Psoriasis – My Story, from Plaques to Clear Skin
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2015 was the year my face exploded. There was no C4 or dynamite involved, but it looked like I might have been a burn victim. Sometimes it felt like my skin was on fire. It was plaque psoriasis.
It also scared me, as my mom dealt some sort of face rash before she passed away. She saw over 20 doctors, and the relief she got was temporary at best. Her skin used to itch so badly that she would scratch her face raw in her sleep.
Was I destined to be stuck with something similar for the rest of my life?
When I finally got a name for my condition – plaque psoriasis – all the overpriced dermatologist had to say was to smear some steroid cream on it and live with it.
I told her I was changing my diet to see if I could address the underlying cause. She told me that I was welcome to try, but food didn’t have anything to do with your skin.
Thankfully that doctor was wrong.
My Psoriasis Journey
I’ve been hesitant to talk about this because I didn’t have any answers. I was flat out miserable at times, and I felt like a failure.
My brother said to me, “You try harder then just about everybody I know to do the right thing.” And I do, darn it! But I still got sick and it took me quite a while to find something that helped.
The stuff I write about and share is how we live and what we care about. We grow much of our food, and source much of what we don’t grow locally and/or organically.
I don’t smoke, and rarely drink. Heck, I only drink one cup of organic fair trade coffee per day. We don’t eat out much, and don’t buy much prepackaged food.
But we’re not perfect. Sometimes when we’re in the middle of big project, there will be frozen pizza for super. We like some sweets. (And sugar is the devil according to many current diet fads.) I’m not binge eating bakery doughnuts, but I do know how to bake and am pretty darn good at it.
The Good Old Days Weren’t Always Good…
Most of the time I stick to talking about the good times I remember from growing up on the farm, but there were some bad times, too. My dad was an abusive alcoholic, and he beat mom while she was pregnant with me.
My sister told me how dad knocked mom down her knees on the concrete floor of the milk house when she was pregnant. Mom protected me, but it couldn’t have been easy for her.
Dad sued mom for divorce shortly after I was born. She had the milk check put in her name so he couldn’t drink it all up. He tried to force her to sell the farm and take the money, but thankfully the judge listened to mom’s argument that she needed the farm to feed us six kids.
My stepdad entered the picture seven years later. He did help mom with the farm and he didn’t drink, but the man was still not a nice person.
That’s a story for another day, but let’s just say that many aspects of my upbringing were less than idyllic. That may have all played a role in bringing my physical problems to a tipping point.
“You Need a Miracle.”
That’s what my neighbor told me in the summer of 2015, when my skin was at its worst. She was right. I did need a miracle, but I already had one – my momma’s love.
If she could fight so hard to protect me, and stay strong emotionally at the end of her life, even as her body was being ravaged by the skin crap and myotonic muscular dystrophy, then I had to keep searching until I found an answer – for her and for me.
I wanted to find an answer for my readers, too. So many of you offered suggestions for psoriasis treatment. Many others have shared their own stories of dealing with chronic illness and being let down by conventional medicine.
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Don’t give up hope, and keep asking questions and trying things until you find answers.
My skin cleared in 2016, and has been clear since, except a flare up on my hands in 2019. I quit my thyroid medication, and I suspect the flare up was a detox symptom. (More on the hand flare up here.)
Sharing My Psoriasis Story
This series (and book) shares my research and how I healed. I investigated psoriasis causes, herbal treatments, diet, alternative treatments, and underlying conditions.
Contrary to what the dermatologist said, diet was a significant part of clearing my skin. I avoided certain foods for a while, and added fermented foods and specific herbs and supplements.
Additional resources:
A Happy Ending
It’s been eight years since I originally wrote this series. I have more wrinkles and grey hair, but no more psoriasis. Don’t give up hope if you have a chronic condition!
I have friends who have battled everything from cancer to autoimmune diseases and found their way back to health. Stay strong, and we’ll make the journey together.
Other posts in the series:
- My Anti-Candida, Anti-Psoriasis Diet
- Candida
- Psoriasis Causes
- Toxic Skin
- Alternative Psoriasis Treatments
- Topical Psoriasis Treatments
- Psoriasis on my Hands
Get the Book – Psoriasis Healing
Now available in kindle or print, “Psoriasis Healing – From Curse to Blessing“. Released in 2020, this book shares my story and other tips for healing.
More Support
If you need support or ideas for dealing with chronic illness, check out our membership website, Bona Cresco. We have private forums (members only, not on social media) where we can discuss natural health options.
This article is written by Laurie Neverman. Laurie is a lifelong learner with a passion for natural remedies and holistic healing. She’s successfully improved her eyesight and cleared her psoriasis.
Originally posted in 2016, last updated in 2024.
