Get Lost Guttate: Overcoming Psoriasis Naturally: Flare-up

I was hoping for my psoriasis remission to last longer than 6 months, but here we are. After a flu-like illness at the beginning of January, the main ailment of which was a sore throat, I first noticed that my scalp psoriasis had returned.

2nd Feb '24- if this picture makes you feel itchy, you’ll know how I felt. This time around though, only the sides and back of my scalp were affected.

Soon after, guttate began to reappear on my body. At the same time, I had also developed a particularly stubborn cold sore. By the end of January, my face had become red and my arms, legs, stomach, groin and back were all at the mercy of those wretched patches.

6th Feb '24- either side of my nostril (as well as my right eyebrow) giving way to a flare-up. The cold sore is also visible on the right side of my mouth.

I believe it was ~~the combination of sub-zero temperatures, the aforementioned illness as well as an indulgent December/January (the latter is my birthday month)~~ the second sore throat-related illness that may have led to this.

Upon discovering a curious, scratch-shaped wound on the back of my leg, I decided to get some advice from pharmacists. I got 3 different sets of feedback, but the last one sounded most accurate: my immune system had taken a hit and needed to recuperate. Hanna Sillitoe suggested this particular patch could be the Koebner phenomenon. In a nutshell, this is where new psoriasis lesions appear on previously-unaffected skin due to trauma. It does look like I scratched myself too hard- possibly in my sleep.

These progress pics were taken at the end of each month from January to July (I skipped June).

The first action I took was changing my facial skin product; worried that Balmonds was losing its efficacy due to prolonged use, I switched to Lush’s (self-preserving) Dream Cream. Although I heard good things on forums and via word of mouth, the sales clerk advised me that it’s only meant for the body- not faces. I decided to give it a go given the rave online reviews, but, after a week of regular usage, I abandoned this product.

A week may not be long enough to see if a product works, but this cream felt heavy on my face.

I went back to Balmonds, which was a relief: this balm instantly makes my face feel moist and smooth, and it masks the redness of flared areas, too. Having liked Hanna Sillitoe’s Vitamin D Face Cream, I also purchased Now Foods Vitamin D-3 Cream. For 7 weeks, I put it on my face as well as the Koebner patch. This did not appear to make any positive difference to my skin.

4th Feb '24- facial psoriasis is the worst- visible redness and flakiness- hence me trying multiple new products.

Reaching the beginning of April, I was distressed at still having facial psoriasis…if anything, it looked to be spreading to my nose itself, and chin. I decided to give Weleda White Mallow Face Cream a go, with little success. In terms of my facial routine, it became:

Aloe Pura Organic Aloe Vera Gel after showering -> Now Foods -> Balmonds -> melted coconut oil (with turmeric essential oil mixed in).

29th Mar/4th and 17th Apr- dotted all over my nose/chin, I was back to avoiding the mirror.

I had noticed that in, around and behind both ears were particularly dry. The skin between my earlobe and face kept cracking open, and my right eyelid developed a crusty layer of skin. In the book Understanding Psoriasis, areas affected by seborrheic dermatitis are listed as the scalp, eyebrows, ears, sides of the nose, eyes and face. Needless to say, I began to suspect that I was dealing with this, which comes about as a result of excess Pityrosporum (Malassezia) yeast.

Apr/May '24- not the best quality, but you can see the skin is cracked.

My face had been one of the first areas to heal during the first flare-up, whereas this time the inflamed skin was more persistent. Anti-fungal creams are the suggested remedy, but the two pharmacies I visited would not sell me any without a doctor’s recommendation. Instead, a quick online search for natural, anti-fungal ingredients led to me introducing the below:

MORNING (POST-SHOWER): Aloe Vera Gel (followed by moisturiser ~30 minutes later, when the aloe vera had been fully absorbed)

NIGHT (PRE-BED): Jojoba (or Sweet Almond) and Tea Tree Oil

Thankfully, I saw a positive change within days (for reference, other antifungal essential oils include oregano, lavender and clove).

29th Apr '24- Twelve days after that last photo of my face: still some red patches about the chin, but an otherwise incredible change.

To deal with my scalp, I went back to Superdrug’s Trichology Shampoo/Conditioner/Tonic. While one or two undesirable ingredients are present- namely the shampoo’s Sodium Laureth Sulfate- it does a stellar job of reducing the desire to itch. This combined with gently rubbing melted coconut oil (with turmeric essential oil) into my scalp cleared it up almost entirely in less than 2 months- or 2 bottles’ worth of the shampoo/conditioner (perhaps closer to one-and-a-half).

