Bronchiectasis and skin problems like psoriasis? Any connection?

Hi Robyn, I see that your question has gone unanswered for some time. I'm tagging a few members to see if they have any thoughts on this. @windwalker @lindam272 @ling123 @tdrell, any thoughts?

Robyn, has there been any change in your skin since you wrote this? What are you doing for your skin issue?

@robynmar, @colleenyoung Robyn and Colleen, I have not had the kind of skin problems that Robyn described. I'm not in the medical field, so I can't conclude with 100% certainty. But my personal opinion is that this is unrelated to the lung infections. I suggest do some googling with key words like lung infection, flaky skin, etc to see if anything come up. If I find anything, I will post it here. But I kind of doubt it. Come to think of it, long before I was diagnosed with MAC, there was a period of time I had all kind of severe skin problems, on my body and hands. My doctor says as we age our skin becomes thinner and more sensitive. So having skin problems at my age is common. She prescribed a couple of different kinds of ointment for my body and hand respectively. The problems cleared up in no time.

Robynmar, re psoriasis.... I just returned from a Road Scholar Program of speakers ...one of whom was a registered Dietician. She had had psoriasis and when she controlled her celiac disease....her psoriasis went away! Tdrell

@robynmar Hi, Robinmar. I have a pile of issues, two of which you mention. Bronchiectasis. Age spots (petechiae) Not really age spots, but blood droplets formed just below the skin which come with advancing disease. Lung infections. A very accurate article in Wikipedia notes 28 diseases and disorders which are part of the Amyloidosis family, including these two. I have these, and several more in my package. The article also leads to several other articles, and Mayo itself has a whole bucket of articles and videos on various forms of Amyloidosis. You should probable look at some of this stuff. These markers which you note are not proof that you have Amy, but they are a good indication you and your doctor should suspect Amy of complicity. First step is to have your doc order a Serum Free Light Chain Assay and a 24-hour Urine Protein scan. If you have ANY protein showing up in either, look farther. If your sFLC Assay reading is above 1.6mG/dL, or the 24-hr total is above 0.5 grams per day, you have serious problem. Find an experienced Clinic/lab like Mayo MN or Sloan-Kettering or Fred Hutchinson, with their doctors. And you can find my story at https://bit.Ly/1w7j4j8. Download or read on line. Peace to you and yours. old karl

I know this is an old post but I came across this looking for specifically Psoriasis and lung issues.

My father has ILP/ILD - pulmonary fibrosis. I know it's not the same thing but I figured I'd chime in incase it helps you or anyone else.

Psoriasis runs in my family. We didn't know this till recently. My father was adopted and I was the first one diagnosed with Psoriasis. We have Palmoplantar/Pustular Psoriasis with atypical involvement. My father had plantar Psoriasis which he took for calluses on his feet. His skin disease went into remission for many years and the time that this lung disease started. They spent years trying to find the cause and came to the conclusion that it is inflammatory and Autoimmune of the connective tissue variety (incl. Systemic Sclerosis, Myositis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, ect). It wasn't till I was diagnosed that we put two and two together. His skin disease recently relapsed - he's been having flakey skin around his neck/back recently and finally going to talk to his Pulmonologist about it.
I have been reading studies lately that they have connected some lung diseases to Psoriasis. It's not terribly common but it can happen. Usually these are COPD and pneumonia.

What caught my eye about your post was talking about the blood spots (petechia) as I have these basically all over (I am 31) along with bruising, bleeding, and splinter hemorrhages. These things seem to be less common amongst Psoriasis, but perhaps more common in Palmoplantar/Pustular.
Our family seems to be very light on the skin disease with spontaneous remissions and relapses - we seem to have more involvement INSIDE our bodies (TMI, but this includes the mouth/throat, GI, and genitourinary tract) and more bleeding than flaking.

I can't assure you that any doctor will take it seriously if you suggest your lung issues and skin issues may be connected - they're considered "rare" complications of Psoriatic Disease, but they are certainly possible. I get the impression that "rare" symptoms in Psoriasis are often linked to the unusual forms of Psoriasis (like Palmoplantar). If you get skin symptoms on your feet, hands, or mouth... I would certainly suggest that you bring it up to your doctors and ask them about the lung conditions that have been connected to Pso/PsA.

I have more recently been getting symptoms akin to my father's: cough, mucus build-up, breathlessness with exertion. I just started Humira so I'm hopeful that they might clear up. My chest x-ray was clear but my father's progression likely took many years of being untreated before they caught it as it seems like our disease moves slowly (he always had lung issues, namely asthma but he wasn't diagnosed with this specific disease till he was about 60).

I'm not sure how bronchiostasis links, but with inflammation... just about anything is possible. Bronchitis has been linked and I think that can progress to what you're dealing with.

I'd just suggest keeping an eye on it and seeing if your doctors feel there's a link and if systemic treatment may help. Psoriasis is a pain to get diagnosed - you DO NEED to see a dermatologist, especially if you have atypical involvement. Don't take no for an answer from a PCP - find a specialist and see what they think. A dermatologist can usually diagnose with a look.

I'm wishing you the best of luck. I hope you're doing alright. It's been a few years since you posted. I would be curious to know how you're doing and if you ever got any answers.

Take care.