Conventional Medicine Treatments for Psoriasis: What You Need to Know

Conventional Medicine Treatments for Psoriasis

Conventional medicine treatments for psoriasis are considered extremely profitable by Big Pharma because psoriasis is a chronic disease. To the extent that Big Pharma does not offer a cure for this disease, patients who are diagnosed with psoriasis represent ongoing payments into the system. Further, patients who develop symptoms of psoriasis and who go ahead and take their prescription medication are guaranteed to develop new symptoms of new diseases as a result of the side effects of their prescription medications for psoriasis. Doctors are not schooled in cures for psoriasis, after all. They have not been educated in regard to a cure for this disease. Don’t get angry with your doctor about the fact that they don’t know about a cure for psoriasis. Hospitals and clinics are often owned by leaders in the industry who will punish doctors for offering a cure for psoriasis to their patients. 

Though there are only treatments (not cures) for psoriasis offered by most conventional medicine doctors (with rare exceptions), there are permanent cures for psoriasis available through other models of medicine and as at-home remedies for psoriasis that actually work. 

Prescription Drugs for Psoriasis Treatment:

Prescription drugs for psoriasis treatment include the following:

Creams and Ointments for Psoriasis

• Corticosteroids 

At first glance, corticosteroids may seem like a harmless treatment that could perhaps do a lot of good, right? After all, you’re trying to get rid of a skin problem, so it seems to make sense to apply some cream or ointment to the skin. And, your doctor assures you that corticosteroids are a gold standard in the treatment of psoriasis. What he/she doesn’t tell you is that corticosteroid use can lead to steroid dependency. After all, corticosteroids are a steroid medication and steroids are, in fact, addictive. The reason why they are addictive is because when you try to stop using them, your skin will get red and itchy and painful as part of the withdrawal process. Then, you may not only have psoriasis, but also an addiction to steroids and withdrawal symptoms of steroid medications to exacerbate the problem. Thankfully, however, there are at-home treatments for steroid addiction including an addiction to corticosteroid creams and ointments.

Corticosteroids are often intended to be applied once daily or on alternate days or weekends to prevent corticosteroid cream addiction. Psoriasis patients need relief from their painful skin condition, but the nature of corticosteroid creams involves the development of a drug-tolerance that leads to lesser and lesser medicinal effects even with the same dose taken at the specified intervals. Thus, patients are almost guaranteed to develop an addiction to corticosteroid creams. As such, these creams / ointments for psoriasis are rather like a gateway drug that gets the patient “hooked'' during the early phases of their treatment.

Examples of corticosteroid ointments and creams include:

• Triamcinolone (Brand Names: Acetonide, Trianex)
• Clobetasol (Brand Names: Temovate)

• Vitamin D Analogues

One of the first questions a patient should ask themselves when they are prescribed a “vitamin analogue” like this as a prescription medication is, why wouldn't I just take natural vitamin D? Taking an “analogue” of a vitamin basically means that you’re taking a synthetic version of the vitamin that has been chemically manipulated. As such, a vitamin D analogue will not behave in the body like natural vitamin D. In other words, it will definitely cause new diseases to develop (since the body needs real vitamin D, not a false, chemically manipulated version of it). 

Further, the use of vitamin D analogue creams / ointments in conventional medicine to treat psoriasis substantiates the fact that psoriasis sufferers need more sun than the average person (because the sun causes the skin to produce natural vitamin D inside the body). This lends credibility to the Sunlight and Seawater cure for psoriasis that has been used by thousands of people worldwide to cure psoriasis or at least cause it to clear up for substantial periods of time. However, despite the fact that more vitamin D3 from the sun may indeed help recovering psoriasis patients, the actual mechanism of action that lies behind the Sunlight and Seawater Cure for psoriasis is different that what you might expect (Read about Sunlight and Seawater for Psoriasis to learn more.)

If you want to take a vitamin D3 supplement to support your psoriasis treatment, be sure to find a supplement that also contains vitamin K2 (in the form of MK-7). If your vitamin D3 supplement does not contain vitamin K2 in the proper proportion, your body will deposit calcium in your blood vessels instead of in your bones. An alternative to a vitamin D3 / vitamin K2 combo supplement is daily doses of Cod Liver Oil which also contains vitamin A and Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

• Retinoids

Retinoids are a class of drugs that have effects on the body that are similar to the effects of vitamin A. Retinoids are a type of vitamin A analogue. So again, as a patient, if you are prescribed retinoids, you should wonder, why would I not just take natural vitamin A or beta-carotene?

