This was great thankyou.
I have always been a stressed, anxious, person which is why i probably caused this disease to switch on in the first place. i am a recent diagnoses. And i have definately gotten very upset and my emotions are ruling me. As well as a massive flare up at the same time. Even my fingers etc.
I beleive the anxiety, depression side is definately a big part of it.
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Not saying be careful how you phrase things at all. But as you have happened to write
I’d just like to say don’t blame yourself. I bet people who ‘keep it all in’ sometimes think that helped trigger the disease too … at certain points we’re all likely to look for something we’ve ‘done wrong’ along the way. But it’s almost impossible to identify any pesky triggers. Step one: you’ve got a diagnosis. Not what anyone wants but, believe me, that’s an achievement and the first step towards feeling hopefully a lot better. You’ve done good!
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I agree with Sybil - you didn’t cause this disease to switch on, your genes coupled with other environmental factors probably did. But you can do lots to help yourself sort out anxiety and depression. Although that takes time and patience and persistence. I got awfully angry and then depressed when I was first diagnosed. I decided though that was a natural reaction as frankly I was just grieving. Once I cottoned on to that I was somewhat gentler on myself as grieving of course wends its own ‘merry’ path and there’s not a huge amount you can do about it but travel it.
When I discovered I fractured my pelvis in June without falling so probably due to my steroid use, I truly did get awfully low and depressed, far worse than I expressed on here. And it was god awfully painful. That frightened me but having done ‘talking therapy’ in the past I pushed myself to remember some of the tools to use. As my fracture has got better I’m doing an awful lot better too, thanks to those tools.
So why don’t consider some sort of ‘talking therapy’? I spent 18 months doing it before any of this disease manifested itself so for other reasons and just learning about who I am and how to manage me better was so incredibly useful. Once I can get out more I’m seriously thinking of going back given this disease and its prognosis and how badly I did this summer. I do think I need help in coming to terms with it better than I have done to date. And wouldn’t it be nice if you learnt how to stop beating yourself up for being an anxious stressed person and revelled in its energy instead?
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although i never read anything similar to this so far, what i’ve read here does makes sense and that’s even more scary. Thanks for sharing as that’s really important to know even though it is so frightening to know this. Am I the only one who feels like this? Am I the only one who daily thinks of some kind of a miracle dianabol drug that would be invented and you take it and you’re all good? But sadly i realize this is only a dream. the fact that it affects your brain, as i said, is something i never read before, but always suspected…
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I have fantasies that the AI revolution will come sooner than later and we’ll have nanobots injected into our bodies that can fix all that ails us… lol.
I suffered from depression from about 18 on, and through meds/counseling felt better in my mid-20s. There were other factors there (death of my mom, dropping out of college, burying myself in video games) that all sort of make me wonder if the depression was the chicken or the egg. Now I find myself wondering the same with PsA.
For me, as of right now, I think the PsA creates the depression. When I wake up and haven’t stepped out of bed to see how my feet feel, my mood is normal. If I get up, and it hurts to take those first steps, my mood is immediately affected. It’s a pretty direct correlation. I had cortisone shots in my feet last week and those first days afterwards with no pain were amazing… like a veil had been lifted. Once the inflammation started creeping back… well back to feeling bleak.
I haven’t even really thought of it working other way around, so this thread has given me something to consider.
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And the evidence just keeps mounting. This article is about RA, but there’s no reason to think that it wouldn’t apply to PsA as well.
How’s everyone here doing? Let’s have a thread revival!
I’m crazy busy, but fine. The big excitement in my life has been getting a pair of shoes that fit my deformed feet, are beautiful to look at, and gloriously comfortable! (I know, it’s a sad state of affairs when a new pair of boots makes an old lady happy. Oh well…it is what it is. ROFL)
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I’ll be interested to see if effective treatment of my joints might sort out some of the “brain” things that seem to be going on… I live in hope 
But… oh… new shoes… and beautiful at that 
of course you have every right to feel excited by that!!! Shoes are such a bug bear, I was excited to just have some that fitted correctly, and they are not beautiful by any stretch 
but they are functional… am just waiting now for the winter boots I’ve ordered to arrive too
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Whatever turns your crank, Seenie! 
