Hi Friends,
This morning I woke up and my skin feels like its on fire. I thought that maybe its just dry so I slathered on lotion but it still feels like I’m burning. Does anyone have any recommendations on what I can try for my skin?
I’m new to PsA so I am still not sure what it all attacks. It seemed like once I started taking Methotrexate I started feeling worse. I feel like I’m turning into a hypochondriac at times. Is this normal?
Feeling like a hypochondriac is normal… I think most people here feel or felt that way…
I get the skin on fire thing too… I think it’s part of my fibromyalgia but I’m not sure about that… I’ve read others saying applying cold helps… it doesn’t for me, but you could try that…
For me it usually starts on my right hip/thigh and slowly flows out across most of my body and then back down again in about 24 hours… I really hope yours will go down soon!
Mine started to get worse after I was on drugs as well… but I was already getting worse before starting drugs… and it did get better again when the drugs started working…
1 Like
Is what normal? Skin on fire? Hmmmmm…not so much, no. I’d be wondering about MTX. Give your doc a call on that one if it’s a new thing.
Is feeling like you’re turning into a hypochondriac normal? Absolutely. This disease can be so unpredictable and changeable, I think most of us have felt, at one time or another, like it’s doing our head in. Here’s something you may enjoy reading.
1 Like
I couldn’t access it @Seenie - it said it was closed or private. But I could access the comments and @flow’s letter to her doctor. Gosh what a letter and one I’m sure many of us would have liked to write, sadly.
And @My2kittens it’s utterly normal to feel like a hypochrondriac. I remember the first time I had to get all the blood tests done. Our hospital has a walk in service and it’s usually really quick. But I sat there looking around and could see so many people who obviously come to the hospital weekly or maybe even every day and they seemed to ‘love’ it. And I thought to myself I’ll be a regular attender at this walk in service too - I so hope I don’t get to love it that much. I haven’t yet either. But I’ve certainly attended my doctors more, seem them, called them, emailed them more, I’ve certainly looked up x or y more, I’ve certainly posted on here wailing and knashing my teeth more and I’ve certainly sat in tears because yet another thing hurts so damn much. That’s my new normal and I guess all of ours, which is a horrible phrase but seems to fit just right. But guess what? We’re not hypochrondriacs! Perish the thought…
P.S Hope the skin on fire issue is easing.
You know what, 2kittens?
I’ve decided I am a hypochondriac - using the definition “a person who is abnormally anxious about their health”.
I’m ok with it. I’ve had some unusual illnesses since I was 16, I’ve done some very risky things (health wise), and if I wasn’t such a hypochondriac, or so damn good with Google, by now I would have, alternatively, depending on the situation, been dead, admitted to hospital for something that I could manage at home, or still declining with major health implications due to a simple vitamin deficiency!
It is an unfortunate fact that with a chronic disease (or two), education and understanding will keep you not only safe, but having a much better life. As long as you are getting that education, and using it to put in place healthy management strategies, it is a great thing. If it crosses over into anxiety where there is no good reason for the anxiety (after all - waking up feeling like your body is burning soon after staring a new med seems like a good reason for anxiety) - so if there is no good reason for the anxiety, recognize it. But from your post, this isn’t the case, and as Cynthia said, yes, it is normal to feel like a hypochondriac.
Personally I think it’s worth counseling / CBT / whatever takes your fancy even if you don’t have signs of excessive anxiety or depression, and sometimes, the best thing they can say is “wow, that would scare me too!”
I hope that burning has subsided. Let us know how you are going 
1 Like
Mostly stopping by to express my sympathies over the skin burning. I’ve experienced it myself. First with just the skin lesions, at one point living in Louisiana I was certain I was allergic to the water because showering hurt. I eventually switched to organic skin products and ones without glycerine, and that seemed to help (plus not living in Louisiana 
). I’ve also experienced it when I have a lot of inflammation in my hip(s). It seems that the inflammation (and this is entirely my layman’s assessment of the issue) just irritates all the nerves so much that my skin will hurt, even if there’s nothing wrong with it.
I have not had it in conjunction with starting mtx though, so it would definitely be worth checking with your doc about to make sure it’s not a weird side effect or allergic reaction. I hope you’ve found some relief though!