Oh you poor thing! It looks horribly painful. I’ve had a similar experience in my past. I had a systemic Candida over growth. But, after I got that under control, I discovered that I need to cleanse my body from heavy metals and I discovered that I don’t methylate. 50% of people don’t methylate either because it’s been inhibited by something or a genetic disorder. Look into methylation online. Dr.Lynch is a good place to start. I hope that your search continues to uncover answers for you! God bless…
Amy – how did you figure out that your don’t methylate? I’ve seen that term mentioned in passing, but haven’t looked into it.
I think it is best when patient’s are their own advocate. Doctor’s get a certain amount of education in school and then they get continuing education hours after that each year to keep their licenses. Yet, the Doctor’s get to pick what continuing education subjects/seminars they want to attend. So, ongoing education may be limited to what the Doctor is interested in and not what his or her patient’s really need him or her to be updated on. Holistic medicines often times is much safer, with fewer side effects than prescribed medications, though if you are taking prescribed medications the MD needs to be informed of any herbal supplements you are taking to make sure they don’t interact in a negative fashion with prescribed medications. I know a person that rubs the inside of a banana peel on her psoriasis patches. I have Lupus and the skin rash on the face that goes along with it. The severity of the rash often depends on stress or other illness factors going on at the time. I do have some other skin patches on elbows, ankles which I am not sure what they are from, but figure autoimmune. Glad you’ve taken a self approach, hands on method to try and figure out what works for you. Good Luck.
Today’s doctors are often pressured to see more patients in less time to meet health group quotas, too. It hard to look for underlying causes when you barely have enough time to catalog the symptoms.
The #1 cure for my medical conditions was to stay away from the Veterans Administration.
I have always believed so much of our health problems are stress related, especially those dealing with inflammation. Along with a diet change that eases the stress on your digestive system I would suggest counseling. Some things just need to be dealt with, put to rest, and left behind. Good health to you my friend. Thanks for sharing.
P.S. Your my favorite blogger. Actually, other than Chicken Chick you are the only one I let in my inbox. Keep up the good work.
Blessings
Yes, I’ve been working with someone to address the old ghosts. I’ll be talking about that in one of the upcoming posts.
Thank you for your support on the blogging. <3
I have been an RN for almost 30 years. The newer doctors either are not taught the older treatments, or put too much faith in the newest most expensive medications. Very frustrating. Nurses have always been taught the mind, body, and spirit of the person must be addressed to effect healing, doctors may hear that, but it is not emphasized in their education. What we used to use was daily soaking the affected area in water to soften the skin and plaques, grease them up with vegetable shortening or cocoa butter or… any thick moisturizing cream without chemicals. But, the thing that made the biggest difference was sunlight directly on the affected areas. Only a few minutes a day, we are not going for tanning, just a bit ultraviolet (UV) light, 5-10 minutes a day on very sunny days in the summer, more if overcast or in the winter. Whatever your skin will tolerate. A UV lamp may be of use to you, if you can get your doctor to write a prescription for it, it may be covered by your insurance.This may be why the earlier poster’s husband’s skin did so much better in Hawaii, soaking and UV light, as that state gets more UV light than other states in the mainland U.S. Lessening daily stress will help. Easy to say, very difficult to actually accomplish when you are dealing with life trauma. Of course your diet effects inflammation of the body, if you are allergic or sensitive to something. I have seen many psoriasis sufferers, covered scalp to toes in heavy, cracking, bleeding plaques go to occasional small outbreaks in six weeks using just water soaks (if you have broken skin, make sure your tub is very sanitary, you don’t want to get an infection on top of the psoriasis) sunshine and emollients only, after all of the doctor’s lotions, creams and injections failed. Good luck and may God keep you in the palm of his hand.
Thank you, Susan. Nurses are some of the smartest, most caring, hardest working people I know. I’m looking forward to getting out in the sun more as soon as it warms up a bit.
Hi Laurie,
So sorry, that looks like it was painful. I’m so glad you helped yourself and continue to do so. I went to a gastro-doc four years ago for excruciating pain and nausea when I needed to go to the bathroom. I was told IBS as a blanket-style diagnosis. I was also told I just had to live with it. I went on an elimination diet, then vegan, sugar-free, gluten-free for just under a year. After spending the next 9 months re-introducing foods, I found out what gave me the pain again and it was totally curable. Just for information, it was the protein casein in cow milk products, but not ALL cow milk products…just cream. It’s odd because I can eat full-fat cheeses, even full-fat yogurts and sour creams…and I can eat ice cream, but no 10% cream in my coffee. I did find other foods that triggered upsets, but it took me almost 2 years to work it all out on my own. It’s very true…don’t give up, keep trying, food really does have a LOT to do with out ailments these days. People want quick fixes and quickly give up if a pill doesn’t solve their problems. I’m glad you are feeling better! I can’t wait to read about it 🙂
Hi Fran. Thank you for your kind words. I don’t know if it’s an option in your area, but milk with A2A2 protein (and raw) is sometimes more digestible for those with dairy sensitivity. Guernseys and Jerseys are more likely to produce A2A2 milk.