Don’t worry, you’re not alone…
And, about PsA linked with depression, I definitely agree it very well could be. For me, the preoccupation with the nagging pain or knowing there will not be a day without pain is enough to cause depression! Just the fact that because of my constant worrying about my condition is why I’m on Sertraline now makes me think it’s all linked together. The weird thing is, though, I never got depressed from having just psoriasis. And, really, it is something I’m sure many people get depressed about …. “the heartbreak of psoriasis” …. remember that phrase from a TV commercial?
It’s a wonder we don’t all go stark raving mad!!! - I’m serious!
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Lol. Yes, I’m old enough to remember “the heartbreak of Psoriasis”. I have a friend who bemoans the heartbreak of sobriety. Very funny.
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I know. Far from it!
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New shoes that are comfortable should make any girl happy!!
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I’m going to read these links later but I have definitely struggled with anxiety and some mild depression ever since my symptoms began. Since being on prednisone I feel completely better. So upbeat with no anxiety and plenty of energy to tackle my day with my 3 children. I wish I could stay on it forever lol
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Yes that’s one of the nicer side effects of pred. My partner hates me on it as I turn into a super positive pollyanna that drives him bonkers!
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E width here. I HATE shopping for shoes, especially now that PsA has attacked the boats I already have.
I’m still taking Lexapro and have accepted the fact that I will be until I retire whenever that is (July 1, 2019, is target but that depends on when my trial is and my trial is being held up by a writ we had to file).
I also have Graves disease (in remission! well, until I see what the blood work says on August 8) so I’m never sure whether the depression/anxiety is one, both or all of the above.
Other than that, I continue beating the keyboard and talking to a batch of very needy clients and generally enjoying the hell out of my last few months (last year?) as a public defender.
Paul and I are binge-watching Black Sails at present. Bear McCready wrote the theme, which is performed with a hurdy-gurdy.
Himself liked it so well he did an interpretive dance, complete with a peacock shaking its tail feathers (or Mick Jagger, I’m not sure which).
At one point in said interpretive dance, he put down the pillow he’d been using and said pillows make good pom poms. I think that’s in honor of Steelers/Saints training camp beginning on Wednesday.
Pulmonary thinks my asthma is allergy-induced, so I’m seeing the allergist on 8/8. The PsA is at a dull roar; have a rheumy appointment on 8/8, too. I LOVE my CPaP machine (diagnosed with sleep apnea and asthma in February). Last time I was in, I told the PA they would have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands. I meant it, oo.
That’s the news from my part of Kentucky.
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Oh… @sixcatlawyer… don’t I wish an E width would fit My little, ditty, blocky feet are a size 6 with a 5E (XW) width… and that’s without any deformities in my feet. Needing that width severely limits the selection of available styles… needless to say, I too HATE shoe shopping… tried on hundreds of regular shoes to no avail so ended up needing to go to orthotics place… even then they got in 3 different sizes before getting to one that would actually go on my feet What a mission to get a pair that I could wear… and it took over a year to get them.
Sounds like you’ve been having fun watching himself, probably more so than the program
Am pleased to hear the CPaP is working well for you!! Good quality sleep is just sooo very important, and all too often overlooked.
All the best with everything on 8/8 I do hope they come up with something helpful for you!! I’ve had mild asthma since teenage years, luckily for me it has mostly been just one of those nuisance things in life, not too serious.
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Yes I remember “the heartbreak of psoriasis” & now that I have it, “it” that refuses to go into remission”,”it” that will be with me to my dying day, “it” that takes so much of my money that I’m paying the dermatologist’s annual country club fees, etc., that now I completely & thoroughly understand the heartbreak connected to “IT”.
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Thanks for sharing this, Seenie, it makes interesting reading.
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It does make interesting reading, and sadly, too many of us can relate. A couple of years ago I switched to a new anti-depressant. I didn’t really want to, but I decided to get a second opinion from an expert: I went to a psychiatrist. What a turning point! He gave me some excellent advice, confirmed the GP’s choice of drug, and made me feel much better about having to take it. The psychiatric consult was well worth the discomfort. (The discomfort was mostly connected with the fact that I’d known the doc and his family since he was a preschooler, but he was the logical choice given the small town we live in.)
When you understand what’s happening and why, it makes doing what needs to be done (and what you probably don’t want to do) so much easier.
And I now look back on “those days” with no longing at all.
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I’ve noticed a definite correlation between being stressed or depressed and a flare up. If i get very stressed, I’m sure to have a flare up. So, don’t make me upset! 
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