Plantar fasciitis is one of the types of enthesitis that is part of PsA. I got plantar fasciitis when my PsA was developing and I thought it was just from increasing my walking and being overweight. Went to a podiatrist who gave me inserts (no comment on the toenails splitting, cracking, and curling!). PsA is often missed. I was a chiropractor for 30 years and I missed a couple of cases myself. Looking back, I had it for about 8 years before I self-referred to a rheumatologist who was the first to actually examine my āscalp eczemaā and make the correct diagnosis.
Sorry to hear you are having issues with this too. Iām waiting to get in to see a rheumatologist, and am keeping a journal of symptoms. I have noticed that sometimes the heel pain and stiffness almost completely disappears and will then pop up again randomly. Same for my thumb joint. Is this something that is consistent with PsA?
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I never noticed my toenails changing until someone in the forum advised me to check my nails closely. No cracking or curling but one nail looks thick and different than the others, like a fungus has affected it. The nail next to it looked like it had some damage in the form of- I wouldnāt call it pitting- but definitely uneven surface (see the photo above).
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I donāt know if it is consistent with PsA but it is consistent with my PsA.
My fingernails will become pitted just before a flare. Right now they are ok. So are my hands. But just before a flare my fingertips become hyper sensitive and nothing feels right when I touch it. It is like the feeling in my fingers just goes haywire. Then I start getting skin bubbles and the peeling starts. My finger tips will peel and peel and peel. Looking backā¦they did this when I was a kid.
Like PetieCue, up above, I had Plantar Fasciitis for years. Still do. I did the podiatrist thing over and over. I did the cortizone shots in the feet (worked for a bit but not long). I did the custom orthotics. Ridiculous! Waste of time and money. I used to walk 4-5 miles a day, regardless of my weight and completed in 10k trail races. Never won but always had fun.
Come to think of it, my feet have hurt since I was a child. My folks thought I loved shoes. Nope, I just kept trying to find something to make my feet feel better. No one understood that my feet always, always hurt.
Now I walk terribly. Every step is a new experience in pain. Even sleeping can be painful.
sorry, you hit a nerve and made me chatty. Hang in there
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That disappearing and randomly popping up thing is characteristic of PsA for many people that post here, certainly for me too. The good news is that for me, it means I can have a joint (or joint group), like my neck, in pain for five months, and then one day I wake up and itās gone. For some though, there can be damage being done during this time, so just stay persistent with keeping the journal - note that doctors, particularly Rheumys, are interested in function or lack there of, and stiffness, but generally not pain - so try to journal functional stuff - eg I hobble for the first 5 mins of each day, rather than my heels are in pain. Then when you get your appointment youāll have lots of great info for you and the Rheumy to make decisions with.
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Thatās great advice, thank you. I was wondering how long a flare lasts. Iām guessing itās different for everyone but I was thinking a few days, never knew they could last for months. Ouch!
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Hi,
Iāve had similar pain for the last two years. It got so bad twice last year that I could barely walk. Tried painkillers, insoles, rotating shoes (heel, flats, wedges etc) and nothing worked. In a last ditch attempt I started exercising my feet and legs and, really, that is what helps me the best and keeps the the pain under control. But if i donāt exercise regularly the pain gets worse.
Rheumy thinks I may have PsA but currently diagnosed as Connective Tissue Disease - my symptoms cross-over with a number of autoimmune diseases unfortunately. But I do have Psoriasis on my scalp, in ears, knees, elbows and nails and funnily enough the nearest joints (neck, shoulders, elbows, knees - fingers and toes too) are the ones that have been consistently painful for the last 18 years. I also get the random but specific pain - for example extreme pain in middle joint of right pinky from Dec 2019 to early Feb 2020, then left hip from mid Feb 2020 to present. Honestly, you couldnāt make it up. 
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Sounds to me like a good case of PsA. Especially with the psoriasis in the same areas as the pain. Are you taking any of the meds for PsA? (Humira) My heel pain and stiffness suddenly disappeared again. Not complaining about that but it has done that before, then came back again. Iām not sure Iāll do the meds if I get the DX, I canāt stand being sick, and my understanding is that the meds lower your ability to fight off the bugs.