Indeed, patients who are prescribed either vitamin D or vitamin A analogues (such as retinoids) as creams or in other forms, should consider taking a cod liver oil supplement instead of these topical prescription medications. 

Retinoids cause an increased sensitivity to sunlight, which is unfortunately since sunlight is one of the cures for psoriasis. And it can also cause your skin to turn blue permanently (doctors call this “skin discoloration”). Retinoids can also cause skin irritation, the development of eczema, skin swelling, blistering, stinging, or skin infection (in other words, they can cause the symptoms of psoriasis). Retinoids that come into contact with normal, healthy skin can cause the skin to become inflamed and irritated. Also, these drugs cannot be taken by pregnant women.

Examples of prescription retinoid creams and ointments for psoriasis include:

• Tazarotene (Brand Names: Tazorac or  Avage) - This is the retinoid most commonly used to treat psoriasis. 
• Retinol
• Tretinoin
• Adapalene
• Alitretinoin
• Bexarotene

• Calcineurin inhibitors

Calcineurin inhibitor creams and ointments are used to reduce inflammation and skin cell buildup in psoriatic patients. Doctors often prescribe this type of topical psoriasis treatment for thin, affected areas of the skin such as around the eyes. Though it is gentler on the skin than retinoids and vitamin D analogue creams, it has been shown to significantly increase the risk of developing skin cancer and lymphoma.  Calcineurin inhibitors for psoriasis include:

• Tacrolimus (Brand Name: Protopic)
• Pimecrolimus (Brand Name: Elidel)

• Salicylic acid

Salicylic acid is often prescribed in the form of shampoos or specialty scalp solutions that are used specifically to treat scalp psoriasis. Unfortunately, this type of topical treatment for psoriasis can cause a long list of undesirable side effects including: 

• Burning skin
• Skin dryness or skin irritation
• Severe headache
• Tinnitus (ringing or buzzing in the ears)
• Hearing problems
• Brain fog / difficulty thinking
• Severe stomach pain
• Vomiting 
• Diarrhea
• Dizziness / light-headedness
• Feeling like you might pass out
• Shortness of breath

• Coal tar and Goeckerman Therapy (UV Light Therapy)

Coal tar may be prescribed or purchased over-the-counter as a cream, oil, or shampoo. It can be extremely irritating for the skin and psoriasis patients also report that it is messy and it smells bad. Pregnant women cannot use coal tar as a treatment. Further, coal tar can cause “tar acne”.

Coal tar makes the skin more sensitive to the effects of UVB light so doctors often have patients combine these two therapies to make use of the extra skin sensitivity. But again, this treatment recommendation ultimately indicates, once again, that sunlight (a natural source of healing full-spectrum light) is a legitimate treatment for psoriasis. Indeed, this suggests that the effects of sunlight on the skin and the whole body should be examined more closely by psoriasis patients so that they can better understand how sunlight is not always damaging to the skin, but rather that it can promote detoxification of the body, especially detoxification of the liver, along with the production of natural vitamin D (which is deficient in patients with psoriasis).

• Anthralin

Anthralin is another coal tar product sold in a cream form for topical application in psoriasis patients. This product irritates the skin and stains everything that it touches. Side effects of Anthralin treatment include:

• Skin rash
• Itching
• Hives
• Swelling of the face, tongue, or lips
• Pain at the application site
• Spreading of the psoriasis
• Severe skin irritation

In other words, this “medication” may make your psoriasis worse as a “side effect”.

Light Therapy / Phototherapy for Psoriasis

Light therapies are prescribed for patients with more severe cases of psoriasis. Usually they are prescribed for use in combination with other treatments. Light therapy is usually applied repeatedly and involves natural or artificial light.

• Sunlight / Heliotherapy 

Some doctors recommend that patients briefly expose themselves to sunlight. In reality, many psoriasis patients need more than brief exposure to sunlight, however. Learn more about how to apply sunlight and seawater as a psoriasis treatment here.

