Confirm my symptoms | Arthritis Information

I have always had pain in my hands even as a teenager. Then I would get pain in all my joints usually intermittent and one joint at a time.
Over the past 10 yrs. I have had pain in the elbows, shoulders, hands
feet and ankles. Then I got swelling in my one finger that looked like a
sausage for no reason. I hurt almost every day and now I am getting
pain in my hips and low back. I think I have psoratic arthritis. My mother
had psorasis and now I have noticed silvery gray areas on my knees that
are getting bigger. They are rough and it appears to be psorasis. I have
no insurance now but in the past all my RA factors have been negative.
I have been told that is usually the case in PA to have a negative RA.
I will not take any of the stronger meds for this as some will cause non
hodgkins lymphoma which my mother had and my brother as well. I take Motrin at times but it does not help that much. My feet hurt so
bad sometimes that I walk like I am 100 yrs old. My elbows hurt for over a year and where so sore to touch and ached. Then one day they stopped hurting and my ankles started. Does anyone out there
think this sounds like PA. I was told by one doctor it sounded like it.
I do not want to wind up in a wheelchair someday. I know that this
can speed up osteoporosis as well. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Hi Linda,

I was confused by some of the things you've said but if it helps not everyone with PA or RA will need to use a wheelchair. I think the best thing you can do is go to a Rheumatologist. We can only give you the benefit of our experience - get a diagnosis and you'll know what your options are.

Good luck.

Thanks KT.....What confused you what I wrote? A Rheumatologist did
tell me I probably have PA. She was the one who also said you could
be in a wheelchair someday. She wanted to put me on Metotrexate which is a chemo agent and I did not want to use it. In PA you have
a negative Rheumatoid antigen. I have never had an abnormal RA test
which is consistant with PA. I do not have insurance and can not afford to go through all the tests again and xrays. I have had many xrays over the years and did not show anything but inflammation. I guess what I
am asking is does everyone who has this condition have migratory joint pain and different levels of pain? I have pain on a scale from 1-5 but never more severe than moderate pain. The only thing that gets to me is that I have multiple areas of pain from my elbows, feet, ankles, back, and shoulders that will hurt all at once. It use to be one
joint at a time now it is many joints. I am sorry that I was not more
specific with my question.
hi , i have PA and one minute i can have one painful joint the next i could have dozens. but there is never a day when i am pain free. occasionally i will have one bad joint that will stay painful and swollen for weeks and then just move to another.my pain has never got below a 5 its usually nearer a 7 most of the time. i have been on methotrexate but now i take arava. plus other meds and tramadol for painThank you allycat for the info. I use to think I was crazy. Why would I
have such consistant pain in one joint and then it would disappear and
go to another joint . I am sorry that your pain is bad. I have never
had it so bad that I could not stand it but it does limit me to what I can do. I have taken tramadol before and it worked good.

Thanks again
Linda

Hi Linda,

Now I think I'm with you - sorry, been taking the storng painkillers this week so my brain isn't always up to speed - LOL.

The joint pain I have moves around my body and I think that's quite common from what I've heard, some days all of my joints seem to be painful but it can be just one or any combination. My PA affects primarily my spine and also my chest, hips, knees, shoulders, elbows, hands, feet, jaw and skull. I take methotrexate and also infliximab (remicade). I am on the max dose of etoricoxib (cox-2 inhibitor) and take co-dydramol or tramadol when I need it. I find tramadol makes me feel woozy and spaced out so tend to take it at night so I don't get woken up in pain and take the co-dydramol in the day to keep me at work.

I understand your reluctance to take MTX or similar meds but they are given early into the disease process to try to protect your joints from damage. It is generally accepted that early aggressive treatment gives the best long term results. On a personal note I would be shocked to hear a Dr say you'll be in a wheelchair - it's certainly not definite in a patient with either RA or PA although it is a possibility. My Dad has ankylosing spondylitis and was told in his 20's that he'd need a wheelchair by the time he was 45. He's 55 now and still running, playing golf, climbing mountains etc. It just shows you that everyone i different in the way that the disease affects them and in the way that they respond to treatments. I hope you can find something that works for you to deal with the pain, I think the pain moving around can make you feel a bit like you're going crazy unless you can find a good Dr who understands... I hope this helps.

Thank you KT. I am sorry that you are on all these meds. I worry that
I do not take anything and will have joint damage but I just could not
afford to pay for these meds without insurance. I have never had pain
in my jaw or skull but it is good to know that it can affect that area. I have had pain in my chest but thought it was costochrondritis as it is only intermittent. I am 55 like your Dad and have had this since my early 20's. I am wondering now if I had PA all along. I worked with a doc for
20 yrs and he never once said he thought it might be PA. It has only
been the last 6 months that it started in my low back. I was told by
the Rheumatologist that this could affect your organs as well. Have you
ever heard that? Well I do appreciate your response and your help. I hope that you will do well. You must be young and I am sorry that you have to deal with this at your age.

