I was just wondering? also wondering why there is more people on the ra board than pa board? maybe people with pa arent as sick ? can go out more , not as home bound? Just wondering, and most of the pa people are on the ra boards.
I think it's just because the treatments and issues can be similar that people go on the RA board where there are more people chatting! I think that the traditional view was that PA was less severe than RA but research I've seen suggests that there can be moderate and severe forms of both - my own view is that whatever disease you have it won't be the same for every person beccause we're all different and the disease will affect us differently anyway... I check both boards but there are more people on RA so tend to stay there longer!
KT
thanks KT, that is were I have been spending my time since this diagnosis. very helpful info. Just wish there were more pa people on here. by the way never started my mtx. i spent that night in the Er, double ear inf. and sinus inf. the doc. told me not to start until i am feeling better. it seems i am never better, i seem to be always sick with one thing or another! Thats another reason i am so afraid to start mtx. i must already have a weak immunity, the mtx is going to make it weaker. I am going to take a multivit. every day. and start drinking more water. I am a smoker and i am sure thats why i am sick alot. i plan on quitting the first of the year. wow, its coming quick!
kel
I was also constantly sick then read about taking Colostrum and did that ever build up my immune system. I also smoke and ready to quit. I get my Colostrum from Swanson Vitamins online but Walmart or a drug store may carry it. Everyone around me last spring was really sick and I didn't get any of it!
I was first told that I had sero-neg RA and now rheumy is leaning toward PA. No obvious psoriasis yet but he says the arthritis can precede it.
Take care,
I don't envy either of you trying to quit smoking but I know you'll feel better if you manage it! On the getting sick all the time, I have always got every cough, cold, bug going but over the past two years it seems to have settled, even after starting mtx. I take a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement plus flaxseed oil plus devil's claw plus the extra folic acid you take with mtx and that seems to help! Good Luck to both of you...
Hi Anewbeginning,
I know you're having a kind of personal struggle with the idea of taking mtx, I think it's totally understandable and you're right to question everything. But I just wanted to share some of my thoughts with you... Mtx is a strong but on the whole effective treatment for a disease that is cruel and steals people's lives even if it doesn't kill them. The drug has some side effects that can be unpleasant - you're right you only remember the horror stories! But if you had cancer would you have surgery, radiotherapy or chemotherapy that have the potential to save your life? Finding an effective treatment for your PA can give you back your life, I am not suggesting that the situation is the same as for someone who has cancer but just because there are some POTENTIAL side effects you shouldn't totally discount the treatment without trying it. You may not have any side effects at all, or they may be a small price to pay for having your life back, or they may be too much for you so you try another treatment. Don't over-worry about things or over-analyse it, try the drugs once you get the all clear, when you've given it a chance you can decide whether to continue or not.
I hope I've not been too forward with this - you can use it or ignore it as you please! Whatever you decide to do keep us posted, decisions like this are never easy but people here will have been through it too...
KT
NEw Beginning I agree with Kt give the mtx a chance, but of course wait till you are feeling better. Definately get yourself on a multivitamin too, when you do start the mtx take folic acid it will help and make sure to drink lots of water after taking mtx it helps to flush it out. I have started to drink, at least one a day, a new product by Dannon, it is a small yogurt drink that boosts your immunity system and it seems to be helping. Pa can mimic the symptoms of RA, I was diagnosed with Ra and it wasn't till about 4 yrs later that they realised that something else was wrong and I was finally sent to an rd who diagnosed me with severe Pa. Right now it is somewhat under control, the psoriasis isn't though, and I am doing pretty well, I am learning my limits. Some days are real and some days are real bad, stress is very bad for us. My rd is very strong on me getting the flu shots but I am still leary about getting that, what if it causes a flare up?? The reason that you don't see many pas here is we usually end up drifting over to the ra board. There are several pas on that messageboard, we just weren't a big enough community to keep that messageboard here going all the time. To tell you the truth this is the most people that have been on this message board in a long time. memeHappy, painless holidays, All!
Ah good to see another sufferer, if you know what I mean. It is just a pain in the duppa to have both, isn't Jodi. What areas are affected the most by your ra and pa? meme
My psoriasis is almost entirely confined to my scalp, and it wasn't actually accurately diagnosed (via a biopsy) until very recently (I'm 46 and have had it all my life... was told before it was "just seborrhea"). My RA was diagnosed (with a positive RF, etc.) just under a year ago (finally!), and since I also have psoriasis, rheumy says it's entirely likely I also have PA in addition to the RA.
As for the pain and stiffness, you name it, it's in there.
Guess you have both too, eh? Lucky us!
Wishing you comfy, pain-free holidays!
Hi everyone,
I'm new to this forum. I found it when trying to find out about weird blisters on my fingers.
I have psoriasis, so I probably have PA, but I also have symptoms more consistent with RA, and I used to have Crohn's/colitis type symptoms too.
