I have moderate psoriasis (P) and am wondering if anyone else here has any experience/info of effect of MT2 on psoriasis in combination with sunbed.
I mainly tan to treat my P and I have my own tanning bed.* So I'm not tanning to get a tan, I'm tanning to treat P.* Tanning is just a side effect for me.* I have type 2 or 3 skin (probably 3), currently have a slight tan, and I'm not looking to get really dark so if I were to try MT2 would be very minimal doses.
I also use coconut oil and teatree oil topically prior to tanning.* This does a few things.* The oils make the P plaques transparent (so UV can penetrate into the P).* The coconut oil is rich in omega and helps moisturize, and both coconut and teatree are antiseptics.* Both help reduce bacterias, itch and plaque build up related to P.
I also take L-lysine.
I have to say these treatments are a decent and natural alternative to prescribed topical treatments with Tars and steroids or oral medications* (immunosuppressants) which are really hard on the body.
I vaguely recall that the key to treating P is melanin and vitamin D.*
In order to tan your body must produce melanin and if MT2 increases melanin production my theory is it should also increase healing of P.
Advice and suggestions welcome but would prefer to hear from people with P (if there's any here) and their experience with MT2 and suggested doses.
I can't speak for psoriasis specifically however Melanotan II has helped people with rosacea, both with treating the self consciousness caused by the redness as well as helping with the inflammatory nature of the condition. Melanin as I'm sure you are aware is a powerful anti-inflammatory, which is why those of darker complexion tend to have fewer problems with inflammatory issues. On that note, Melanotan II also increases the bodies natural oil output which may aid the dryness caused by your specific condition.
I suffered Psoriasis badly as a child, although I haven't had many issues for about 14 years - just a couple around the scalp and ears.
I have vague memories of Polytar and it smelt bad but it seemed to have worked, along with the other creams I was supplied.
I had mild scarring on my arms from Psoriasis, and these cleared up nicely when I started using MT2.
Unfortunately I can't comment much on using UV to treat the condition directly, sorry!
friend had it bad all over his body , in summer he spends time in pool with us and in sun the condition is much better then , before moving down here he use to go in for UV treatments.
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I suffered Psoriasis badly as a child, although I haven't had many issues for about 14 years - just a couple around the scalp and ears.
I have vague memories of Polytar and it smelt bad but it seemed to have worked, along with the other creams I was supplied.
I had mild scarring on my arms from Psoriasis, and these cleared up nicely when I started using MT2.
Unfortunately I can't comment much on using UV to treat the condition directly, sorry!
Tom
"
A little confused.* You have Psoriasis but have never used UV (tanning) to treat it?* Or you just don't know about how tanning treats psoriasis?
If I assume the latter then what is your experience with tanning and psoriasis before you used MT2 compared to your experience to tanning with MT2?* Did you find MT2+tanning more effective treating psoriasis than tanning without MT2?
If I assumed wrong, then you don't use tanning with MT2 and MT2 without UV exposure is effective treating psoriasis?* (cause that would be awesome)
I suffered with bad psoriasis as a child, for about 2 years.
It left me with some pretty horrible looking scars, but luckily not too large and confined to my back and arms.
I never used UV treatment, as they probably wouldn't have suggested it as I was 10. When it cleared up (leaving scarring) I stopped all treatments and haven't been to a doctor about it since.
I've not really experienced any psoriasis other than on my scalp and behind my ears for about 14 years. Currently I have none.
Actually sitting and thinking of it, the remnants of the psoriasis in my scalp has cleared up at the same time I started using MT2 again. I'm unsure of whether this is MT2 related or UV related, as I've never made this link.
I'm not sure how it would respond to MT usage alone!
I have moderate psoriasis (P) and am wondering if anyone else here has any experience/info of effect of MT2 on psoriasis in combination with sunbed.
I mainly tan to treat my P and I have my own tanning bed.* So I'm not tanning to get a tan, I'm tanning to treat P.* Tanning is just a side effect for me.* I have type 2 or 3 skin (probably 3), currently have a slight tan, and I'm not looking to get really dark so if I were to try MT2 would be very minimal doses.
I also use coconut oil and teatree oil topically prior to tanning.* This does a few things.* The oils make the P plaques transparent (so UV can penetrate into the P).* The coconut oil is rich in omega and helps moisturize, and both coconut and teatree are antiseptics.* Both help reduce bacterias, itch and plaque build up related to P.
I also take L-lysine.
I have to say these treatments are a decent and natural alternative to prescribed topical treatments with Tars and steroids or oral medications* (immunosuppressants) which are really hard on the body.
I vaguely recall that the key to treating P is melanin and vitamin D.*
In order to tan your body must produce melanin and if MT2 increases melanin production my theory is it should also increase healing of P.
Advice and suggestions welcome but would prefer to hear from people with P (if there's any here) and their experience with MT2 and suggested doses.
