I was diagnosed with very likely PsA about 6 months ago. I have a number of joints inflammed (wrists, few fingers, inguinal area, upper and lower back, toes and plantar fascitis, plus very sof consistency of faeces). Nothing particularly painful, but worrying nevertheless. My blood work was indicative the first time [slightly high C-reactive protein (CRP) and eritrosedimentation rate (ESR)]. After that, my blood work has always been within normal range (3 more testings). Also the genetic test of HLA I and HLA II were OK.
The thing is that I have never had any symptoms of psoriasis. No one in my family has either.I understand that a small fraction of PsA patients (about a 10%) start first with the arthritis and then develop psoriasis years later. However, this sounds weird to me. Has any of you been diagnosed with PsA but never developed psoriasis, or developed it after years?
Just recently diagnosed with PsA and AS. The only skin issue I get are two REALLY small patches on my eyelids maybe once or twice a year. I do have very pitted fingernails. Your joint pain areas sound similar to mine.
My rheumy told me that about 30% of patients diagnosed with PsA don't have the skin disease, they just carry the genetic information that causes it. I don't have the skin disease either, but chances are, at some point in my life I will develop it down the road. He also told me that about 20% of people diagnosed don't have the HLA type B27 antigen. There is so much still unknown about PsA, and auto immune diseases in general.
My lovely dad had AS, I had joint swelling on my feet and knees and get pains in the lower back
I have slight psoriai suppose you call them on my scalp from time to time
Suffered badly for 2 years and then managed to get on Enbrel which has been a god send so far
I believe it is possible to have both or either Psoriasis / Arthritis - My consultant said I have a Spondyloarthroparthy
The very nature of this condition is difficult to pin point and that is a big part of the confusion
I have noticed problems / pitting and in fact toe nails looking dodgy - not sure if that is the PsA or the methotrexate and Sulfasalesene I took last year
My joint pain was in the ankles and the planta fascia - aethesthis i think the consultant said where the tendons were stetched and inflamed
very painful and difficult to see a way through, but then it lifts and we just have to make the most of the good days
I have heard of this as I too was just diagnosed 1 month ago with PsA. I have never had a plaque. About 12 months ago, I developed very painful feet for no apparent reason. A few weeks later my wrists started hurting. Then my eyes became red, scratchy and dry. My back and neck hurt too, but I’ve had herniated disks in both, so I wrote off that pain as “my normal”.
My road to diagnosis began with my feet. I saw a podiatrist for the feet pain. He diagnosed bilateral 2nd toe metatarsalgia. Injected the joints with steroid… Helped fir a few weeks. Got reinjected and got custom orthotic inserts for my shoes. That is about the time my wrists started hurting. I asked podiatrist if this wasn’t too big of a coincidence and could something more systemic be going on. He recommended a rheum panel. I was negative for everything. Normal sed rate, crp, rheumatoid factor, etc. Thinking I was “in the clear” for anything rheum I lived with symptoms for another 6 months. Them saw my family doctor for checkup. When I look back, I was just starting a flare. Because of my complaints, I got a rheum consult. When I final got into Rheum, I was flaring big time. The rheum blood tests were repeated. All normal again. The only thing that came back positive was a series of spine X-rays which showed fused SI (sacroiliac) joints. I also have some pitting in my fingernails (mild). No family history… I have never had a plaque. MRI of foot confirms inflammation of tendon/ligament insertions.
Hello and welcome! My name is Heidi. I was diagnosed with PsA in February of this year. I also have no signs of Psoriasis at all though my Grandfather does have mild Psoriasis. For that reason I was initially doubtful of the diagnosis, although I am now convinced. My blood work is not normal in that the inflammatory markers are off, but the genetic test (sorry, I can't recall is it's the one you mentioned) was negative. I have widespread joint inflammation and fatigue. My MRIs show inflammation within the bone marrow in some joints. Anyhow, my doctor did say that it's likely I will develop Psoriasis at some point, but so far I have not.
I was diagnosed earlier this year. No psoriasis at all. I was holding out hope that maybe it wasn’t until two days after my first shot of humira. As I understand it, an 80% or so improvement in pain and inflammation wouldn’t have resulted from the humira unless it was indeed an autoimmune disease I had.
Hi there, from what i've read one can definitely come before the other. There's one or 2 people who have dry skin in my family and none except for grandparents with arthritis.( i seem to be a bit of an anomaly myself) I've met a few people in my city with PSA but they had little or no psoriasis. One had patches, but nothing at all worrying. I had particularly bad psoriasis from a young age but I've not met anyone with PSA with the same.... If the arthritis is treated it will prevent any psoriasis from ever even occurring (especially if you're on enbrel/humira etc as they're used for psoriasis treatment too)
I was very confused when I got my diagnosis considering there was no family history. I wouldn't worry though from what I've seen if you do ever have psoriasis it'll be very slight. Generally for most people it's on the scalp like dandruff and it's very very easy to treat. :)
Oh yes, count me in. Many years ago, I got toenail "fungus" on one toe, which resisted (prescription) treatment. The solution was nail polish. I also had fatigue, and mystery aches and pains for years, which were attributed to garden variety causes (ageing, etc.). After two knee replacements, my feet became very painful. That's when they discovered erosions, and I was finally diagnosed as having PsA. The only psoriasis symptoms I have are in the nails (pitting and lifting -- no, that wasn't fungus 20 years ago). Some days, there is a small dry patch on one of my elbows, but that is the extent of my skin involvement. My symptoms and lab results are very similar to yours.
