Psoriasis and leaky gut

Posted Sat 24 Oct 2020 00.09 by Patchhy99

Hi there, I don’t usually like to be the person to beg for help but in my current state, I really don’t know what else to do. I have been suffering with psoriasis since December of last year but was told by my doctor it would clear up in a matter of weeks and months. This was kinda true as came summer my skin was virtually clear. At this time I was unaware of psoriasis being a long term condition. I understand there’s no cure but in other ways you can live a symptom free life. Over the course of 4 months - I have accumulated a mass amount of information on the condition and all the possible factors that can exacerbate your symptoms and cause inflammation in your body. I have tried steroid creams but being so young I don’t want to be damaging my skin long term. I understand how their is a skin and gut connection; some say the gut is the second brain and with my circumstances its seems to be the case. I am 21 and have been fairly active for most part of my life - however, In terms of my diet I have always slacked. I have rarely eaten fruit and vegetables and mainly lived off a high sugar and processed diet. Although that wouldn’t be expected as I’m not overweight but that’s more likely to do with the physical activity and young metabolism I have. Since researching some much about my skin and ways to relieve my symptoms, I realised a lot of things that are alarming and all seem to be connected to my gut. I have had for a very long time now, a coating on my tongue; no matter how hard I scrub it, it just never went. That made me realise the possibility of a candida overgrowth. So I asked to be prescribed Nystatin. I have been taking this for roughly 2 weeks now and have seen a major improvement, however if the fungus was that prominent on my tongue, I can only imagine the overgrowth I may have within me. Secondly, in the last 2 months I have drastically changed my diet, I have removed so many bad foods such as gluten, diary and high sugary foods, alongside taking daily supplements. I have increased my intake of good foods a lot but still haven’t had any relief - if anything my skin has gotten worse. With this I also experienced going to the toilet very painful, each time I am going to the toilet I seem to getting a sharp pain and feeling of a tear which leads to blood when wiping. I understand again this links back to my gut. As my psoriasis is so severe, I am constantly under the impression there has to be something wrong with me; when dissecting my lifestyle I understand where the root cause could have stemmed from. However, I just don’t know what it could be, I don’t know what tests to get done through the doctors that can give me the clarification. Cause although a diet can help me, if there are underlying health problem that persist - my healing will never happen. I know this message has been long and I thank you if you read all of this. The morale of this was to ask for advice. I feel so depleted and feel everyday is the biggest and most challenging battle of my life. I had spent years dealing with Vitiligo (diagnosed around 4) and only recently have a grown to love it as it is a part of me. As with psoriasis, it just strips me of who I am and is having a rippling effect on everything in my life. Thank you

Posted Sun 25 Oct 2020 12.30 by AzureBlue

I’m convinced that there can be a link between gut health and psoriasis in some people. I first got psoriasis about 5 years ago and at roughly the same time I developed what I would call IBS symptoms. To start with the psoriasis and IBS were quite mild. Last September I had a really bad flare up of IBS and a week or two later the psoriasis spread from being a stable 3 patches on one leg to being all over my body. The IBS was much worse in work than it was when I was home. My Dr suggested that work stress was contributing to my condition but I don’t feel stressed and my job is quite easy. I had a long think about what I was doing differently in work compared to home and I realised I was drinking milk in work but not at home. I stopped drinking milk and not only did my IBS symptoms stop but my psoriasis 90% cleared. The IBS has never returned and the ferocity of the psoriasis has calmed right down so now I just get a few small spots the size of a match head instead of large patches spreading like wildfire. I started to look into leaky gut and was amazed at how many of the symptoms I had including frequent colds and severe fatigue. I don’t know if milk caused the leaky gut or if a leaky gut caused my intolerance of milk. I think it’s the latter. I also remember a few months prior to the initial symptoms I had been on strong antibiotics to treat an infection. For the last two months I have been taking 20mg of l-glutamine a day and a probiotic supplement to heal my gut. I have also been upping my Vitamin D levels with dietary supplements and cod liver oil as vitamin D deficiency is common is people with psoriasis. I’ve read this is because leaky gut can cause poor absorption of nutrients. I have been drinking turmeric tea with black pepper to calm the inflammation. Two months on, my psoriasis has calmed down further. It’s completely disappeared in many areas of its own accord but I still get the very occasional spot. Psoriasis doesn’t leave long term scars but can cause discolouration that can last a while so sometimes it can be difficult to know day to day whether it’s come back or if it’s just the discolouration. My advice would be to not obsess over it by checking it hourly but look for long term trends. Remember, as I’m sure you already know, psoriasis looks worse in some lights than in others and looks particularly awful when wet. I’m going to continue with what I’ve been doing so far and hopefully my gut will improve further.

Posted Tue 27 Oct 2020 19.33 by Judikil

Long term sufferer here (55 years of it) and whilst I have symptoms of a leaky gut have never found changing my diet helps combat the psoriasis, but I live in hope and keep trying. I have found drinking lots of water helps my skin though.

Posted Wed 4 Nov 2020 09.36 by LukB

Hello, I cut out all food which contains wheat two years ago. This was reducing psoriasis a lot. But you need to be careful, wheat is addes to many products you would not expect (sauces, marinade..) I also stopped drinking milk. I hope this could help you as well.

Posted Sat 19 Jun 2021 03.41 by Mary1968

Hello I suffered with chronic psoriasis for 40 years. I cut out certain foods that I found to be inflammatory - wheat, dairy, sugar, peanutbutter, processed foods, sodas, whiskey, white potatoes, etc... Took supplements like Vitamin D3, Fish Oil, Zinc, Probiotics, etc.... Started an anti-inflammatory diet with emphasis on nourishing foods for gut health, and skin repair Around nine months later, all the patches had healed up That was over ten years ago, and I am still clear Had the odd small flare when I do something stupid, like gorge on cheese or eat peanutbutter by the tablespoon - but easy to manage and clear up again

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