Hey there everyone. What a long and crooked journey it’s been, but here I am. I’ve never had what was ever diagnosed as Psoriasis, but found myself with a diagnosis of PsA back in May. I have had joint pain and achiness for years. I assumed it was getting older and working long shifts as a nurse, but it has gotten worse over time and no amount of ibuprofen or naproxen was helping. My labs have always been sero-negative for Rheumatoid factor, but I’ve had elevated C-reactive protein and sedimentation rates. I finally asked for a referral to a rheumatologist and got in to see him in May of this year. After discussing my family history and MY symptoms he said he believed it was psoriatic arthritis and put me on a trial of methotrexate and meloxicam. I saw him for a follow up last a couple of weeks ago and he gave me a definitive diagnosis of PsA and also believe I have OA as well. I just administered my first Humira injection tonight.
My family has a lot of auto-immune disorders, but I thought I’d skip out on all of them. My 18 year old daughter was diagnosed about 4 years ago with RA, polyarticular idiopathic. She has been on Methotrexate for the entire time. My mother was diagnosed with RA about 9 months ago.
My symptoms included the joint pain and achiness and overwhelming fatigue. My feet are my worst source of pain. I have felt like a hot iron is going through my heels for a while, and getting up to walk after being off my feet sends me through the roof at times. Second worst source is my hands. At my first appt with the rheumatologist, he leaned toward PsA, but after actually looking at the images of my feet during the follow up he gave me a definitive diagnosis. I have heel spurs on the bottom of both heels and the back of both heels and “whisking” on my ankle joints as well as calcium growths on the top of the feet. No wonder I’ve been hurting, right?
I tried to think back to any skin issues and remembered a couple of times back about 20 years ago that I had horrible problems with one area of my scalp, where thick areas of skin was flaking off. And my nails now are showing signs of the psoriatic symptoms. Nail beds not attached to areas of my nails, skin growths causing interruptions in the nail growth, etc.
So, that Humira shot…OMG. It’s worth the 10 seconds of pure fire and bee sting if it helps the pain…thank goodness it stops in no time. But during the injection…Lord, help me.
I’m looking forward to reading about other peoples experiences and triumphs!!
Welcome! With Humira if you let it warm up 10 minuts or so, it really helps. Try differnet spots some are less sensitive than others. It get better with practice! AND YES its worth it. Before long you will ne looking FORWARD to shot day… I’m surprised Seenie hasn’t caught up to you yet. Anything feet draws her attention. Hopefully you got treatment in time. Sounds like you have a great Rheumy!
OK, I heard my name! LOL Hello Sunflowers, and welcome here.
Yes, the feet: you are very lucky that you were diagnosed and that you are on aggressive treatment. I had lots of symptoms too, but my foot pain was the worst. Long story short, it was erosions in the mid-foot area that got me to the rheumatologist, and diagnosed. My rheum messed about with a little of this and a little of that for more than a year. Not getting better, I sought a second opinion and the new docs realized that I needed a biologic. By the time Enbrel started to work, my feet were so badly damaged that I am now unable to walk or stand for more than a few minutes at a time. If only I’d had aggressive treatment from the get-go!
As for Humira, yes, it stings like a … (expletives deleted)… Like tnt says, warm the injector up before you shoot. (I put the injector/syringe in my armpit while I collect my drug paraphernalia. I also find that my stomach is much less sensitive to it than the top of my thigh. After a couple of months, I switched to the prefilled syringes, which I much prefer to the violence of the autoinjector. With the syringe, I can inject very very slowly, and then it does not hurt at all.
We’re glad that you found us, Sunflowers, and I hope that you are too!
I did take it out of the fridge for about 30 minutes before injecting. I still say OMG…but it was a short lived torture. Next time I’ll try leaving it out a little longer and try the stomach…ugh.
I’ve had this foot/heel pain for quite a while and assumed it was plantar facitis, so just rested and stretched and hoped for the best, but I never imagined it was PsA. I always thought I’d get an RA diagnosis.
After seeing how my diagnosis came about, I’m even wondering if my daughter doesn’t really have PsA, rather than RA. And I’m wondering about my younger daughter as well.
I’m still trying to learn more about this and what is to be expected. So much of what I figured was just whining on my part, actually has an explanation now.
Sunflowers, it’s really difficult to know what to expect. This disease works in mysterious ways, and all of us have a different pattern. Some people go for years at a low simmer. Others start with aggressive, destructive disease. Some of us respond to conventional DMARDs, some of us need the biologics to tame the beast.
I highly recommend getting Psoriatic Arthritis Facts - This book is the best comprehensive resource that any PsA sufferer could have. It was written for a lay reader, but it contains so much information that medical professionals will find it useful as well. It’s getting a bit out of date (mostly on the newer biologics) but it’s still a very informative resource.
I also find that my stomach is much less sensitive to it than the top of my thigh. After a couple of months, I switched to the prefilled syringes, which I much prefer to the violence of the autoinjector. With the syringe, I can inject very very slowly, and then it does not hurt at all.