I am sorry if I hurt your feelings, but I don't know how? How am I being rude? I didn't say anything offensive, did I? I certainly appreciate your time you put into writing to me and am glad I can exchange views but being rude is the last thing on my mind.
Accepting the arthritis is difficult, but for me it would be easier if I were 100% sure this is what happens to me. I came to this forum looking for someone who had similiar symptoms as me so I can have confirmation of my diagnose. It's not that I am avoiding the truth - I am looking for it. It's just that I want to be sure the truth is arthritis, that's all.
Again, please let me know how I am being rude.
vorbius,
I'm also sorry I reacted the way I did. But I am very concerned that if you have some form of arthritis that causes detoriation, that you might suffer needlessly long term problems that are much worse than the medications.
All of us here would like to not take these medications. MTX and prednisone have awful side effects. MTX can affect your liver, but they do blood tests regularly and if problems start to develop, they pull you off of it. Prednisone, if the dosage is kept low and short term can be really helpful. Long term use and high doses can cause problems. That's why they progress to the biologics fairly quickly because those actually work to turn off your T cells.
For me, my symptoms were severe from the beginning. When the doctors gave me these medications, it was basically a choice between life and death for me.
Yes, this is a description of RA, but it also fits many autoimmune disease. Lots of us have more than one, yet our underlining symptoms are very similar.
I am not familar with psoriasis and PA and can only address the illnesses that I have. But think carefully about your decisions to avoid medicines as a last resort. I have had severe damage occur in just a few months when I wasn't able to get medication. And, you are going to know exactly what these medicines are doing and what the illness is doing.
Education is very key. Learn as much as you can. I sure hope someone else can answer your questions better.
Hi and welcome, what you are describing does sound like PA. I have read about the symptoms of PA, as well as other forms of inflammatory disorders to try and find out if my DX of sero-neg RA is accurate. I do think that even though your symptoms seem to be classic of PA, I agree that your visit with the doctor seemed rushed and maybe a bit unprofessional. If you feel doubtful or are in any way uncomfortable with your dx... it is worth getting a second opinion.
My advice to you is to learn as much as you can about your disease, and if you feel that alternative treatments such as diets and supplements are the way to go, then you should try that first. It is true that continued joint damage can occur, but there are exceptions to every rule.
Sorry you didnt find anyone with similar exp. here...we have a large group of RA pts here...but PA is a rhuematic disease and they all are very similar. The drug of choice for PA is Enbrel...and many of us are on Enbrel for RA.
Good luck, and as always, your questions are always welcome.
I endorse Deanna's comments: Diagnosis should come from the professionals, especially as this 'family' of inflammatory arthritis (which includes RA, PA, ReA, AS etc) has so many manifestations, there are probably not two people on the planet with exactly the same symptoms!
I am sero-negative, but still have active, chronic ReA (Reactive Arthritis). I'm on indomethacin, sulphasalzine, methotrexate, codeine and paracetamol/tylenol. I don't like having to take them, but if I didn't, I would not be able to get out of bed in the morning...
I don't know anything about PA or psoriasis. There are separate forums for them, but I don't know how active they are. Seems most people do hang out in the RA section of this site.
Regarding your first symptoms, it sounds like they haven't investigated it fully. You certainly could have those symptoms and have RA. Very few people believe diet alone cures RA.
Most of us are on a lot of medicines, usually starting with methotrexate. The reason for this is that you need to turn off an overactive immune system. Prednisone brings inflammation down and methotrexate helps the immune system. Because a very healthy diet is always good for your immune system, that is probably why you are getting some good results. But your body may need more help. Delaying that help could mean deformity and crippling. It can happen very fast in some people. In others, it takes years.
These autoimmune diseases are related and as you can see, you already have more than one. Enbrel is supposed to be very effective with psoriasis. RA starts in the small joints first. So, your concerns are valid.
I think your experience with the medicines that they have tried is not a good one. For one thing, they are mostly treating you with pain relievers and not medications that change the course of the disease. I would also be a bit upset about the way this doctor handled your initial evaluation. However, diagnosing arthritis (there are over 100 types) is difficult even for the best doctors. It is a combination of things from blood work, physical examination and films.
If you are not comfortable with this doctor, you certainly can choose another. But a lot of people change doctors frequently in the beginning and this can actually make it harder to get that diagnosis that you need.
Do stay with your very good diet. That is quite and accomplishment and I wish I had your persistence with. But educate yourself on arthritis more. Start at www.arthritis.org. With more information and by talking with others here, I think you will be able to make decisions about your health that you are more comfortable with.
Glad you are hear and would love to hear about what things have helped in your diet.
