Of course, none of them worked. I have been prodded with acupuncture needles; basted from head to foot in all sorts of creams and ointments, some very foul smelling, some quite nice; put on weird and wonderful diets (each one contradicting the last); I have been hypnotised (at least, she said I was – I didn’t feel a thing apart from the pain of parting with another $100 note); I have been prayed for (I’m not religious); I have had colloidal minerals, fish oils, potions, herbal poultices and I have been told to wear crystals, stare at coloured lights, have caffeine enemas, meditate and rearrange my room to let in the positive Chi from the north.

And then there were the real doctors. They gave me stuff too. Sometimes it was creams (sweet smelling and foul) – the only difference from the ones advocated by the snake oil peddlers mentioned previously was that some of these ones really hurt. I have also been injected; given pills that made me feel ill and forced to sunbathe (I have been burned more times than I like to reflect upon). With the real doctors, some of what they did worked – with the fake ones, nothing worked – ever. The problem was the psoriasis always came back.

I have always been blessed with self confidence – one that has been boosted by the fact that from a very young age, I have been married to a beautiful and adorable wife who truly regarded beauty as being more than skin deep – and, believe me, there has always been lots of skin. In fact, we always joked that the only way to get me truly out of bed was with a vacuum cleaner!!

One day, I just threw my hands in the air and said: enough is enough. No more treatment for psoriasis. From now on, it would not be my problem – it would be other people’s problem!!

Then in 2002, I was diagnosed with Sarcoidosis. By the time I was eventually diagnosed, I was sure that the end was neigh. I was exhausted: I couldn’t breathe; the coughing; my once superb fitness was gone; I had not had a good night’s sleep in 15-years; the kidney stones – they say that pain is character building. 20 stones in one year – I must be one hell of a guy!! I was also finding it hard to concentrate on anything and my memory was shot. Was I going mad as well?

With the Sarc, the psoriasis was long forgotten – it was the least of my problems.

It didn’t help that the doctors didn’t have any answers. They threw prednisone at it twice (two 9-month courses). Each time, it turned me into a fat and very bad tempered monster. That my wife and kids stuck it out is beyond me – they are heroes!!

And the damned Sarc came back each time – and worse than before. And to add insult to injury, the psoriasis flair after the prednisone courses was wicked. Not only was I ill, but I also looked awful!

And then, out of the blue came an e-mail from Meg. She had read a cry for help on the World Sarc message board and decided to inform me of the Marshall Protocol.

I nearly deleted it on sight – another snake oil peddler. I hope that hell has a very special spot for those parasites!!

I have no idea why I didn’t delete the message. It must have been a Sunday morning and I must have had some time to kill because I clicked on the link she provided and started reading. I have enough medical and scientific knowledge to know that what they were saying looked and sounded ok. I was now a little interested, but I knew that I needed help to evaluate the science in detail.

One of my best friends is a doctor – an Accident and Emergency Physician. He and I took a couple of weeks to look through all of the articles and his response was that he didn’t believe any of it, but the science was sound.

I asked him if it was worth a shot and he replied that given the alternatives, it would do no harm. He warned me very seriously not to get my hopes up. I didn’t. I had been down that road too many times before – I would give it three months and no more.

So, in the middle of October 2003, after enormous difficulty and having to import the medication privately, I started the Marshall Protocol.

I know that compared to others that I have come across in real life, and in cyberspace, I must have seemed mildly afflicted. I still worked full-time, I studied part-time, I ran a martial arts club (all be it from the side-lines); I was on the board of trustees of our local school; I was a father to my children, a friend to my friends and a husband to my wife. But I was running on fumes and something had to give. The MP was actually my last hope before I would have to start dismantling my life – and in my heart, I believed it was a load of rubbish!!

Looking back on it, I herxed big time. I felt really crap. I was dizzy, I found it hard to think, I couldn’t move without coughing till I puked, my sinuses were flooding me and I was in pain – everywhere. I was feeling worse and they were telling me that this was good because it meant that everything was working. How did I know that it wasn’t my Sarc that was getting worse? I felt that they had all bases well and truly covered: if I felt better, they could say “See, the MP is working!” and if I felt worse they could say “Good, that is what we want…it means that you are getting better” – do you know why I believed it – sceptical me?

It was because from day 1 of the MP, I slept like a baby – for the first time in 15-years. It was heaven, it was blissful, it was ecstasy and it was one huge problem less. It was worth all the hassle and expense for that one reason alone!!! From that moment, guys, you had my full attention!! There was no way that the MP could be rubbish.

I stuck at it. I had real problems telling when I was herxing – I was so used to feeling bad that when a new symptom came along, I didn’t notice. I could not tell the difference between the Sarc and the herx. I decided that everything was herx, even hangovers!

But ever so slowly, I started to emerge out into a world without hurt, without brain-fog and with hints of more energy – and guess what? My Psoriasis started to clear. What a bonus!! I was not expecting it and this time, it was not coming back. I went from 70% coverage to 90% clear – very little remains.

Yes, I am still herxing but it is waning. Yes there are set backs as I try new combinations of antibiotics – but nothing like it was. The mind is a strange thing - I now have to struggle to remember how bad I felt.

Get well people and thanks Trevor, Meg and team.