I don’t have much choice when it comes to milk in my area, but I’m now curious about the breed of cow that’s used… I drank goat milk for years and it was fine, even the full fat version…had to do with the size of the casein molecule…or something scientific like that, which utterly (udderly? 😉 confused me…anyway, I can drink 2% milk without issue now. I’m just very thankful I don’t have to give up cheese.
Apparently there are now sites devotes solely to A2A2 milk now, like this one – http://www.a2a2milk.com/
I know my husband gets an upset stomach from store milk, but does just fine with raw A2A2.
Cheese = what I miss most when I’m dairy free.
We will probably never meet in person, but thank you. I’m passing your post onto my sister, (who has a son with autism and has been helped somewhat by dietary changes), two friends with Crohn’s, and another with various autoimmune disorders. Hope fully some of what you’ve tried will be helpful to them.
Thank you, Olivia. You may also want to let your sister know about the site http://gapsandkids.com/, which is run by my friend, Nichole. Diet and other lifestyle changes have been very healing for their family.
To Olivia says: I recently heard a talk between Dr. Mark Hyman and another doctor. This doctor referenced a child with autism who could not speak. His gut bacteria had been severely compromised. He was treated with a fecal implant. He can now carry on a conversation with his mother and recently for a class project gave a presentation before his class. I believe they have started fecal implant trials with several Autistic children in Texas. So we are what we eat. Our gut as well as our emotions and stress controls so much about us that we are now only beginning to understand.
Laurie, you are now on the road of discovery. Not knowing what can be done is the hardest part. Your outlook is wonderful an aids in healing. Turmeric and ginger are anti-inflammatory. Ginger can be very calming and good for digestion. I look forward to hearing of your progress. Thank you for sharing.
Numi has a lovely 3 roots tea blend with both ginger and turmeric that I’ve learned to enjoy, and I’m also using more turmeric and black pepper in my cooking for the anti-inflammatory properties.
The advances in our understanding of gut bacteria have a come a long way, but I think we’re still at the very beginning stages of our understanding.
Hi, My middle son has had psoriasis since birth, so we have fought long and hard to take care of his skin and resolve this problem.
I strongly suggest checking out Drlwilson.com
Dr Wilson’s program:
Step 1) Read his articles.
Step 2) Begin with the Free program.( he doesn’t charge you anything but you will obviously have to buy foods and such).
Step 2A) Find a practitioner to begin complete Nutritional Balancing.
Step 3) Develop yourself ( with suggestions, resources, etc).
I personally recommend Beaudreau’s Butt Paste, which has the highest concentration of zinc oxide available on the open market. Sorry about the name, but it works great….Very healing. I would mix it with Sovereign Colloidal Silver Hydrosol and apply to sores. ( a few drops of the hydrosol to a teaspoon or more of the paste).
Stay in touch, we are making great strides, slowly. Linda
Thanks, Linda. I hadn’t heard of the butt paste, but I know zinc is good for the skin. I have a friend who does nutritional balancing, so I may look into that further.
Can’t wait to read more about your journey! I applaud your perserverance & bravery in sharing your story! Blessings surround U & your family?
Thank you, Kim. I had a higher number of complaints than usual when I sent out today’s email, but most people have been very supportive.
Laurie,
You had people complaining to you about sharing a personal, challenging health problem??? Are you kidding me? Of course you are not kidding…I just can’t believe some people. I don’t know why I am astonished. You would think after all the bull I have endured over the last 27 years as a nurse, I would not be shocked by things people say and do. But, alas, I am.
Guess I am just a naive, idealistic fool.
Thank you for EVERYTHING you do. You inspire me the most with the little things.
And of course what you eat affects your health. Your doctor’s response was necessary to keep you on your path. Likely she has had or will shortly have an awakening herself.
You are a smart, kind and brave woman. Thank you again,
Pam Baker
We naive, idealistic fools need to stick together. 😉
Thanks Pam, for your words of support, and for your service as a nurse. That is one tough job.
Laurie, I’m sure you’re familiar with neem oil, and was wondering if you’d tried a homemade neem oil balm to soothe your psoriasis outbreaks. Originally I researched it to try and help my brother who has psoriasis, but what I whipped up didn’t help him. It did help some other people though. I’ll be happy to post the simple recipe if you’d like. God’s blessings and mercies be on you.
I did try neem salve early on, but it didn’t have much effect for me. Thank you so much for your generous offer.
