I was just wondering how diverse this diease we live with is? It seem's like a rollercoaster ride of joint pain,stiffness. For me the pain is mostly in my finger joints just passed the knuckels and my right shoulder and ankle. With minor pain/stiffness in extream lower back and bottom of my foot.
But I guess i am mostly confused because i don't have any signs of Psoriasis. The only other medical condition i have is celiacs diease. So that is why i posted on the question of Diversity! Is PsA Very diverse. I hope for some good feed back.
Hi Mike. I was diagnosed with PsA in 2005, but suffered severe psoriasis for about 15 years prior to that. I am on Simponi (auto-inject) and MTX (methotrexate) 8 pills per week. My skin is 99% better - I just have the occasional skin flare. My PsA mainly effects all the joints in both my hands and wrists and my ankles and feet. The joints in my hands and feet just throb, and I experience what feels like plantar fascitis and a burning pain in my achilles tendons. I pretty much have some level of pain every day even with the drugs, although some days are way worse than others. I've lately had some lower back pain, which I can only assume is related to the PsA since I've never had back problems. I have read that most people have asymmetrical symptoms, but mine is always symmetrical. Hope this is what you were looking for in a response.
I take Humera 2x month Plus 5 pills per week (Methotrexate) And 1 celebrex per day. Seems to be working but i hope to get better results. But Thanks for your reply It seems that everyone has similar but different combos as far as joint pain goes. If that makes any sence....
You mentioned that you are on Simponi. How is that working for you? I have been on humera for 10 months now and i was wondering if switching might be an option?
Mike - my advice is that if the Humira is working don’t switch. I took Enbrel for 5 years and it was a “miracle drug” for me, then in 2009 it started losing its effectiveness so I switched to Humira which did nothing at all. Dr put me on MTX for 4 months. My skin cleared up but was still having joint pain. The dr added simponi since its approved for PsA, but honestly it hasn’t helped much and I go back on 12/7 to see Dr and find out if I have any other options.
Hi Mike, I do not have large areas of Psoriasis either. I have it in my ear canals which drives me crazy and a few splotches on my arms and legs but the PsA is the big player with me. I do have several other autoimmune disorders, Hashimoto, etc. It is in my shoulders and clavicle bones, back, hands, elbows, knees, and feet. Hope this helps a little.
I had the arthritis pain in my right ankle 3 or 4 years before I got psoriasis. It started as a small patch on the bottom of my left foot and this year, for some reason, it started to spread to the edges of my foot on both sides. Another one of my arguments about methotrexate - why was the psoriasis spreading!!! Interestingly, though I'd had the rash for around 5 years, it is now completely clear. Not sure what did it, it could be the fact that I came off all the drugs in July, I started a new anti-inflammatory diet in June and I rubbed Canesten cream into the rash for a week (that'd be in September when someone said the rash resembled a fungal infection) and it started to clear up - I kept putting cream on and it's gone now :-). So, although the specialist told me it was psoriasis (and I have the horrible ridged toe nail - a "sure sign" of psoriasis - but on my right foot not my left) I have to wonder now whether it really was psoriasis at all! The doctor seemed highly delighted when I showed him the rash originally because he could now DIAGNOSE me with psoriatic arthritis instead of boring old mono-arthritis.