Thanks in advance
"
I don't really know anything about your specific condition, however I'll chime in on a few things. Firstly, you say that the key to treating your condition is melanin and vitamin D however you don't want to get very tan. Unfortunately, that would be somewhat counter-productive unless you mean you just don't want to over do it as alot of users of Melanotan II do. You also say that Vitamin D helps, however the darker you get the more your body will struggle to produce vitamin D.
You have it right alex.* The darker I am, the less melanin and vitamin D my skin will produce....hence the reason I try not to tan too much.* Its a catch 22.
Some things I have learned.*
-UVA doesn't cause melanin production, it causes release of melanin from melanocytes and oxidizes it.*
-UVB causes melanogenisis (melanin production).*
UVA is long wave and penetrates deep into skin to melanocytes, UVB is shorter wave and does not penetrate very deep into skin.*
To get a tan you need UVB to produce melanin and UVA to release it and oxidize it, thats the UV relationship.
So for psoriasis, narrow band UVB is best for psoriasis with a catch....UVB is extremely dangerous and the bulbs are outrageously expensive and I believe only doctors can buy them.* Going to the doctor is inconvenient.
The bulbs in my bed are a UVA/UVB combo (like most salons) with the highest uvb (only about approx 88% UVA and 12% UVB i think) commercially available.* Not exactly ideal for treating psoriasis at home but its a lot more convenient and hygienic than going to a salon or dr office.* It does work, its just not as effective as a pure UVB bulb.* I could go on about facts and theories relating to tanning salons...but I won't.
So for me, this is where MT2 comes in and if I understand it correctly, I can use MT2 without tanning because it does the same thing as UVB (melanogenisis) which is effective treating psoriasis.* On the other hand, I could still tan dark because the MT2 will still cause melanin production.
I'm surprised there hasn't been a study for this with MT2 as millions of people suffer from psoriasis.
So I have been on MT2 for a week (started Jan 7) @ 0.25mg/day.
I tanned on Jan 7th 7min, 9th 8min, 11 9min, and today 6min.* I really darkened up fast so I'm reducing my UV exposure.* Not a drastic color change but more than with UV alone.* I also don't want to darken too fast and want to try and keep moles and freckles to a minimum.
Also need to note I haven't been taking my L-lysine supp or topical coconut oil treatments so the only thing treating my psoriasis right now has been MT2 and UV exposure.
MT2 Side effects]
Effect on psoriasis]
I'd estimate psoriasis on my chest has healed 50% but only about 25% healed on arms/legs/hips.* 1 week of UV alone wouldn't do this.* I know for a fact because the week before I didn't see this kind of response yet I had the same UV exposure.
I shaved my head yesterday so I will have a look and the psoriasis on my head today.
My face is troublesome.* When I was a teen I got a bad sunburn on my face (3rd degree).* While my face is harder to tan, it does tan and the mt2 really shows, but the psoriasis is difficult to treat.* I have to use a topical immuno-suppressent.
So far i'm seeing the MT2 is definitely having a greater effect on my psoriasis than UV exposure alone.*
My opinion so far is MT2 is definitely a safer and more convenient alternative than the topical steroids and tars which are hard on the body, greasy, smelly and labour intensive to apply or oral immunosuppressants which are convenient but dangers and/or hard on the body.
So, two week mark.* I took it pretty easy the last 7 days and only tanned twice since the 13th.
Still not taking L-lysine and have only used coconut/teatree oil topical once or twice.
Psoriasis have turned dark brown (much darker than rest of skin), which makes sense considering research is saying psoriasis has way more melanocytes than normal skin.
Psoriasis on chest is about 70-80% healed.* Arms, hips and legs about 50% healed and fading.* Most noticeable is very little-no plaques forming between tanning sessions and itching reduced to minimal-nothing.
Very little or no psoriasis on my scalp.
Conclusion.*
-MT2 definitely more effective than UV therapy alone
-definitely easier and more convenient than topical tars/steroids
-not as effective as tars/steroids
-less toxic to body than tars/steroids
I plan to continue this therapy until psoriasis free.*
So I've hit a wall.* Psoriasis is about 50% healed (full body) but hasn't really improved in the last week.* Either my mt2 doses aren't high enough or I'm not tanning enough.* Problem is I don't want to tan really dark so I haven't been tanning as much.
So I either need to tan more or increase my dose....either way I'll end up darker.
I'm going to try tanning daily (less than 5 minutes) rather than tan for longer periods of time (10 min or more every 2-3 days)
PS.* I've returned to work this week after 6 weeks off and am being bombarded with "Nice tan!* Where did you go?"* No one believes I didn't go anywhere.* LOL
So I still haven't been taking doses everyday and have tanned maybe once or twice since my last entry.
I've taken 0.5mg/day on thurs and friday, no tanning and noticed an improvement (today) in my psoriasis.* I'm going to continue this dose and no tanning.
My supply is low and I may run out before I can get more.
An oddity I have noted, I had digestive problems and chronic hemorrhoids before MT2 and I am also noticing a major difference while on mt2.* Better digestion, better bowel movements and no hemorrhoids since being on MT2.