I was diagnosed with with PsA in the fall of 2015. my biggest issue is foot pain (planter fasciitis). It’s a major problem as I am a dog walker and this past year has been extremely stressful trying to keep working, and dealing with the pain. I’ve gone to physio, have new orthotics, wear a night splint but have had no relief for over a year now. Up until early 2016 that was the only pain I was really dealing with. Now though, I have aches elsewhere that keep me from sleeping properly and it’s becoming all consuming. I haven’t had any visible swelling though so am wondering if I’ve been misdiagnosed? I have psoriasis, nail pitting and lifting and the rheumi looked at my nails and quickly made the diagnosis. She did X-rays and blood tests but she never went thru the results with me so I don’t know many specifics. I wasn’t too concerned until now as the aches and pain is keeping me almost bedridden some days and I’m generally a very active person. I’m also having a hard time recently with my hands. Some days I can’t grasp things properly and on occasion mustering the energy to hold a pen to hand write something can be a struggle. I have also noticed my fingers are changing shape? At first I thought it was just my nails changing but it seems like my ring fingers are getting skinnier at the ends? I feel like I’m going crazy… Has anyone else experienced symptoms like this?
It sounds like you are firmly in the gap. You can be seronegative, so even if your blood work winds up showing nothing, you can still be diagnosed. Are you on meds yet? If not, it sounds like it’s time.
BTW, I’m a dog walker too. It’s sometimes a challenge when I’ve got joints doing poorly, but I manage most of the time.
Saundra, welcome to our community. I’m so sorry that this disease is throwing its worst at you. Foot pain is terrible: I complained of it for years, and my doctor blew it off over and over. It was only when joint damage could be seen on foot x-rays that I was diagnosed with PsA. (Not that I didn’t have any other symptoms! Nobody listened.) By the time I got aggressive treatment, my feet were so badly damaged that they were beyond repair. Not being able to stand or walk for more than a few minutes at a time has impacted every aspect of my life. And I’m not even a professional dog trainer, although I can no longer walk our dog unless I’m on my mobility scooter.
I can’t stress this enough: please go to your rheumatologist and ask for the most aggressive treatment that they are prepared to give you. And start it now. Your symptoms sound very similar to what I had. I thought I was going crazy too, because my complaints (and I had lots of them) were ignored and blown off for years. I’d got to the point that I seriously believed every symptom was because I was OCD, menopausal, overweight, not eating right, not exercising enough, not wearing the right shoes and on an on. You know, all my own fault, and I was just a complainer. Follow your gut feeling and listen to your body, Saundra, especially your feet.
We’re glad that you found us, and we’re looking forward to getting to know you better.
Hi Saundra, I have struggled with this too though not severe. I picked Roly Poly man from the children’s book, Noddy for my profile picture to reflect my relationship to this particular symptom: along with the heel and foot pain I also get a strange swelling on the balls of my feet that leave me feeling like my feet curve out and I am wobbling along rather than walking. It was one of my first symptoms and has flow on issues in my legs…think it might meet the sacroiliac joints flow on issues that travel down my legs and have a tendon and joint party 
It is also something that frightens me as I love walking and it keeps getting in the way.
Enough about me. I found some meds helped more than others with this issue so hopefully if you are on DMARDs such as methotrexate you might get some relief. Or biologics. I get hardly any relief from paracetamol or NSAIDs. I have found a few things that help a little… soft tongue walking shoes, Voltaren gel, ice and supports, and physio and podiatrist. I agree with Seenie…doctors minimise this symptom so you have to advocate for youself sometimes to get them to pay attention
Oh and by the way I continue to have bouts of doubt about diagnosis as I am seronegative and have differential diagnosis re psoriasis…although all the other clinical indicators are there. It’s hard to have confidence in the treatments sometimes. But every time I convince myself I don’t have it some other symptom comes along to remind me that I do. I also have reduced symptoms when on some DMARDs although cannot take them because of side effects. Funny thing is my rheumy went through two years of testing all possibilities and is now convinced… good luck I hope you find something that helps.
When my sore feet were imaged, it showed ‘rat bites’ in my bone as is consistant with psoriatic arthritis. Methotrexate helped me stop the finger deformities. There are other meds that are’ Methotrexate like’ that are not so dangerous.