I hear you. Interestingly, Iām still generally sick least out of my family. Flu like illness 2 winters ago that half my family got? Not me. Stomach bug? You bet lol.
My point is that our immune systems are not working correctly, and for most people talking these meds regulates them at a more regular level. There are people who have a bad reaction, but itās not very common.
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I second @Stoney. Iāve been on Humira & then its bio-similar since 2012, plus Mtx. I cannot remember when I last had a cold and the last bout of 'flu was back in 2008. My family read me the riot act recently as apparently thereās something nasty going around and I was under the impression I was invincible. (I have complied - under house-arrest for over a month now).
Yeah my understanding is that psoriasis is an autoimmune disease. Iāve had it for many years but am just now experiencing the joint pain, heel pain and stiffness, etc. Iām waiting see my Rhumie, maybe we can figure it out.
@Timothy88 - Like @Sybil and @Stoney - I have gotten sick from bugs like colds etc a whole lot less once I started coherent PsA treatment. Our meds donāt ālowerā our immune system really though. As in order to ālowerā an immune system that presupposes itās ānormalā to start with. Given we have PsA that means weāve got an āabnormalā system because PsA is due to your immune system going insane and needlessly attacking you. So what our meds do is to try and ānormaliseā our immune systems so they stop needlessly attacking us, more normal immune systems do a whole lot better at fighting off bugs and colds etc.
Ok that makes sense. Iāve always said that Iāll die before I do those meds but you bring up a good point. Iāve never really thought much about how psoriasis is the product of an overactive immune system. Iāve had psoriasis for many years but am just now experiencing the pain and stiffness in my Achilles heel and in my hand.
Haha! Thatās a bit extreme!
Iād have probably been the same if PsA hadnāt hit me āsystemicallyā, i.e. made me feel like I was dying. I actually used the words - for once not out of melodrama ā¦ woke up one day & said āI feel like Iām dyingā. Husband didnāt disagree - heās the objective, observant one around here.
Itās your call. Iām sure youāll weigh it all up once you get a diagnosis. It is important to look ahead. I thought Iād avoid joint damage ā¦ I havenāt. It has crept up but slowly. I think the slowness is due to the meds. So 2 things for me now - the desire to avoid overwhelming āmalaiseā (crushing fatigue etc.) and the need to keep my joints working as long as poss.
From what Iāve read, psoriasis is one step down in terms of autoimmunity from PsA, so possibly one way of seeing it is that itās not full-on autoimmunity the way PsA is.
I donāt like taking drugs. Waiting a long time now for remission ā¦ if only!
Yeah I was being a little dramatic thereš. Back in 2012 I had to have 8 inches of my large intestine removed because of diverticulitis. Iām now wondering if that is a by product of PsAā¦
Gut issues and PsA appear to like going hand in hand for lots of people. Auto-immune issues also tend to cluster too for many of us. Sadly.
If you have what I call ādry rotā on your toenails, itās not good. Only one of my feet has terrible dry rot on the toenails, the other doesnāt, MY fingernails don;t have pitting, bu they have ridges that run parallel to my fingers. Run another fingernail across your fingernails.
My first symptoms were after my 4th neck fusion. They used bone off my hip that time and and after three months, the ache where they took the bone off spread to my other hip. After that, I developed severe tricep tendinitis. First rheumy missed all that.
I donāt know about the dry rot on the toenails but a couple of them look different (thick, different texture). I do have some pretty good ridges on my fingernails. Good enough to pick with another nail. No pitting as of yet. Still having the stiffness and some pain in my right Achilles heel.
Hi,
I am new here and just read your post about diverticultis and PsA. I had intense PsA symptoms after three bouts of diverticultis and a micro-perforation within a 9 month period. I was also having liver inflammation. Now I am connecting the dots and realize that they are all related. Iām hoping you are doing ok and feeling better.
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I need to do some research on this issue to see if there is a connection. That would explain a lot.
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