New to the forum | Arthritis Information

Hi I'm new to the forum and wanted to come in and say hi. I was diagnosed with PA almost 2 years ago and have gone thru a whole host of medications Right now I am on 10 mtx a week and folic acid everyday.

I'm 44 yrs old and I also have fibromyalgia . Sometimes it seems difficult to tell which one is causing the pain! It's a very frustrating condition.

I was hoping to ask a few questions

How long does the morning stiffness last?
Does fatigue come with PA ?
Is PA similiar to RA?
Does anyone have problems with family members understanding ?

Just really curious and would love to hear any opinions and words of wisdom anyone has to offer Well wisdom don't know about that I'm still new to form but not to pain. I don't have the morning stiffness so bad my pain mainly comes on in the middle of my work day. sometimes I'm still and walk straight legged in morn. Fatigue has really hit me with the mtx I'm going to talk to my doc about this i don't know that its normal. Family will always have problems understanding cause they cannot feel it. I know pain back surgery broken hand psa so on .

Well my wife was sick for most a yr and in allot of pain and it was hard for me to see docs miss diagnosed her like 5-6 times bad back muscle pain arthritis, when it was sists in her fallopian tube so many when they found it her fallopian tube was ready to rupture. I had a hard time understanding what she was going through cause i couldn't see the cause, I did ever thing i could and supported her when she said it wasn't her back or arthritis. She has since become very bitter to wards doctors rightfully so. OH this will get ya one doc told her she was depressed and that was why her back hurt, (omg) we were both furious at that point and will never see that doc again. I'm 37 male had psa since i was around 11-12 doc says diagnosed when i was 36. I would cry myself to sleep when i was a kid with knee pain my parents had me to many doctors with no answers and when my doc RHEUMY heard that he just shook his head. I had both knees in immobilizes when a teenager one drained of fluid due to non injury swelling (PSA). I hope this helps my wife goes to most all my appointments and i hers just to hear and understand what doc says and what wife is going through We all tell docs more then we tell our wives or husbands. Hope this helps.Belinda:

I'm a PsA veteran of some 17 years. I also have latent TB, which means I cannot take one of the new biologics like Enbrel.

When my drugs are working, my morning stiffness lasts about an hour, then the Celebrex kicks in. When my morning stiffness lasts longer, in my case, it most likely means that my MTX needs to be increased in dose [which happens about once every two years for me].

Absolutely, fatigue comes with any autoimmune disease. Some of it from the drugs themselves and certainly some of it from the disease itself [because the body is exhausted trying to fight off the disease]. Over time you will learn as I did how to manage it. For me, I'm more energized about an hour after I wake up, so that's when I do projects that require physical energy. I find that a nap [15-30 minutes] around 4PM is a big help for me. Not always do-able, though. Once you learn to stop fighting the fatigue and learn how to work around it, you'll fare a lot better.

Is PsA similar to RA? You bet. In almost all ways except the actual location of the joint destruction. And even then it's debatable. For example, I have several autoimmune arthritic diseases and am fairly certain I have RA, too. But my labs don't indicate RA, which pretty much labels me "seronegative RA" because I do have joint damage in RA joints.

My family is comprised of medical professionals, so I've had no problem with others understanding. However, those people I work with who are NOT in the medical profession have a hard time understanding why I refuse to be in the same room with them when they have a cold or flu. They can't understand why it is that I LOOK fine but claim to be otherwise. [I put up a good front.] So I can really appreciate the family problems that arise as a result. Someone made an excellent suggestion to bring your spouse, sibling, parent, or adult chld with you to a doctor's visit. That usually gets drives home the problem to others.

As with any autoimmune disease, you really have to come to terms with knowing that it's the disease that is in control. This was very hard for me. Over years I learned what worked to keep the disease from flaring, how to recognize onslaught of flares, and when it was time for an upward dose adjustment. I'm sorry to say that for most of us it takes time. But it will happen. The best things you can do are to be proactive in your treatment decisions with a doctor whose judgment you trust AFTER you've studied all you can about the disease itself. You must be knowledgeable. Once you do all that, you'll find you feel a lot better about dealing with the disease.

If you work outside the home, try to arrange it so that you can telework a few days of the week. Many companies will do this for you.

If you do not work, get yourself involved in something - anything. A serious hobby, volunteer work......or even a part time job. I am convinced and have observed that people who have a real commitment to fulfill [job, volunteer activity with regular hours] fare a lot better because it gives them less time to dwell on their phyical problems.

EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE. I cannot stress it enough. It doesn't have to be heavy duty - just go for a 30 minute walk every day. Or 2 15 minutes walks.

If your weight is not optimum, get it there. There's nothing worse than dealing with PsA and Type 2 Diabetes. I know. Been there.

Just remember that being proactive about your disease does put you in the driver's seat. And the sooner you get there, the sooner you'll feel a lot better.

Good luck, Belinda!