• UVB Light

UVB light is a much more expensive alternative to sunlight and heliotherapy. Patients often need 2 to 3 treatments weekly. Narrowband UVB light treatments may cause burns.

• Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA)

Psoralen plus UVA or PUVA therapy is much more dangerous than simply exposing the skin to sunlight. Psoralen is a drug that causes the skin to become more sensitive to sunlight. This treatment can cause the following side effects:

• Nausea
• Headache
• Premature wrinkling of the skin
• Freckles
• Depression
• Red, oozing skin reactions
• Increased skin sensitivity to the sun
• Increased risk of skin cancer, especially melanoma

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• Excimer laser

Psoriasis treatment with an excimer laser involves the use of a strong UVB light that targets isolated areas of the skin. Usually, patients require fewer sessions using the excimer laser than with other light treatments, but side effects can include second degree burns. 

Oral or Injected drugs

• Steroids

In addition to being prescribed topical steroids, many patients are also prescribed oral steroids or even steroid injections of triamcinolone. As we discussed in our section on topical steroids, the use of prescribed steroid medications either oral or injection can lead to addiction and the development of withdrawal symptoms which include severe skin irritation. 

• Retinoids

Retinoids are synthetic vitamin A drugs as we discussed above in the section on topical retinoids. Some patients receive a prescription for oral retinoid pills such as Acitretin (Soriatane). The side effects of taking retinoids and synthetic vitamin A products are severe because basically the body is exposed to a vitamin A trickster that pretends to be vitamin A, but that does not have the ability to function in the body like vitamin A. As such, natural vitamin A may not be able to do what it needs to do in the body which could lead to a wide variety of negative health effects over time (including vitamin A deficiency, for example). 

Side effects of oral or injected retinoids include:

• Discoloration of the skin
• Sensitivity to the sun and UV light
• Acne
• Eczema
• Skin swelling
• Blistering of the skin 
• Stinging sensation on the skin

Examples of oral and injected retinoids include:

• Acitretin
• Alitretinoin
• Bexarotene (a rexinoid)
• Isotretinoin

• Methotrexate (Trexall)

Methotrexate is a cancer chemotherapy medication that works by inhibiting enzyme production. It suppresses inflammation and slows the production of skin cells, but at a high price. Methotrexate causes serious side effects. Essentially, patients experience the same side effects as cancer patients who take chemotherapy including:

• Dizziness
• Headache
• Fatigue / exhaustion
• Swollen and painful gums in the mouth
• Decreased appetite
• Digestive issues (compounding inflammatory bowel disease symptoms that patients may already be struggling with)
• Red eyes
• Hair loss
• Mouth sores
• Diarrhea
• Anemia
• Pale skin
• Liver problems
  • Yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice)
• Persistent vomiting and nausea
• Stomach and abdominal pain
• Easy bruising
• Black stools
• Enlarged glands / lymph nodes
• Bone pain
• Discoloration of the skin
• Odd or unusual pain in the skin
• Kidney problems
• Dry, persistent cough
• Muscle weakness
• Neck stiffness
• Severe headaches
• Irregular heartbeat
• Vision changes
• Mental health issues
• Mood problems
• Seizures
• Susceptibility to infection 

Alternatives to Methotrexate include Adalimumab (Humira) or Infliximab (Remicade). These medications don’t work as well to treat skin symptoms and they include similarly dangerous side effects as Methotrexate.

Methotrexate is a dangerous drug and patients who are taking it must regularly get their liver functioning tested as well as their blood count. It can cause a significantly increased risk of developing skin cancer, including melanoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and lung cancer. 

• Cyclosporine / Neoral

Cyclosporine is prescribed for severe psoriasis to suppress the immune system. As such, it can lead to very serious disease. It cannot be used continuously because of its toxicity. It increases the risk of infection and damages the kidneys. Patients must monitor their blood pressure for signs of circulatory / kidney problems. 

Side effects include:

• Increased hair growth
• High blood pressure
• Gum inflammation
• Numbness in the hands or feet
• Tremors
• Restless 
• Digestive upsets 
• Nausea
• Stomach cramps
• Diarrhea
• Headache
• Blood sugar changes 

• Biologics -

Biologics are typically administered as an injection for psoriasis. These medicines disrupt the immune system and as such, this type of treatment is the most dangerous of the listed oral drugs. Examples of biologics include:

• Adalimumab (Brand Name: Humira)
• Etanercept (Brand Name: Enbrel)
• Infliximab (Brand Name: Remicade)
• Ustekinumab (Brand Name: Stelara)
• Secukinumab (Brand Name: Cosentyx)
• Ixekizumab (Brand Name: Taltz)

Biologics are expensive and many health insurance plans do not cover their cost.