I don't have RA. My rheumatoid factor was negative twice. I might have PA, but not RA. Still I am not sure if it's arthritis inthe first place.
I don't want to take meds and will not untill I exaust all other options. Methotrexate was offerd to me, messes up liver sooner rather than later. Prednisone also has a ton of side effects. With time going by I will have more and more problems with health and I will not even associate them with meds I take. No, I am not doing it for as long as I can.
Still waiting to hear from someone who had similiar symptoms as I have. Or maybe somebody knows a very good doctor in NYC who can say a difference between a PA and an injury or whatever else it might be? I have a lousy insurance but I am willing to pay cash for a second opinion from a really good professional with lots of experience. Thanks in advance.
Your rheumotoid factor can remain negative for years and you can still have it.
You can take this route of not accepting any meds. But it may cost much more in the long run. Permanent damage can happen in the matter of a few months. You may not have a choice in being ill or not. I don't and neither do the other people that come here. It is not just something you can will. Believe me, if I could will it away, I would do just that. It doesn't matter how old or young you are. It doesn't matter how physically active you were before one of these diseases hits you. There are some remarkable people on here that eat healthy and were very physically fit. Until one day, it just changed.
Yes, the medicines have side effects, but these illnesses can cause permanent damage. No, I don't know what you have. But you seem to be unwilling to listen to anyone else that isn't giving you just the answer you want to hear, including doctors trained to treat you. An attitude like that can really hurt you.
I hope you find what you are looking for. But I don't feel like you need to be rude in your response. You asked questions, and I merely tried to give you answers. You shouldn't focus your anger on people who are trying to help you. You are angry at getting sick. Well, I'm sorry, bad stuff happens. You can either face it or hide from it. It is obviously your choice.
I hope someone gives you better answers.
HI,
I am new to this forum and I am not sure if this is the right section, so if it is not please feel free to paste it to the appropriate one.
I am diagnosed with psoriasis and PA and I am not sure if it is the correct diagnosis. I guess I hope I will find someone with similiar experience to tel me if it really is PA.
Ok, here is the story: I got lifting fingernails about 17 mos ago. Was diagnosed with psoriasis (I do have pits in my nails). So I found a doctor who treats it with diet and it works just fine for me. Whan I don't cheat on it the nails grow out nicely. It's a hard diet but I don't want psoriasis and I got used to it. BTW it's hard but VERY healthy.
About 9 mos later, last October I got pain and clicking in the lateral side of my PIP joint in the right index finger. Went after 3 weeks to my doc, he put me on a 3 day trial of Mobick. Told me to come back in a month (still don't know why a month if ther trial was only 3 days). Pain almost went away, but when I went back a month later and got a 10 day dosage it didn't do anything. NSAID injection didn't do it either. In the meantime the range of motion got worse and I could bend my PIP joint less than 90 degees only.
Ortho surgeon first put me on 600mg on Ibuprofen twice daily for a month. Nothing. I had ultrasound for 6 weeks in the meantime, also nada. X-Ray, CT, MRI bone scan. He looks at films and thinks it is a cartilage, beningn tumor. Doesn't want to deal with it, not his dept., so he sends me to a hand guy, who thinks it might be psoriatic arthritis since I have psoriasis. He sends me to a rheumatologist. She doesn't even look at films, even though I asked her (she's young probably doesn't even know how to read them) and diagnoses me with PA based on the reports and on the whole story. I refuse meds because they are no good for anything anyway, they just lessen the pain and swelling a bit, long term they are worhless, because they don't cure. I am 35 yo and I refuse to be ill. So I found this lady on the Internet who claims she cured herself of osteoarthritis after 43 years of suffering and is on a similiar diet to mine, more modified and uses large doses of high quality vitamins. Now, she is free of pain and symptoms but also it works only when you stick to this very strict diet. Well, I tried it. I fasted and ate all the right food in the right order and guess what? The swelling went down about 50 %, pain is almost gone and I have better range of motion ( Ican bend it more than 90 degrees) But I am still not there. I guess this diet works for all different kind of ailments, really I do believe that most of the things we eat are wrong for us and cause us a whole bunch of health problems.
Here is my quetion:
Anybody with PA or any other arthritis had similiar symptoms at the begining of their problems? I originally thought I overstrained this joint. This finger in my mouse clicking finger and I have ben a computer junkie for about 8 years now. But my doctors all dismissed this theory in the end (some of them at the begining). But I am not convinced. These symptoms look unusual to me and I think it MIGHT be something else, maybe some damage to lateral collateral ligament or the sheath or something of that sort.
If anybody has any input on this please lat me know. I am very anxious to hear from you. Thank you.