything I can do to help myself until I see my consultant in September.
I know there are a few people here who have RA as well as PMR so these combinations may not be that uncommon. It may be worth posting in the General Discussion section to see if you can find anyone else with the same two diseases as you.
Laughing it off is great as long as it's not part of a denial process that stops us getting to grips with the beast. But clearly you have not got your head in the sand. I think my friend (acquaintance really, I'm hoping a friend would have told me before now!) is a wonderful, breezy individual who just gives the impression that 'stuff happens' and it's nothing to worry about. There's good in that, I admire her up to a point, but I think she has got it very wrong & I'm going to find a way to tell her that.
E.Rose said:
Thank you - your friend with RA is rather silly missing out on help and support. Although I don't know how she manages to cover it up - I look like a ninety year old when I get out of chairs etc - difficult not to at least try and laugh it off!
I have PMR as well - my consultant says it's very unusual. Do you know of anyone else who has the two? Sometimes it's difficult to work out which is causing the pain - but pain is pain!!
I know there are a few people here who have RA as well as PMR so these combinations may not be that uncommon. It may be worth posting in the General Discussion section to see if you can find anyone else with the same two diseases as you.
Laughing it off is great as long as it's not part of a denial process that stops us getting to grips with the beast. But clearly you have not got your head in the sand. I think my friend (acquaintance really, I'm hoping a friend would have told me before now!) is a wonderful, breezy individual who just gives the impression that 'stuff happens' and it's nothing to worry about. There's good in that, I admire her up to a point, but I think she has got it very wrong & I'm going to find a way to tell her that.
E.Rose said:
Thank you - your friend with RA is rather silly missing out on help and support. Although I don't know how she manages to cover it up - I look like a ninety year old when I get out of chairs etc - difficult not to at least try and laugh it off!
I have PMR as well - my consultant says it's very unusual. Do you know of anyone else who has the two? Sometimes it's difficult to work out which is causing the pain - but pain is pain!!
I have been taking turmeric tablet regularly for few months now and I concur with everyone here. It does help with bringing down the inflammation. The overall feeling of fever and "flu-like" symptoms has gone down. I don't know if its the turmeric or my other medications. Either way, I would give it a try.
These days I add turmeric in everything I cook! :D
So, some of the moderators and long time members were starting to take it some time ago. Curious since some of you were already on steady med regimens and might be noticing changes by now? Any conclusions yet?
I took it religiously for a few months and after I ran out of it I decided I wasn't so sure if it was helping, so I didn't replenish my supply. I seem to be having more inflammation in my feet lately so maybe it wouldn't hurt to start it up again and pay closer attention to my pain levels.
I do feel certain that the CoQ10 100mg a day I take definitely helps keep me feeling better.
I think that all these complementary things have a slow burn and it's hard to discern whether they are helping. At various times I go wheat/gluten free but after a while I fall off the wagon. The most obvious and quickest thing I notice when I'm eating wheat is my stools become s'sticky' and the loo needs cleaning more after a visit (how embarrassing!) When I give the wheat up within a few days the loo is fine!!! I have had an interesting experience in the last week. After a few days of abstinence I began to fell brighter and lighter in myself with a little less pain. Looking back I think this is what always happens. However, the effect of wheat for me is insidious - I can have a slice of bread and feel OK, perhaps a little sluggish but not very noticeable. So I have more and more wheat and gluten based foods and before long I feel exhausted and in more pain - but I don't put it down to wheat. It's only when my bowels get sluggish and the loo complains that I think to start abstaining again - and so the vicious circle continuesâŚâŚâŚ.
A Humira nurse once told me that PsA has been linked to coeliac disease - perhaps there is something in that?
I have now gone wheat /gluten free yet again and ordered some Turmeric with black pepper extract (it helps absorption). I'll keep you up to date with progress.
Grandma J said:
I took it religiously for a few months and after I ran out of it I decided I wasn't so sure if it was helping, so I didn't replenish my supply. I seem to be having more inflammation in my feet lately so maybe it wouldn't hurt to start it up again and pay closer attention to my pain levels.
I do feel certain that the CoQ10 100mg a day I take definitely helps keep me feeling better.
Lol, nice to meet you E.Rose! Yes, I have on again off again issues with things of that nature myself. Honestly canât remember a day since pregnancy that I ever was constipated, just normal or not. I have followed this thread because as much as I would love believe in any over the counter med working I canât imagine everyone wouldnât rave about it. I refuse take even one more drug that doesnât have an absolute purpose anymore script or not. I am almost to my 3 yr mark since my PSA got to where I needed help medically so of course since I usually avoided doctors at all costs they found plenty to work with. Waiting for the trials of trusted knowledge to say you have to try this, call me old school. Lovely that you found us and look forward to getting to know you better.
Oh my gosh, E.Rose, I tried the gluten-free diet for six weeks once a couple years ago and can we talk about perfect poo every day????? I had the same great results as you speak of, and I, too, have "crappy" (excuse the pun) bm's most of the time. My problem is more the hard as a rock deer turds--sometimes smaller, sometimes a little larger. And cramps with the slow process. Once-in-awhile it'll be the mysterious Hershey's squirts.
I eat one Activia yogurt every day, which doesn't seem to help at all. I try to eat fiber, but don't seem to be able to get enough of it. BUT, I finally discovered eating peanuts or mixed nuts is my savior. If I eat a couple handfuls of any kind of nuts every day, my bm's are award-winners.
I know this discussion was about turmeric, but when you mentioned the gluten-free diet and how much it helped, I wanted to tell my experience with it. My dad had celiac disease. He was never diagnosed with psoriasis, but he always had the thick yellow toenails his doctors said was fungus, but fungus treatment never helped. He had really dry skin, but it didn't look like psoriasis. I sometimes wonder if he had psoriasis as well as the celiac disease. I was tested for celiac disease, but it was negative. It's interesting how well the gluten-free diet worked for you and me and we don't have celiac disease! (Or do you--I didn't see if you mentioned that.)
Hi grandma J for the frank reply! No I am not coeliac, but a wheat/gluten diet does suit me. Also I don't have psoriasis - that's partly why my diagnosis took so long. Some of my close family do suffer with it though. I also have PMR which is another pain in the backside!
My turmeric arrived today so I'll give it a go.
Grandma J said:
Oh my gosh, E.Rose, I tried the gluten-free diet for six weeks once a couple years ago and can we talk about perfect poo every day????? I had the same great results as you speak of, and I, too, have "crappy" (excuse the pun) bm's most of the time. My problem is more the hard as a rock deer turds--sometimes smaller, sometimes a little larger. And cramps with the slow process. Once-in-awhile it'll be the mysterious Hershey's squirts.
I eat one Activia yogurt every day, which doesn't seem to help at all. I try to eat fiber, but don't seem to be able to get enough of it. BUT, I finally discovered eating peanuts or mixed nuts is my savior. If I eat a couple handfuls of any kind of nuts every day, my bm's are award-winners.
I know this discussion was about turmeric, but when you mentioned the gluten-free diet and how much it helped, I wanted to tell my experience with it. My dad had celiac disease. He was never diagnosed with psoriasis, but he always had the thick yellow toenails his doctors said was fungus, but fungus treatment never helped. He had really dry skin, but it didn't look like psoriasis. I sometimes wonder if he had psoriasis as well as the celiac disease. I was tested for celiac disease, but it was negative. It's interesting how well the gluten-free diet worked for you and me and we don't have celiac disease! (Or do you--I didn't see if you mentioned that.)