My diagnosis came after my Mother's death, but when the rheumy and the dermy asked about family history, both suggested that my Mother had had this disease too. She'd had joint and tendon complaints, and a nasty ear canal rash which were never taken seriously by her GP. To the best of my recollection, they did not surface until she was in her 60's. I was diagnosed at 59.
So yes, it really does happen that people get the joint complaints first, and the skin and nail symptoms after. Or never!
Very similar to my experience. After custom orthotics and a diagnosis of metatarsalgia, a podiatrist diagnosed inflammatory arthritis. MRI showed tendon inflammation. Bloodwork more or less normal.
Oetboy said:
I have heard of this as I too was just diagnosed 1 month ago with PsA. I have never had a plaque. About 12 months ago, I developed very painful feet for no apparent reason. A few weeks later my wrists started hurting. Then my eyes became red, scratchy and dry. My back and neck hurt too, but I've had herniated disks in both, so I wrote off that pain as "my normal".
My road to diagnosis began with my feet. I saw a podiatrist for the feet pain. He diagnosed bilateral 2nd toe metatarsalgia. Injected the joints with steroid... Helped fir a few weeks. Got reinjected and got custom orthotic inserts for my shoes. That is about the time my wrists started hurting. I asked podiatrist if this wasn't too big of a coincidence and could something more systemic be going on. He recommended a rheum panel. I was negative for everything. Normal sed rate, crp, rheumatoid factor, etc. Thinking I was "in the clear" for anything rheum I lived with symptoms for another 6 months. Them saw my family doctor for checkup. When I look back, I was just starting a flare. Because of my complaints, I got a rheum consult. When I final got into Rheum, I was flaring big time. The rheum blood tests were repeated. All normal again. The only thing that came back positive was a series of spine X-rays which showed fused SI (sacroiliac) joints. I also have some pitting in my fingernails (mild). No family history... I have never had a plaque. MRI of foot confirms inflammation of tendon/ligament insertions.
yes i too have psa without to many skin probs. 2 of my children have some skin probs, but that is it. i did have mechanics hands but the mtx, sulfa. and enbrel cleared that up. it has been 1 year.... doing better, with flare ups occasionally. i have ra also and i can walk much better now. sooooo yes some people don't get the skin probs
I don’t have psoriasis! There’s a small chance I have and extremely mild case of pulsar psoriasis on my foot, truthfully it looks like a few flakes of dry skin that comes during the season change when my arthritis flares the worst. I went 3 and a half years with sausage fingers as my only symptom and that got dismissed by several doctors as trigger fingers for changing too many diapers!
A few little spots and a toe nail. My mom had both pretty bad. Until the PsA showed up my sister said my minor psoriasis was justice. We had very beautiful young housewife in our neighborhood who had psoriasis when I was a kid (about 12 I guess) her husband built hre a very nice deck with solid sides off her second story so she could "sun bathe" to control her psoriasis that appeared where the sun didn't shine.
Scott Hruskas tree house was higher. We got caught (my sister) Thought we were dead until we caught the dads in the tree house......
I was diagnosed with PsA in April, my rheumatologist kept asking about myself or family members who have had psoriasis and there was no one including me. I later asked my family doctor about the fact that I have never had psoriasis and he said that there is a chance that I could develop it later on down the line.
I have had PsA from the age of 17, although not diagnosed until I was about 23. I had one patch of psoriasis on my foot when I was around 28. I am lucky in that respect. I do not swell up although my joints are hot to touch when inflamed and at the age of 46 the only joints that are not affected are my shoulders and elbows. It still baffles me that I can weight bear on my foot one day and then just can't the next, as my PsA just moves from joint to joint and I have now given up looking for a pattern...there isn't one. I really feel for the people who have just been diagnosed as there is such a wide spectrum of symptoms and pain. I focus on the good days and I hope that you can maybe do that too.....and when it gets bad come on here and vent as we are all in the same boat and a little support and empathy can go a long way. The people on here have helped me, I mean how lucky are we to have that ...good luck my friend
Hi
I had psa for two and half years before it was diagnosed and did not get any p until a year after that.i had it quite badly about my navel and under my boobs was given sulfalazine and then mtx but that did nothing for my p.i have been on hurima for 12 weeks and it has helped 95 % with the p and thanks to hurima my psa is under control .I thought no one in my family had p but my aunt told me that my mum( passed away now )had it when she was younger .i was living in deniel when I got diagnosed but my son had a bad attack of p which lasted three weeks and thanks to steroid creams it cleared up and doctor said it may come back but may not.so guess my rheumy doctor was right after all.
Bye for now
Milly
lamb, you could and should serialize your life. Either for book or TV. You have the best stories!
tntlamb said:
We had very beautiful young housewife in our neighborhood who had psoriasis when I was a kid (about 12 I guess) her husband built hre a very nice deck with solid sides off her second story so she could "sun bathe" to control her psoriasis that appeared where the sun didn't shine.
Scott Hruskas tree house was higher. We got caught (my sister) Thought we were dead until we caught the dads in the tree house......
I am new to the site and recently diagnosed with some type of inflammatory arthritis. My mother has PsA with the skin lesions and some joint deformity in her hands. As for me I don't have psorasis...My labs are normal but I am HLAB27 +. So I don't know what the exact cause of my joint pain is...however my xrays show erosions in both of my hands so I started MTX last week...Guess we are both in the 20% or so without skin lesions but arthritis...