Hi
I’ve had psoriatic arthritis for four years now.
Since Christmas I also developed psoriasis on my palms.
Funny thing is that since the skin problem flared up, my joints have been very much easier. It’s like the focus of the disease has moved.
I’m wondering if that’s even possible!
Has anyone experienced this?
Joy x
Poor you. I had horrid skin psoriasis as a teenager but never on my palms or soles of my feet. It ended up pretty much going. It’s creeping back now since the diagnosis of PsA just over two years ago. Interestly I put that down to the stress of pain.
However I definitely believe the whole disease changes focus whenever it pleases. Whether it flops between skin or inflammation or whether it flops around different parts of the body in either or any form.
I have this vision of my immune system being like a completely out of control child who I sometimes can manage but often can’t! Certainly trying to have a rational conversation with it is almost always impossible! 
I had some scalp issues before my diagnosis with psoriatic arthritis less than a year ago. Ihad never had any other psoriatic skin issues. I started on Otezla and I began to have areas of thickened built up skin around my eyes. My arthritis was rapidly getting worse on the Otezla, so about a week and a half ago my rheumatologist started me on Stelara. The skin around my eyes got red and a lot worse, with some small inflamed areas on the rest of my face. I have started using cortisone cream, and it helps. But I wonder if these medications didn’t cause the flare of psoriasis. --Nancy
Sorry to joke about it, Joyce, but with this disease ANYTHING is possible. 
Myself, I had almost no psoriasis when I was diagnosed, but now, five years later, my skin has decided it didn’t like being left out. I’ve got bits cropping up on my face. Ugh.
Have your doctors mentioned anything about starting a biologic? Your skin flaring might make that a possibility. One catch phrase that I’ve seen used to describe Ps is “double whammy”. It sure is.
Hi there - I’m seeing consultant in a few weeks from now. I’m not sure I’m ready to think about biologics just yet. Currently I’m off methotrexate and leflunomide as my liver couldn’t handle them. So I’m no no treatment for psa at all. I’ve the added joy of menopause too. 
Since my joints have been bad, about four years ago, the psoriasis I had on my elbows and knees healed up. And never came back. I now get it sometimes on my face, but it only lasts a few days at a time. It’s a bit like you’ll find people saying on here that when they have a cold their arthritis is better!
Ugh I am so totally with you. My new medication (Cosentyx) has kicked my PsA to the curb. It has also, though, crafted a highly ornate, beautifully illustrated, handwritten invitation to psoriasis to join the party.
I have always had scalp psoriasis, but now I’m getting patches on my right palm, right knee, right upper arm, and around my nose and mouth. Worst of all I keep getting sores around my eyes where I cannot apply steroid lotion. I head to see a dermatologist in two weeks. Hope she has some good ideas.
I hope so! That must be very uncomfortable around your eyes 
it’s painful enough on the hands. I hope they can help you. Let me know how you get on?
That’s very true! Never felt better than when I had a cold now that I think about it!
@Joy66, psoriasis on the palms is seriously annoying … mine hasn’t been too bad but woolly jumpers are minor torture as I find the rough skin catches on them time & again.
Incidentally, my psoriasis flared big time when I stopped Methotrexate - a (nearly) whole body experience as opposed to the patches I’d known previously. I stopped it due to high ALT but had a liver scan once me & my rheumy worked out the no Mtx = psoriasis connection, to see if I was okay to re-start the drug. As the liver was fine I re-started Mtx at a lower dose alongside Humira. That was nearly 3 years ago I think and liver enzymes have been fine ever since. We’re all different I know, this could be relevant to you or it may not be.
I’m also wondering about the Mtx / Leflunomide combo -Leflunomide stays in the body a long time. My ALT became high while on Mtx but prior to that I’d been on Leflunomide. I always thought the liver issues were due to pretty much doubling up, assuming I had Leflunomide remaining in my body while on Methotrexate. Perhaps you & your rheumy could re-visit possible causes of the liver issues, looking at the timing vis a vis the drugs you’ve taken. And a liver scan can be a re-assuring thing to have. However, if you do have one, don’t make my mistake and start hastily removing all your lower clothing in order to be a ‘cooperative patient’. Apparently the liver is above the waist.
@janeatiu - round your eyes, nose and mouth?! That sounds horrible. Hope your derm has some answers.
Oh haha I have visions of your cooperation that I will never be able to shake off 
x
I am covered in little round peeling flaky scabs. I look very professional and put together. The ones around my eyes make me look like I’ve been crying. And the ones around my mouth? Is “herpes” capitalized (asking for a friend)?
That horrid psoriasis seems to be covering more and more of my face! I woke up this morning with big red patches on my forehead. I have to apply cortisone cream twice a day to keep it down to a dull roar. Apparently this is a reaction to being on the Stelara, since other similar drugs like Humira list psoriasis outbreaks as one of their possible side effects. I am distressed by this facial psoriasis, but that alone is not reason enough to discontinue the drug.
My insurance company phoned and said that they would not pay for Stelara unless I had first tried one of several other biologic drugs. All of them are targeted at weakening the immune system. I have decide to discontinue using any biologic drugs like Stelara. I would rather gradually go crippled than live under the threat of life-threatening infections and cancer. On these drugs I would have to avoid people who were ill or who had recently received a live vaccine. I would have to stay away from recent immigrants for fear of TB, which is a real threat to the immmuno-compromised. It just doesn’t seem right to me to take a drug like this.
