PsA Symptoms?

Symptoms & Treatments
1

I was wondering if anyone else had any of the symptoms that I'm living with. Here is my laundry list:

1. Fatigue - daily.

2. Brain fog - daily.

3. Insomnia due to fatigue and pain with being in bed or a position too long, so up and down all night long.

4. Nausea, lack of appetite or desire for food, and GI issues with eating, digestion, etc.

5. Feeling absolutely terrible daily off and on, like a bad case of the flu (nausea, aching, fever, just feeling really bad).

6. Excruciating sacroiliac pain that wraps around my right hip. I have pain daily, but when it's only in my back, its excruciating, but when it moves back to my feet and hands, then it's less pain.

7. Feet and ankle severe swelling, redness, rash, and pain.

8. Hand swelling, pain, numbness, tingling.

9. End of finger joints bent down when I wake up.

10. Spondylitis / spondyloarthropathy in my L-spine / SI joints.

Since I woke up all of this eight months ago, I haven't had a day without it. My symptoms don't flare, they are all there chronically, daily. Some days are a little more bearable than others, and some days all I can do is cry because I feel so awful and the pain is so excruciatingly terrible.

I do have scoliosis and degenerative disc disease in my back, but I've had these for years and they have been very mild and bearable. This has nothing at all to do with what I'm going through now. Totally separate issues. I was also diagnosed with ulcerative colitis back in 1993, but I don't even take medication for it. It's been pretty mild with rare flares. I know ankylosing spondylitis can be linked to the ulcerative colitis, they are both autoimmune. I just wondered if anyone else had any similar symptoms to mine or if my UC is now real active because of the PsA and it's made it all worse than what it normally is.

I'm in the middle of trying to find another rheumatologist that actually wants to help. I had a health condition back in the 80s that now makes the biologics or TNF medications contraindicated for me. So, I can't have that treatment. Just hoping there is something out there that will help. It sucks feeling this way every single day and sometimes I wonder if I'm actually going to ever have any other life than this. It's such a depressed and hopeless place to be.

Anyone that can share all the symptoms they've had with their PsA. Any recommendations on anything that helps you, being medical or holistic, would be awesome. Any inspiration or words of wisdom and hope, would be so appreciated.

2

Hi basset momma wave and smile,



I am hearing you are feeling pretty darn flat at the moment and who wouldn’t!?!



I am in a very similar situation to you. No reprieve from chronic pain, since being dx over two years ago.



The symptoms you listed are like mine, apart from the 6, 9 and 10,

I have bursitis in my shoulder and elbow, crappy chronic pain in my spine, pain in my hands and swelling with redness, degenerative disc disease, pain along the sides of my feet, lower back pain, brain fog, memory issues, word retrieval issues, low vit D, keratosis pilaris, exhaustion and a general feeling of unwellness.



What do i do to to cheer up? I talk to my partner, who is a narcoleptic, pat my 3 rescue dogs, sit in our garden and look at all the bugs, birds, plants etc, read books on my ipad, rely on Ben’s friends, and hope that one day there will be the right mix of medication to make me well again.



I have learnt to accept that my life has drastically changed and some things have taken a while to get used to. I don’t do the house work all the time and as thoroughly. I do it in stages and it is shared between the two of us. It isn’t spic and span anymore, but it is clean.

I don’t work any longer either. That was the hardest thing to get used to, but once you make the decision, give yourself time and you will adjust. That helped me immensely.

I don’t walk and go to the beach all the time anymore. I take it slower. I walk when I can.



I suppose what I am trying to highlight to you basset momma, is that you are allowed to slow down, swap around your choice of hobbies and exercise, you can organize a less physical job or less hours, you can hope for a new medication mix that will work.

Try making a list of all the things that you can implement in your life from all the responses to your thread here. Different hobbies, different exercises, etc.

