Well, our rheumy said he's never seen it before, but he now told my husband there's a chance all of his joint problems are PsA! How unlucky could he be? The guy has about a billion health problems-and now PsA??? If it's not PsA, it could be RA--his RA factor is 33, which is weak reactive, but that number went up from 18 just a short time ago. He also has uric acid in his blood, but no gout at this time, although the doctor said he probably will get gout, too!
Just as he retires and he wants to relax and enjoy life--and get more things done around here that were too hard for him to do when he was working all the time. I shouldn't be a pessimist, but I'm already worried about having to move because we won't be able to take care of this place-the big yard, etc. That would be a nightmare for me! I love this place!
I can't help but envy our parents and other older people we know who've enjoyed good health into their 80s. But, I know we've had it much better than a lot of people. These things are never easy to accept, no matter how old we are, I guess. After spending 35 years raising kids (not that I didn't enjoy that, but it is hard work!) it would be nice to spend a few years relaxing and enjoying all the things in life we gave up during those years!
I'm going to try and think positive. He will be on prednisone (I think it's one of the safest things for him) so maybe that will keep him feeling OK. Just wondering, what next?!
Lottery tickets, I'd go for lottery tickets. The chances of two unrelated people having PsA are 1 in one MILLION. That being said there is a a trend going in the USA (maybe other areas) that I'm not comfortable with... Suddenly PsA is a hot disease (thanks Phil) but it also is replacing Undifferentiated Arthritis as a diagnoses because it qualifies with most insurance companies for aggresive treatment. I'mnot saying UdA is not a huge probelm (especially for those that have it) just that the ultimate result with muddy diagnoses is muddy testing of new treatment.
I don't think our doctor would misdiagnose this. He just said PsA could be a possibility because Dave's dad and brother both had psoriasis, and, while Dave hasn't been diagnosed with psoriasis, he does have some weirdness in a couple of his fingernails. If not for those two factors and all the ridiculous joint problems, I don't think PsA would even be considered. His mom had RA, so he could've inherited that, too.
I'm not suggesting he is being misdiagnosed, just a general comment. But I'd sure want an explanation for that jump in RA numbers and the uric acid. Could be Sjogrens or a multitude of other things many far more treatable than PsA.
Now that's interesting... Though I'm sorry to hear that there's two people in the same house suffering a similar disease, if not the same!
Good to know, lamb, I'm glad you mentioned Sjogrens--maybe the doctor is thinking about other possibilities, too, but my husband doesn't really listen that close and I didn't go to the appointment with him. Do you know what Kienbock's disease is? It's when a bone or bones in your hand break years after doing lot of work that jars your hands--my husband did a lot of shoveling and jackhammering the first years of his job, like 30 years ago. He had Kienbock's in one hand about 15 years ago and now he has it in his other hand. Let's just say, he's a mess!
tntlamb said:
I'm not suggesting he is being misdiagnosed, just a general comment. But I'd sure want an explanation for that jump in RA numbers and the uric acid. Could be Sjogrens or a multitude of other things many far more treatable than PsA.
And, LL, funny me, I always feel like I'm the "tough" one--I seem to be able to take a lot more than the people around me, and I tend to worry more about them and have so much sympathy--it's the natural mothering, nurturing instinct. IDK how many times I've said I'd rather me have whatever it is than see my kids or grandkids suffer--but, my husband? Not usually, but now thinking about him suffering from all these different things just bothers me.
ladylazarus said:
Now that's interesting... Though I'm sorry to hear that there's two people in the same house suffering a similar disease, if not the same!
OMG I just looked up Sjogren's Syndrome on the Mayo Clinic website, and my husband doesn't have the dry mouth, dry eyes, other dry things, periphereal neuropathy, swollen saliva glands, skin rashes and prolonged fatigue--those are all things I have or have had. Some of my symptoms, though, especially the dry mouth, etc., I thought were a side-effect of either Nexium or Nortriptyline--I had a ridiculous dry mouth for a time and I never really figured out what caused it, except I wondered if one of those meds caused it.
I truly hope that PsA is just one of several things his doc is considering, Grandma J, and that it is something else that is more successfully treatable.
The joint issues and the high but low ana numbers are indicitive of SS which is a co-occurence with RA or pre-RA pretty often (about 30% of the time with PsA) Its often misunderstood as being dry mouth or dry eyes it can be much more.
Grandma J said:
OMG I just looked up Sjogren's Syndrome on the Mayo Clinic website, and my husband doesn't have the dry mouth, dry eyes, other dry things, periphereal neuropathy, swollen saliva glands, skin rashes and prolonged fatigue--those are all things I have or have had. Some of my symptoms, though, especially the dry mouth, etc., I thought were a side-effect of either Nexium or Nortriptyline--I had a ridiculous dry mouth for a time and I never really figured out what caused it, except I wondered if one of those meds caused it.