I see a rheumatologist in 5 days and it couldn’t come soon enough! I see my GP today for some sleeping tablets to tie me over until my first ever rheumy apt as I am struggling to sleep because the pain in my lower back and hips is so severe. I can’t believe how long it has been going on for, I didn’t think it was possible to be in continuous pain like this! It gets so depressing 
my doc says the rheumy will most likely prescribe me initially with methotrexate and because I’m 29, haven’t had children yet and also have severe endometriosis I need to make a decision whether to try for children now or put it on hold and risk missing my chance to conceive naturally! He said I cannot fall pregnant while on the methotrexate as it can cause abortion and fetal abnormalities. I went home in tears and told my very supportive partner what the doc said. I told my partner that I think I need to be selfish and put my health first and put off having children… My partner supports me 110%, which is such a relief as I know it could be a deal breaker for some couples. He just wants me to be the 25 year old girl he fell in love with and doesn’t like seeing how this disease is ageing me and changing my usual positive attitude to life. I hope I can get that girl back too…
Glad to hear that you'll be able to get in soon. I'm glad that your partner is supporting you on whatever med choices are necessary for now. Once things are under control you'll be able to reevaluate and figure out what treatments are compatible with starting a family.
Thanks for your support guys xox
I'm in the same boat as you, I see a fertility specialist next month to find out my options as I'm 35 so fertility reduced anyway as I'm not in a relationship at the moment but DESPERATELY want children I'm not prepared to risk going on methotrexate then when I want to have children find I can't conceive!! I've been off work since the middle of March, chronically depressed with an agressive form of PSA and single. Have brilliant supportive mates and my Dad's good, Mum doesn't understand and my brothers just had a baby.
Good luck with your appointment and the future let me know how you get on, I go on the 12th July can come soon enough.
C :-)
Hi glad your appointment is soon and I hope you find something that works for you soon. I was given amitriptyline to help me sleep and don’t think I could function without it now. I have spoken to my rheumy on many occasions about being able to have more children he said that if I ever decided to have any more it wouldn’t be a problem they could give me a wash out to get all the medication out of my system and they would test your blood regularly to make sure the medications had gone and that my immune system was back to normal before trying to conceive the main thing was make sure I didn’t get pregnant while taking the medications as they haven’t been tested on pregnant women and they don’t know how it would affect the baby. I think you have made a brave and wise decision to try and find something that controls the Psa before having children I have tried lots of medication to control the Psa and I’m still looking for the right one I’ve had methotrexate sulfasalazine enbrel naproxen diclofenac leflunamide arcoxia tramadol just wanted to let you know that you can still try these medicines and be able to have children in the future so keep your chin up and stay positive
Wow cath, I really feel for you! I have only had these symptoms start 3 years ago, but I had about a 1 year reprieve after about 6 mths on NSAIDs. Now it’s worse than its ever been, which was like a real kick in the guts because I had just gotten over surgery for my severe endometriosis that had infiltrated my bowels. At least I have a great partner to support me, it would be horrible going through it without someone have you thought about freezing some of your eggs? I am starting to think maybe I should do that… I am actually a sonographer and I specialise in obstetrics. I have a license called a Nuchal Translucency license which qualifies me to screen babies for chromosomal abnormalities. From the age of 30 your fertility decreases dramatically (but there is still plenty of chance you can fall pregnant!), once over 34 your risk of having a baby with an abnormality and complications during pregnancy dramatically increase with every year. In saying that, I scanned a lady who was 52, conceived naturally (she thought her pregnancy symptoms was menopause!)and her baby was Born a perfectly healthy baby boy 
so don’t let anyone tell you it can’t be done naturally! I don’t think you should put your health on hold for too long, especially with such severe PsA, you need to put yourself first. Imagine trying to look after a newborn while you are so sick! Maybe there is a way you could treat it aggressively for 12 months and then go off the meds to cleanse your system in preparation for baby? Are you going to try to do it as a single mum? I have so many questions for you! I will let you know what my rheumy says, your apt isn’t far away either and I’m sure they will be able to lay it all out on the table for you so you can make your own informed decision.
