In the mornings my hands (fingers) and feet (toes) are swollen and stiff. I have to squeeze and work them for several minutes before I can get out of bed. The day before a large weather change my hands will ache. My lower back has sharp pains on occasion.
I have scalp psoriasis. I am using an argan oil with rose water in it to treat. I tried a dermatologist's expensive shampoo, it worked for a week and quit.
Does anyone else NEVER get sick? I haven't been sick for over 8 years. I get allergies and some sinus stuff sometimes, but nothing else. Not for years. My whole office came down with the flu last month, I had a sore throat for a day and that was it. It's like my immune system is on hyper drive.
I have rosacea on my cheeks, which led one moron PA to incorrectly diagnosis me with Lupus.
I feel like I am more tired than most people. I look forward to naps and bed time too much and I rarely have the energy to get out during the week.
You know what, EdgewaterLady?--that was me, too.....I mean the stiff fingers and toes and the great immune system! I rarely caught things and if I got a cold it lasted one day! That's not to say I didn't feel yucky much, because I did have aches and pains, IBS and other stomach problems frequently. (I thought, can one have psoriasis in their stomach, because I would have an ishy feeling in my stomach a lot if the time--still do.)
I used to spread my fingers and toes repeatedly-they felt like they were glued together at my knuckles. I hated that. And the tiredness--crushing fatigue--that's what it is. I'd feel so fatigued, like my body could just fold in on itself and crumble into a pile of ashes. That is no exaggeration.
I'm so glad Enbrel made the fatigue and stiffness go away. It was depressing to feel like that, plus pain and sore muscles all of the time. I just couldn't handle it anymore after having a diagnosis of PsA for almost 6 years. For my scalp psoriasis, MG217 shampoo was the only thing that worked. But it's tar based, and stinky. I've only needed it a couple times since going on Enbrel last year. Having psoriasis for almost 40 years, when I got PsA I was in denial because it's supposedly not too common. It is real, though, and not fun if/as it progresses. I hope you are doing good and yours doesn't give you a lot of trouble. The biologics are scary, but if the disease gets bad, they can be a miracle.
Edgewaterlady, how did we miss welcoming you? Sorry. Anyway, welcome to the PsA forum. You’re not really a newbie, but I’ll suggest The Newbies’ Guide to you anyway. There’s a shortcut in the green band (above). I hope that you will find it helpful. You may also be interested in the Complementary Therapies section of DISCUSSION. Click on that, and scroll down to the Complementary Therapies part of that section. Please read the introduction to the Complementary therapies section very carefully.
I hope that you will find this a good place for support and information. Give us a shout if there’s anything that we can do to help!