Hee Hee - I suppose I am young at 30 but I don't feel like it today! The pain in my chest is costochindritis caused by the PA, it flares up every so often but in between the joints still feel a little tender. I am not sure why the Dr's confuse people by calling it costochindritis - I suppose that's the correct medical term for that kind of problem but it is caused by PA. Likewise my low back pain is calles sacroilitis (not sure I spelled that right) but is caused by the PA. I am sorry you're in a tough situation with having to pay for meds. In the UK we have free treatment but have to pay a set amount for a prescription. I buy a pre-payment card for prescriptions that makes them free all year, it costs about Ł100 sterling (not sure what that is in dollars). The difficulty I have is that our Govt is starting to ration treatments and has strict rules on what drugs can be used for what diseases to cut costs...

Glad I could help even in a little way!

KT you are so sweet. Yes you are young even at 30. My daughter is
34. I know what you mean some days I feel like a hundred and think how am I doing to walk down the stairs cause my feet hurt so bad.
You can have costocondritis without having PA. It just means inflammation in the intracostal spaces of your ribs. I did not know that it was linked to PA and I am a nurse. I guess you learn something new every day. I have kind of been in denial with this so I have not really
checked it out on the internet. Thanks again.
hi, i have had really bad rib pain lately. so today i found out about PA and costochondritis also. without the internet i reckon i would be at the doctors more often. it seems other symptoms of PA just keep appearing lately . I have also had reoccuring iritis. the stupid doctor didnt even know what it was until i told him the name of it and he looked on net and said yeh youre right . then gave me the right medication. thats bad when you have to diagnose your own illness hey. Linda another non medication anti inflamatory that my rheumatologist has me take is fish oil. not the capsules but the liquid. i take 15ml a day and it helps a lot.

Linda if you don't mind a little info from another person with pa, you need to see an rd, if you don't get some help with slowing the progression down of the pa yes you can end up in a wheelchair. I don't mean to frighten you but it can happen. Pa can affect your organs, joints and even the muscles of your body. I have it in my hands, feet, neck and my back. Pa is known for causing problems with the spine too. With treatment you can slow the progression of the pa down and even get it to go in remission. You don't neccesarily have to go on mtx there are other meds that can be used. If you don't have insurance for meds there are programs with the drug companies that may end up getting your meds for free. You don't have to have any psoriasis in order to have pa too. For the scaling on your knee may I suggest getting a petroleoum based ointment like Aquaphor or even use plain old olive oil. My rd and I have hve gone over my case history and we believe I have had pa since I was 25 I am going to be 50 shortly, my dad had pa also, but his dr didn't recognise it and like my rd said if you don't have dr who knows about pa they will not recognise the symptoms, it took me 4-5yrs for me to convince a regular dr to send me to the rd. For pain relief try Naxporin based pain reliever, like Alleve, take one in the morning and one in the evening it helps big time. Welcome to the board. memeThanks again so much Alley and Meme for all your advise. Hope that you enjoy a nice Memorial Day. Just read my post and all my typos. I guess I shoud wear my glasses
when trying to write. Sorry . I was using Fish Oil capsules for depression they said it helped and I will see about trying it in the form you are taking AlleyCat. Thanks.
Linda go to teh library they have many books on the froms of arthritis that may be able to help you understand more of what is going on. Treatment for pa is not just pain relief it is find ing a drug along the lines of enbrel & humira maybe teaming it with mtx or arava to help with slowing the process down. Pian relief is given to help keep swelling and to help with the pain there are also pain patches that can be worn 12 hrs on 12 hrs off that help with the pain in specific areas etc. Yes you can worry about the meds but it outways the relief you get from both the pain relief and dmards that can help you be able to have a fairly ordinary life. For us we end up doubled whammied, unfortunately I am one of those that has psoriasis on over 5o% of my body,but we are dealing with it. The meds hve made my joints, the muscles, etc so much better but it is not working on the psoriasis, I go daily to a tanning booth for the psoriasis and am seeing very good results and on top of it I already have a tan for the season. hehehehe. Linda please consider looking more into the meds talk to you dr etc, you want to be there with your family this is one way that helps alot. I have a physically demanding job and I am able to keep up with it and even work in my gardens. Yes I have bad days still but they are far and few. You are talking to someone who couldn't turn the key in her car 2 yrs ago because of the pain and the swelling of my hands so I am doing GREAT!!!! I can understand that but check your area they do have clinics where they can help even though you don't have insurance and can't pay. The clinic I go to has 2 nights a week where they see people who can't afford the dr's office during the day and they are just wonderful . If you can get into one of these places and get diagnosed and get scrips, drug companies have programs where you can get your meds for free, they will even ship them to you for free too. I know it is hard and I am so sorry for all the pain and grief you are going through right now. Has your pain been quite a bit lately, what about the swelling?? Can you try naxporin, Alleve, for pain, if you can, try one in the morning and one in the evening and see how that helps after a month. meme
Copyright ArthritisInsight.com