Good luck and please do keep in touch and update me on your progress. Stay Positve and take care xox
Hi Catherine, great to hear from you again! Thanks for your support. It’s good to hear I can get blood tests to check I’m ok before trying to conceive. It’s a hard disease to manage in general, but when you’re a woman of child bearing age it’s a nightmare! What are you on currently? Do you go back to your rheumy soon to find a new drug? I’m very naive about the whole thing, I hope I will be a bit wiser about the meds once I have discussed things with the rheumy. Did your pain levels improve at all on any of those other drugs? And what form of PsA do you have? Please keep in touch and let me know how you go
Take care xox
BlueFairy, I will keep you posted on what the rheumy says about other options… Personally, I just want what will work the best at preventing the progression of the PsA so I can keep working full time…if I need some time off work initially while I adjust to the meds and get my symptoms controlled then I will do that too… It might be about time to take a much needed and well earned break for 2-3 weeks…
Hi I first started on sulfasalazine then after that I tried methotrexate I had to stop both of these due to bad reactions since January I have been on enbrel injections these don’t seem to work so now I have to try leflunamide with the enbrel for the next six months i also take arcoxia they are anti inflammatory tranadol for the pain and amitriptyline so i can go to sleep at night if that doesn’t work my rheumy will switch me to humira. To be honest none of the medications have worked so far and I just seem to be getting worse its in my ankles and feet knees fingers wrists jaw spine and sij joint i struggle really bad with fatigue and I don’t get flares because it is constantly here and never goes away the rheumy says I have severely active Psa
Forgot to mention that the arthritis started well before the psoriasis I only have little spots of the psoriasis in my scalp on my elbows and two little spots on my knees which come and go x
Oh Catherine that sounds horrible! I can’t believe none of it is working for you that’s what I’m scared of happening to me, but yours sounds much worse than mine… Over how many years has it taken to get to this point?
Wow it’s rare for the arthritis to present first but when I think about it, I have had back pain for years that I put down to a disc herniation that happened at the age of 18 from a horse riding accident, so I may even have had signs of it years ago…
It is very possible that by falling pregnant you will get relief from PSA whilst pregnant and it often helps with endometriosis. I have read about this, and it could be worth checking this out.
Thanks for the heads up bella, I will look into it!
I only started showing symptoms last June and its just got steadily worse, tried sulphsalazine but it did nothing had a few steroid injections that did nothing either. I have it in my hands, feet and spine. I've had psoriasis since I was a kid but have had back problems for about 8-9 years and it seems that it has been PSa all along but until my joints started swelling the Drs would not consider it. A physio years ago basically told me it was all in my head with my sciatic pain, could have swung for them.
I've thought about freezing eggs but would have to pay for it until I've been on metotrexate and its not worked but with my age and fertility issues am not prepared to risk not having children in the future. I want to make an informed decision about my treatment and not just blindly accept the pills the Drs hand out without knowing the effects etc long term, I'm only 35 and there is no cure so I want to know what these drugs are going to do to my body long term.
I do find it incredibly hard dealing with all this on my own, on bad days I just sit and cry my mates are great but I feel like all I do is moan about PSa and how rubbish I feel!!
I know I'm risking the PSa taking more of a hold till I make a decision about treatment, but not having children is not an option for me, I'm adopted and long for a child, blood relation which is why it makes all this harder!! But I want to know what my fertility levels are before I risk it and if low then freeze some eggs.
Hope everyone had a good day C x
I had trouble when I was a baby had an operation on my left knee when I was 3 only ever ached in my left leg sometimes my hip occasionally in winter never stopped me doing anything up until about 3 years ago my other knee started to swell up they did an MRI and said it was chondromalacia then my wrists and ankles started aching first then my jaw locked I had a 1cm opening for about 7 months they steroid injected the jaw joint and the pain subsided but the jaw doesn’t open as much as it should anymore and it constantly clicks when I’m trying to eat my food after that it just carried on spreading so have had it for about 3 years now x
I really feel for everyone who has not started a family yet and is struggling with this horrible disease. I am only 32 but already have 2 children they are 7 and 9 and don’t think I could cope with a baby and the Psa aswell but I was lucky enough to get the kids first before the Psa got bad I hope that there is someway that you can have children and sort the Psa out aswell. I was told by the rheumy that the Psa symptoms would more than likely disappear due to the extra hormones the body produces during pregnancy but that they would likely return after the baby was born take care and keep us posted x
Thanks Catherine, sorry to hear you had a rough time as a child too!