My rheumatologist says the diagnosis doesn't really matter. He'd give me the same set of treatments anyway.
According to him, they both can be disabling.
I'm on Humira + mtx now and I'm doing much better.
Nice to meet you all,
Jennifer
Jodi another thing too is pa attacks the soft tissue, muscle also. My hands are affected quite a bit by the pa, I do wear thumb splints to bed and the palms of my hands can get quite swollen that it looks like I have a ball in my hand. My toes have started to curl under and the dr can't beleive that I have no pain in them, but I don't. Besides wearing the thumb splints at night I do have lidoderm patches for my hands too, 12 hrs on 12 hrs off. The pa is much better with the shots but the psoriasis has gotten worse, I have it on my scalp, behind and in the ears, on the torso and the legs, I am starting to go to a tanning booth next week to see if that will help the psoriasis, the dr thinks maybe this may help since the shots, creams, pills, even diet changing, etc isn't helping. I thing the psoriasis has becoem the worse thing with having this disease for me, right now. when the pa was really flaring the psoriasis was pretty well in jsut a couple spots, now that the pa is doing well, the psoriasis has raised it's ugly head. Oh well I guess we can't win them all. Welcome Tangent it is good to see another pa'r!!!!Almost40
Meme,
I never knew that PA could effect muscle too. I've been having forearm swelling nowhere near joints and it feels like muscle but my rheumatologist didn't seem to know what it was when I described it.
I had pretty severe psoriasis for years that they described as "recalcitrant" meaning it didn't really respond to any of the treatments. I always thought it was perfect that my skin problem was stubborn and unyielding, just like me.
The Humira has really helped my psoriasis. Its an amazing drug for me and I hope it keeps working. I also take MTX which didn't do much on its own for my skin (I originally took it for psoriasis, not arthritis), but may be helping along with the humira and the prednisone.
Anyway, I've never actually met someone else with PA so its really special to be able to talk to all of you.
I've been lurking and chatting over on the RA board, but its nice to see activity over here with my peeps.
Jennifer
Hi Jennifer,
My PA seems to attack any part of my body that it feels like! I am laid up at the moment after having chest pain (intercostal chondritis - pain in the muscles and joints between ribs and sternum) that's so bad I can't take a proper breath in. Went to ED yesterday and my oxygen saturation was down to 96% which explains the light headed feeling! They checked me over for blood clots, chect infections etc and sent me home, the Dr actually suggested I take ibuprofen and I had to explain that I take the max dose of Arcoxia so can't take any other NSAID's. They seem to have no idea about Rheumy problems and the Dr suggested I had pulled some muscles - I had to explain I can't do much so it would be virtually impossible for me to pull a muscle! Just waiting for my Nurse Specialist to call me back from the Rheumatology clinic for some advice. I take MTX and have infliximab (remicade) infusions that have together almost completely got rid of my psoriasis, but although I am mostly pain free for about a month after each infusion it sets back in before I get the next one (I have them every 8 weeks
I would get your Rheum Dr to research about the swelling on your arm,if they haven't seen it before they might not know but they should be able to find out!
All the best - good to see some people on this board!
KT
KT,
I've had the chondritis before in my ribs, both on the side and in my chest. It was really uncomfortable and the one symptom that my partner at the time didn't seem to believe. It was frustrating.
Sorry to hear about your ER experience.
I'm having a bad day because I dropped my Humira right before I injected it and because of a snafu with a sick employee at Abbott, I'm not getting a replacement until my next refill comes anyway.
Its really cold out and I'm in pain and I have a wedding to go to on Sunday feeling like this. Such a drag.
Anyway, I hope you feel better soon.
Does Tylenol (along with your NSAID) add any relief? I took max Tylenol along with Max aleve for about a year until my meds were straightened out.
Take care,
Jennifer
I don't know about the tylenol, I can't takeit, it makes me loopy. Tnagent sorry about your humira breaking, hope you were ok. KT sorry aobut your er visit are you doing better?? Let us know. memeYes, doing better because I got a depomedrone injection from the wonderful nurse specialist in the Rheumatology clinic! Now just having a bit of a nightmare because in September I had an abnormal smear (pap) test result and went this week to see a Gynae Consultant, got tested and no more abnormal cells but they are concerned that my infliximab (remicade)/MTX treatment may be somehow causing abnormal cells so waiting for them to talk about me at their multi-disciplinary conference to find out if I can have my infusion - why is nothing ever simple?
Also I just started seeing a lovely man but after our first date was meeting for me to say "I've got to go to ED with chest pain" I had to tell him about my PA quite early on. I've avoided talking to him in detail about my cervix so far but it's not ideal... Sometimes you just want to feel normal don't you?
KT
I know what you mean, my hubby is wonderful and he understands when I feel like crap from this it is just so hard to look at myself in a mirror because of the psoriasis. He keeps telling me I'm beautiful and he doesn't see what i see. Good man I think I'll keep him around. heheheheh meme