I phoned my rheumatologist’s office yesterday to let her know I will not be taking the second loading dose of Stelara on the 8th of this month. I found that her office is closed on Fridays, so I left a message. I said that I did not want to take any other biologic drugs.
Since the foundation of my auto-immune illness seems to be a compromised intestinal lining (leaky gut syndrome) I am resuming the use of kefir. I remember when I was on kefir before I got well enough to get jobs as a home health care attendant. I don’t expect to get that well again, but I think it will help my overall health. I will also try to include other foods with probiotics like yogurt, refrigerated natural sauerkraut, and kim chee. I will also resume using turmeric, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory. --Nancy
Well of course biologics are designed to weaken the immune system considering all autoimmune diseases have one thing in common. They are an overactive immune response acting like the body is being attacked by something. Of course the body isn’t being attacked by anything but because of bad signals the immune system is creating massive amounts of inflammation. Biologics are simply replacing the missing DNA that allows the immune system to over react. Most biologics are natural DNA although some are synthetic. The difference being in how the DNA is cloned.
It never ceases to amaze me that folks are still sucked in by the quacks who have zero clue how the immune system works. Its been a few years since Kefer has been around. I was reasonably certain that Josh Axe had disappeared with his strengthen the imunne system Bull Puckey.
Lest one forgets Dr. Josh Axe is both a chiropractor and a naturopath, so he is a double non-real doctor. Being as such, he naturally has an extensive online store and dvd videos for sale and is very much against mainstream medicine.
After failing to get accepted into medical school for three straight years, Josh suddenly decided he didn’t want to anyways and that his true calling was natural medicine.
Hell even near quack Dr. Oz recently set up this reverse “genius” in a recent interview leading “Dr.” axe to say such profound things as:
“I decided against traditional medical school in lieu of natural medicine, something I think can help a lot more people,” explained Axe. “Plus, a lot of medical doctors don’t have online supplement stores or dvd’s, something I really wanted to cash in on.”
It appears as though Dr. Axe isn’t satisfied with two fake doctor degrees and is looking for an easy third.
“Right now it’s between homeopathy and ordering a PhD from an online diploma mill, it’s a really tough call.”
In the meantime, Axe vows to continue conning people out of their money and calling himself “doctor” as much as is humanly possible.
“One day back in 2009, I managed to refer to myself as “doctor” over 59 times. That’s my personal record and I try to break that everyday.”
Good Luck. The good thing is sour yogurt (or yogurt made from bad coconut milk) isn’t likley to cause any really bad problems unlike some of the supplements these quacks sell.
I’m a little confused by your reply, Tntlamb. I haven’t heard of “Dr.” Axe. Are you saying that biologic drugs are good methods of treating psoriatic arthritis, or that probiotic foods are a good method? Or are you saying that neither one is a good method? Thanks for clarification! --NancyJ
Axe is the originator of the "leaky Gut and probiotic treat regime (especially kefer, he was the first to start selling cultures on line) total and complete BS as are 90%+ of probiotics. (unless you put them in the other end…) There is little doubt as to the effectiveness of biologics.
Thanks for explaining what you meant.
I do think there is something to the “leaky gut” syndrome, since I recovered from my asthma and allergies after removing sugar, processed foods, and grains from my diet. The theory is that the grains contain glyphosate that kills off healthy intestinal flora. Then your intestinal wall becomes more permeable and lets things into your bloodstream that can cause allergic reactions.
I also understand that biologics work by weakening the immune system to reduce the damage your overactive immune system does to your body. I am just very uneasy about the possibility of dangerous infections and cancer from being on biologics. --NancyJ
Hi Nancy,
Everyone has to make their own decisions for themselves - for me, I’m more uneasy about the early heart attack / stroke the inflammation is possibly going to cause (plenty of family history for me), and the lack of quality of life until that happens, but only you can decide for yourself.
For the grains to contain glyphosate has got me scratching my head a bit though, as it is a herbicide (ie designed to kill plants), though I can certainly understand that our food can have a lot of unintended chemicals, as well as naturally toxic substances (don’t eat too many apple seeds!) so it is important to understand what we are all putting in our body, and be comfortable with the risks associated.
OMG LOLOLOLOL. You’re not only a genius, but a funny one at that! That’s rare!
Do they? How come I’m so often the last woman standing when everyone around me is coughing & sneezing? How come I did not get TB even though one of the electricians working alongside us in our house for nearly 2 months had infected his entire family and was coughing his guts up daily? Then there are all the wounds I clumsily inflict on myself while decorating, gardening etc. that never get even a hint of infection. I would add, the TB risk may have not been that great anyway. At the time, the local TB care team who sent me for testing said that TB is actually quite difficult to contract unless you live with someone night and day. And, interestingly, that their experience suggested that people taking biologic drugs were no more likely to get it than the rest of the population.
Some do seem more prone to infections on biologics but I think they’re outnumbered on this (busy) forum by those who have few problems in this respect. If you ‘weaken’ something that is over-active, isn’t there a fair chance that it will end up operating at a normal level? And I also think that ‘weaken’ is just layman’s shorthand, we all use these expressions but perhaps ‘regulate’ would be a better word.