Penny, we’re so glad that you are finding being here helpful. We’re nice, but we will subject you to a reality check too: many of us have been to the PsA rodeo too many times.
I complained of sore feet for a long time. A couple of years, maybe more than a couple. It was always “get better shoes” and “orthotic time”. None of that did much good. Repeated X-rays showed nothing was wrong, until one day they did. And then the damage was already done.
Here’s the thing. Inflammation does not show on x-rays, however if you can get your rheum to do an MRI or specialized ultrasound, you might see it on those.
The normal blood work thing is one of things that trips doctors up all the time. Something like 51% of PsA patients have blood work in the normal range. (That fact comes from Dr. Daphna Gladman, the great godmother of PsA research.)
Another newbie article: Inflammatory Markers in PsA
Mine was always normal, so the doc thought nothing was wrong with me. (Well no, that’s not true. She thought I was a whingeing, whining, complaining, depressed and snivelling menopausal woman, that’s what she thought was wrong with me.) For Pete’s sake, my CRP&ESR were normal the whole time PsA was destroying my right hip, and it finished that job in the space of twelve months. What a claim to fame!
Psoriatic Arthritis is a tricky disease to diagnose correctly and to assess accurately. Listen to your docs, and listen to your gut. Fear the disease, not the treatment. And accept the most aggressive therapy that your rheumatologist is prepared to give you.
JMHO