Thank you for sharing

General
1

Hello everyone,

I have been travelling the PsA road now (diagnosed) for about 7 years. When I look back on the time, I realise how alone I have felt with this disease. Most people have never heard of it and no-one really understands, do they?

Last year I found this forum, and I must say it has been the single most helpful thing I have come accross in my battle. Finally finding people who know and understand. That sometimes its not just about the pain, but all the other things that are associated with the disease. All the weirdness that seems to come along for the PsA ride.

I would like to say to everyone here, thank you for sharing your stories, they help me to feel less alone in the world. I can say to myself "I am not crazy" this is a real thing and other people are dealing with it too!

I have never met anyone else who has PsA, so I have never really been able to talk, freely about what is going on in my body without feeling like I was complaining.

Wishing you all more pain free days to come.

Louise

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Thanks for posting, Louise! I, too, am thankful for this community. It continues to be an amazing source of support and information.

As a person who is very public about my diagnosis, during the past year I've been contacted by a high school friend who also has aggressive PsA that acts almost identical to mine and it's unbelievably helpful to know someone ... or more than one person ... who knows almost exactly what you're going through. For YEARS I was convinced that the pain must all be in my head, a symptom of depression. I've had painful joints since I was a child, but was always told I must be imagining things (my pediatrician's caring way of stating I was making things up). I always felt bad about complaining. Now I view my statements of fact ("I'm in a lot of pain today and have absolutely no patience." "My legs are really bothering me today, so we're going to just hang out at home today.") as just that - and not complaining. I am in pain.... just like I love the color purple, I crave cheesecake, and I have purple hair. They're all facts, not complaints. (Yes, I do have purple hair!)