Side effects of Biologics for the treatment of psoriasis includes the following:

• Suppression of the immune system that leads to a serious infection such as tuberculosis
• Allergic reaction
• Tissue reaction at the injection site
• Chills
• Diarrhea
• Weakness / lethargy
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Digestive problems
• Rash

Other Oral Medications for Psoriasis

• Thioguanine (Brand Name:. Tabloid)

This is a chemotherapy drug that is usually used to treat leukemia. Side effects include stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, itching, rash, hair loss, skin color changes. This is a very dangerous drug.

• Hydroxyurea (Brand Name: Droxia, Hydrea)

Hydroxyurea is another dangerous drug for psoriasis. It can have serious, negative effects on the bone marrow. Patients who take it are in danger of developing serious, life-threatening infections or significant bleeding. It increases the risk of developing all types of cancer including skin cancer. Psoriasis patients who take this drug should not expose themselves to the sun due to severe skin sensitivity caused by Hydroxyurea. This drug may cause you to develop life-threatening bleeding in the digestive tract, or ongoing respiratory problems.

• Apremilast (Brand Name: Otezla)

This drug is often prescribed for psoriatic arthritis. Side effects, however, are very serious. 

Side effects of apremilast include:

• Digestive problems
• Diarrhea
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Abdominal pain
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Frequent bowel movements
• Decreased appetite
• Upper respiratory tract infection
• Runny nose
• Sinus congestion
• Sinus headache
• Fatigue and general malaise
• Insomnia
• Chronic back pain
• Depression
• Dental problems
• Tooth abscesses

Prescription Drugs for Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment:

As mentioned above, psoriatic arthritis drugs are dangerous and may cause additional harm to patients with psoriasis. Common prescription drugs for psoriatic arthritis include:

• Leflunomide (Brand Name: Arava)
• Methotrexate (Brand Names: Trexall, Otrexup, Rasuvo, Rheumatrex) 
• Sulfasalazine (Azulfidine)

These prescription medications cause the following serious side effects:

• Lung inflammation and scarring- Psoriasis patients who already have problems with their skin, their joints, and their digestive systems do not also need respiratory issues caused by their prescription medications.  
• Liver damage - Many experts who cure psoriasis note that the liver is an organ that is often diseased in psoriasis patients. In other words, this organ is struggling. Taking drugs that will damage the liver may lead to a worsening of certain psoriasis symptoms as well as new disease presentations. 
• Bone marrow suppression- Bone marrow suppression leads to lower red blood cell production which ultimately causes patients to experience exhaustion and fatigue and a much lower quality of life as well as significantly increased risk of bone cancer.

Side Effects of Common Psoriatic Arthritis Medications

The drugs listed above cause the following serious and additional health problems:

• Liver damage - The liver is one of the primary detoxification organs. As such, taking a drug that may cause additional liver damage can lead to more serious health problems or even more serious psoriasis symptoms. 
• Bone marrow suppression- This can lead to bone cancer. 
• Lung inflammation and scarring- Obviously, respiratory problems caused by these drugs lead to health issues that are self-evident in the world today including susceptibility to COVID, influenza, pneumonia, and just general lethargy and a lowered quality of life.

Cures for Psoriasis: Alternative Treatments for Psoriasis

If you go to a doctor and ask if there is a cure for psoriasis, your doctor will tell you that no, there is no cure. But people do cure themselves of psoriasis. So is there a cure for psoriasis or not? It depends on who you ask and whether you’re willing to change your lifestyle a bit and maybe try some alternative psoriasis treatments until you discover the combination of therapies that work for you. If you're new to AlivenHealthy and alternative psoriasis therapies, start by reading our article about fumaric acid as a cure for psoriasis,  ox bile, chlorine dioxide, and then move on to the sunlight and seawater cure for psoriasis, but don't neglect to read the other links that we've listed at the bottom of the page. Each person's physiology is unique and you may need to add some other psoriasis treatments to your protocol to be permanently cured of the disease. It can take 6 months to a year to overcome psoriasis and if you don’t have success by this time, it is likely that there is some other disease process happening in the body that needs to be addressed.