Congratulations on taking your health into your own hands! I’m generally a believer in Western medicine, which has clearly done a lot of good. But I also believe that Western medicine hasn’t figured everything out, and is sometimes more interested in what’s easiest for itself, rather than the patient. (Women being forced to deliver on their backs, without the benefit of gravity, because that’s what works best for the doctor…) I do strongly believe that as patients, we can hope that our doctors are open-minded and aware of things besides pharmaceuticals that can impact/improve our health, but, sadly, this isn’t aways the case. As a result, we must educate and advocate for ourselves.
Western medicine has accomplished amazing things – like trauma treatment and surgical advances. Somewhere along the line, things got so specialized and compartmentalized that most doctors stopped looking at patients as a whole system. I think that was a big mistake.
It is encouraging that more people are starting to ask questions and become their own health advocates.
Hi, Laurie! Thank you so much for sharing your story. In the course of studying essential oils and healing, I learned that psoriasis and other skin ailments are the result of unresolved issues between a child and his or her parent(s). The body stores our reaction to emotional trauma in the cells and if we never deal with those emotions, eventually they will manifest in disease or illness. As I was reading your story, you certainly confirmed for me that your problem might well stem from unresolved feelings resulting from your father’s abuse of your mom and yourself and later your stepfather’s behavior as well. Please read a book called “Feelings Buried Alive Never Die” by Karol Kuhn Truman. I pray for your complete and perfect healing, Laurie. May God bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you.
Thank you for the suggestion, and I do believe it is all linked.
Congratulations on finding your own answers. Your dermatologist’s reaction was a prime example of what is wrong on what medical professionals are learning these days: treat the symptoms, don’t worry about the cause. The human body isn’t a collection of unrelated systems; it all works together. If one thing is wrong, everything else gets knocked wonky. I applaud you and hope you continue to get healthy. 🙂
Thank you for sharing! My face hurt for you when I saw your photos. So glad to hear that you didn’t listen to the doctor when she said diet had nothing to do with it. I know how frustrating it can be to eat well (healthier than 99% of western society) and still have health issues. I have been vegan for 8 years, eat organic food, minimal processed food etc. I now have rheumatoid arthritis. Thankfully I caught it in the beginning stages. I didn’t even bother the doctors as the standard procedure it to put RA patients on toxic meds for the rest of their lives. I started researching and found others who have managed the disease through diet. It has been a few months now and it is improving. These things take time. For plant based people, my favorite website is http://www.nutritionfacts.org. I enjoy reading your blog tremendously and admire much that you do. I will raise a beautiful clean glass of water to your health! Cheers!
Thank you for your story of courage and hope. We all need to have your courage.
Hi all, I have mild psoriasis that come and goes. I believe it is an autoimmune disorder and can be triggered by stress. Stress is sneaky and doesn’t announce itself with a lot of fanfare. I suggest that along with the dietary changes that taking Niacin as well as a multivitamin daily may help. And certainly can’t hurt. Good luck, never quit never back down!
The woman actually said, “what you eat has nothing to do with your skin”? Did you check the walls to see if she actually had a license or even a diploma? You are very brave to share your story in the hopes of helping others & I’ll be using your example in my herbal classes. People simply have to start taking responsibility for their own health since western medicine has truly dropped the ball. Good luck to you & please keep us posted on your improvement.
She did have multiple diplomas – I got a good chance to look at them as I sat waiting for an extended period.
I’ve had mulitple Drs tell me that very thing in regards to my Hashimoto’s and migraines. I’ve lost all faith in them.
I have to say that I find your story amazing. Never give up hope. Traditional medicine isn’t all it is cracked up to be, and it makes me happy that you are looking at other sources. Will be praying over you.
You told me you were going to do this Laurie when I responded to you email sent out this week.
You did a beautiful job of writing and conveying your story of the struggle you deal/dealing with this autoimmune disease. I look forward to reading more of how you heal through foods, herbs and trial and error. Oil of oregano was a big one for me….stinks, but takes away the itching…lol.
I’m proud of you for having the courage to share with all of us and I think you are beautiful outside, as well as inside. Thank you!!!!
I am so impressed with the improvement changing your diet has made for you. I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia this past fall. Like your dermatologist, my rheumatologist also said diet wouldn’t work, she’d had some patients who tried it but never made much difference.
I have changed my diet, and am currently weeding out products in my life that are no organic, full of additives and such. I’m at least 75% better than I was 7 months ago.
Diet change is a challenge, it ends up changing your lifestyle, I believe that is where the failure for so many comes into play. Being a long time diabetic and RN I understand that change is hard to effect and maintain.
I applaud you and your journey and bravery in sharing your story. Thank you!
Lisa