Other panicked changes I made included adding Vitamin C to my supplements, buying a humidifier (it’s said that moist air equals moist skin and therefore a potential reduction in symptoms/flare-ups) and booking a last minute trip to Fuerteventura. This island is in the North Atlantic Ocean- one of the world’s saltiest (see TAKING A DIP)- and benefits from year-round sunshine (see SUNLIGHT).

I wanted to escape the UK’s miserable weather and expose my skin to as much sunshine and saltwater for a week. I probably should have made it a month…

Back from the trip, I went straight into Hanna Sillitoe’s 28 Day Plan once more. I wasn’t overly enthusiastic at the thought of another juice cleanse, but my motivation for clear skin never, ever wavers.

Three days of juice is a challenge, but delicious soups and salads are just around the corner.

I took a look at Jason Vale’s Skin Deep programme too, and temporarily incorporated some elements such as upping my Zinc intake to 50mg and taking an Omega 3:6:9 Oil blend three times a day (this soon changed- see LIST TWO on the supplements page).

Psoriasis warriors, if you take any advice from this post, please let it be this: stop the doomscrolling. Researching psoriasis can lead to all sorts of depressing suggested searches. Instead, focus on stories like Hanna’s. She recognises the natural ways in which psoriasis can be overcome.

So, what about the cold sore? It seems like a strange thing to talk about in a psoriasis blog! However, they are linked to a weakened immune system. I have never had one that lasted for a month. I tried Virasorb as well as a friend’s homemade, essential oil-based remedy, but neither shifted it. I turned to my aloe vera gel, as several online sources claimed that it can help them heal. After about a week of applying a dab two to three times daily, it finally went away.

Apart from a little too much weight loss, the 28 Day Plan went fine, but it’s not like I saw any improvements in this time. Before going into the (copious!) further research I did, I noticed red rings around some patches after coming out of the shower. A Google search brought up the Woronoff ring, but this is described as a “hypopigmentation” i.e. the ring itself is lighter in colour. As you can see below, my rings were darker than my skin tone.

Feb '24- I dismissed these rings as an effect of warm shower water.

Another research session led to me reading up on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM): more about that on the dedicated page, but the conclusion I came to was that it is unproven, unendorsed claptrap.

I decided to contact my GP to request skin prick and patch tests. However, I was told in a phone call that allergy testing is- and I quote- “rubbish”. Apparently, they are not performed in response to guttate psoriasis and are only useful if a patient suspects that they are allergic to a particular substance. In addition, I was informed that because resources are stretched/limited, I’d be waiting “months and months and months”. So…that was that.

Around 4 weeks after beginning a ‘reset’ with the 28 Day Plan, I noticed that one or two patches looked to be fading in the centre.

Mid March '24- look closely and you can see the start of the recovery process: patches healing from the inside-out.

Seven weeks in, many patches were becoming scalier. Shedding seemed to be increasing: when taking off tops and trousers, there’d be a scattering of skin. As it happened, a Googling of this took me to a Psoriasis Association forum post that I made during my first healing journey, describing exactly what I was experiencing once again.

Early Apr '24- though the internet suggests LESS flaking is a sign of healing, could MORE be an early indicator of things going in the right direction?

As well as undertaking more research online, I bought several books, leading to me updating all of my ‘Remedies’ pages to factor in new knowledge. Many of them focused on the gut (and skin) microbiome: basically, all of the microorganisms that live on and in our bodies. They have persuaded me that our microbiomes do indeed hold the key to our health.

The Good Skin Guide encouraged me to try out a 21 day goats' kefir subscription. I barely kept it down on day one, but I actually did become a little more accustomed to the taste.

Early May '24- it's not like I noticed huge improvements in those 21 days, but hopefully the kefir boosted my healing.

More interestingly, The Keystone Approach brought my attention back to something I researched the first time around: tonsillectomies. Again, visit the dedicated page to find out more, but this led me to initiating the process to have my tonsils removed...especially after producing a positive test for strep:

Early May '24- I did two rapid strep tests. It may be difficult to see here, but the left one has a very faint 'T' line, indicating a positive result. The test on the right came up negative.

In the meantime, I ate all the recommended foods, upping my intake of probiotics and high-fibre meals in particular.