I am also new to this group and am happy to be here. My Name is Julie and I am 60 years old. I was only diagnosed in March 2015, but have probably had PsA for about 20 years. I also have Fibromyalgia and Osteoarthritis, having had one knee replacement so far. Now that I have started on Arava and a small dose of Prednisone I realise my stiffness, joint cracking and pain have been from the PsA, not the FMS. This is my 5th week on the meds and I am now having a better quality of life. Able to do things I haven't been able to for a while without pain and tiredness. I do believe I left it too long before seeking help as I have one useless finger, which will not bend at all and a few other fingers that are heading down that track. Hopefully with the meds I can holt the deterioration any further as I need my hands for my job.
Welcome to the group! That’s wonderful that you are getting a response. Hopefully the prednisone is just being used short term, to tide you over until the other meds are working.
It sounds as though your diagnosis was delayed due to being diagnosed w/ fibromyalgia and osteo. My mom (70 years old) was told that the arthritis in her hands was due to aggressive osteo. Well, surprise surprise. When she was being scheduled for multiple finger joint replacements and a fusion, they took a long hard look at her imaging and realized that she has psoriatic arthritis. It saddens me that she has experienced all of this pain and deformity unnecessarily. She has now started on a DMARD and a biologic, and is doing much better. I hope the same will happen for you.
Thank you for the welcome. I am only on Prednisone for a short time to allow the Arava to kick in properly. So far it is working well. I have been able to do a lot more on a day to day basis. I am a Phlebotomist so my hands are very important to me for my job and I like to paint, sew and cook. All of these things help to keep your hands working, but it doesn't help when you have PsA and your hands start to let you down. I am hoping the meds will stop any further deterioration. I am now not stiff when I get up and stand for long periods of time, which is a big bonus, although if I do too much I then get very tired from the Fibro. Anyway, I hope you Mum is doing better and she is getting some much needed relief. Best wishes.