Hugs to you xo

3

Thanks for listening and telling me about yourself and how you have some similar symptoms. It's nice to know I'm not alone and others have some of the same things. Thanks for the info too on what helps you. I love your advice. You sound like such a laid back, balanced, easy going person that just goes with the flow and doesn't let it get you down. I especially loved how you talked about petting the rescues. I love dogs and they are so soothing and lovable. My two wonderful bassets are the bright spot in my life too and bring a smile to my face constantly. When I'm having an especially hard day, one of my dogs is very sensitive to health issues and she'll just stay close and watch me on those days. I think she just wants to let me know she cares and she's there to watch over me. My son has heart issues and she's actually come and told me before that he was having a hard time, so I think she's a little nurse too that is sensitive and alerts others. I know I've got to slow down and pet the dogs and start to accept and stop fighting the change to my life and learn a new way of living. Thanks for the hugs. I needed those too. I'd love to add you as a friend, if you don't mind and chat back and forth. Again, appreciate all the info and the kind words. Hugs to you too.

4

Hi Basset Momma :slight_smile: hugs and smiles

I am really pleased that my reply gave you some comfort.
I would love for you to add me as a friend for us to chat back and forth.

Being dog lovers, we are very fortunate that we can rely on these beautiful souls to soothe us, as we soothe them too. I am fairly laid-back, mainly because, I implemented that sort of slowness into my life. When you sit in your garden with the fur babies, just take that time to smell the air, stare at the sky,watch the birds and slowly read a good book. It is hard to initiate this when you are used to a faster pace of life, but once you start doing it, it becomes easier. So much so, that it seems as if you have always been this laid-back sort of person. Just remember, when you are calmer, so is your psa.
Hugs to you basset xxxooo




basset momma said:

Thanks for listening and telling me about yourself and how you have some similar symptoms. It’s nice to know I’m not alone and others have some of the same things. Thanks for the info too on what helps you. I love your advice. You sound like such a laid back, balanced, easy going person that just goes with the flow and doesn’t let it get you down. I especially loved how you talked about petting the rescues. I love dogs and they are so soothing and lovable. My two wonderful bassets are the bright spot in my life too and bring a smile to my face constantly. When I’m having an especially hard day, one of my dogs is very sensitive to health issues and she’ll just stay close and watch me on those days. I think she just wants to let me know she cares and she’s there to watch over me. My son has heart issues and she’s actually come and told me before that he was having a hard time, so I think she’s a little nurse too that is sensitive and alerts others. I know I’ve got to slow down and pet the dogs and start to accept and stop fighting the change to my life and learn a new way of living. Thanks for the hugs. I needed those too. I’d love to add you as a friend, if you don’t mind and chat back and forth. Again, appreciate all the info and the kind words. Hugs to you too.

5

Hello- Have you tried steriod injections or prednisone? I wish that I had the answer. I would like to sink my feet in some warm sand and have a drink with an umbrella in it. I'm sorry that you are not well. jhelvey

6

Thank you for the suggestions. I actually just tried my first round of prednisone and it helped a great deal while on it. I'm not off the dosing (can only use it for bad flares), so things are sliding back to the usual. Still in the process of doctors trying to figure out what to do for it all. I failed the sulfasalazine, allergic. They haven't tried methotrexate yet, but it will probably be next. I can't have the biologics or TNFs because of a condition I have that is contraindicated with them. Kind of a trial and error right now. The steroid injections would have to go into every joint in my body, because that's kind of where I have all of my pain, and that won't work, so they aren't considering the injections. Now, the warm sand and a drink with an umbrella sounds wonderful. :-) Thank you for the support. I'm just thankful we all have one another to talk to about all of our stuff and we can understand one another. I hope you are having a good day and are feeling well today. Again, thanks for the ideas.

jhelvey said:

Hello- Have you tried steriod injections or prednisone? I wish that I had the answer. I would like to sink my feet in some warm sand and have a drink with an umbrella in it. I'm sorry that you are not well. jhelvey