Colonics and/or coffee enemas (or filtered water enemas) are another important supporting treatment that help people permanently cure psoriasis. The large intestine is often implicated as an organ that is struggling to remove toxicities from the body, although manifestations of skin plaques and rashes are often the most noticeable (and embarrassing) features of the disease. Leaky gut is implicated in the development of psoriasis in a large majority of cases, and as such, regular cleansing and care of the large intestine is crucial for recovery. 

Skin problems from acne to eczema, psoriasis plaques to cancerous lesions, are often an expression of something going awry in the digestive system. Psoriasis sufferers who wish to cure their psoriasis permanently should definitely work with digestive system treatments, especially colonics and/or enemas and dietary changes, particularly in the initial stages of treatment to gain confidence that the disease can, in fact, be cured. Over time, after the large intestine has healed, it may be possible to return to a more normal diet and to do enemas and colonic treatments less frequently.

Based on our experiences with these treatment options that are often used as a comprehensive protocol to cure psoriasis at home, we have found that yes there is a cure for psoriasis, though patients may vary in terms of what they respond to (and how quickly they recover) because the core problem underlying the disease may differ from patient-to-patient. If you’re ready to cure your psoriasis using at-home treatments, then there will be work involved and you may need to experiment to find the right combination of treatments that works for you. Nonetheless, the goal of this book iis to provide you with the information you need to cure psoriasis permanently.

Diet and Alternative Treatment Options

If you want to cure psoriasis, one of the most important things you can do is change your diet as part of the initial phase of your treatment. Doctors may claim that dietary changes won’t do a thing to help you, but many patients who’ve cured their psoriasis would beg to differ. You don’t have to change your diet forever if you have psoriasis, but if you follow one of the diets we talk about here, you’ll increase the likelihood of experiencing success at curing the disease early on, which will give you confidence to continue with treatments. After you’ve successfully cleared up your the psoriasis symptoms on your skin and given your digestive system time to heal, you may be able to return to a normal, healthy diet and experience no new symptoms of psoriasis.

If your doctor tells you that diet won’t change a thing for you as a psoriasis patient, you should know that your doctor probably took one or maybe NO nutrition classes in their medical studies so they’re hardly qualified to speak to the possible utility of making nutritional changes to get rid of psoriasis. When you ask the doctor about how to cure this disease, they probably will only be able to tell you whether or not there are surgeries or pharmaceutical treatments to treat symptoms of psoriasis temporarily. Conventional medicine is not a business about cures. Indeed, the word “cure” is censored by Google and Facebook. Why? Because it’s more profitable for Big Pharma to dole out treatments that do NOT cure disease.

How to Find a Cure for Psoriasis

Our goal at AlivenHealthy to provide information about research into actual curative agents for disease and compile them in one place so that psoriasis patients can find them easily and decide for themselves how to treat this disease. Take at look at the list of “Other Important Links” at the bottom of the page to read information that we’ve gathered about scientifically validated psoriasis cures that actually work.

Visit this AlivenHealthy link for more information about treatment centers all over the world that offer alternative cures for psoriasis.

In summary, if you’re ready to cure psoriasis, whether you intend to travel or to do it at home, take a multi-pronged approach to the disease. Many people feel discouraged when I tell them that a permanent cure for psoriasis could take time, but that doesn't mean that you won't experience relief and regression from the disease right away if you follow our treatment recommendations. Indeed, give some of the treatments that we talk about here a try and find the ones that cause a noticeable positive change in your psoriasis (including perhaps arthritis symptoms or digestive problems). Give these treatments, particularly the ones mentioned in the introductory paragraphs, time to work and continue experimenting to find additional options to take your healing to the next level using supportive treatments until you find the right combination that works for you.

The Psoriasis Cure: Cure Skin Autoimmune Problems, Inflammatory Bowel Disease, and Arthritis Symptoms Using Scientifically Supported Treatments That Work - BUY THE BOOK HERE!!

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The Barefoot Healer's Guide to Autoimmune Disease, Volume 1 - BUY HERE!

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