psoriatic arthritis

[Sarandipity]

Renee,
THANKS! For all the information. I am going to get blood tests today to rule out some things- as the doctor put it.

You have to be the sweetest person to provide me with such great information. I NEVER had a pain before I had parvovirus I recd from my 2 year old (at the time). I was in gymnastics for 9 years, taught swim lessons, on the volleyball team in jr. high, on the track team in high school, Ive always been active, then overnight I got this horrible pain in all my joints! The only way to describe it... is I felt like a decrepid (sp) old woman. I was crawling becuase I could not walk, going to the emergency room because my legs and ankles and feet hurt so bad.

It will be a good day when I can report back to you what type of arthritis I have.

You have to be a super sweet person to have spent the time to give me that info. Thanks again.

Have you heard of the anti inflam- Arthrotec? Or Bextra?

Lots and lots of thanks!

[strbay]

I am glad to hear that your doctor is going to "start ruling things out." Is this doctor a rheumetologist? Until you have enough joint damage, many conditions can only be diagnosed based on their clinical symptoms. I had an orthopedic specialist that looked at my finger waaaaaaaaaaay back whn only one finger was involved. He insisted that I had severe tenosynovitis, not PA. I even let him convince me that he could fix my problem with surgery instead of considering DMARDs. Needless to say, after spening a lot of pain , money and rehab on just this one finger (which ended up a total mess)...my first rheumy said. "I could have told you that surgery wasn't going to work.... tenosynevitis is part of PA...you can't cure PA is surgery." So why didn't he step in and say something. Needless to say...I found a new rheumy.

I have not heard of the anti inflam- Arthrotec or Bextra? I know there are a lot of new drugs out there. I have heard the connection between Fifth Disease and autoimmune diseases. Some also say that pregancy can trigger it (for women...). I truly hope that your doctor can help you get a handle on the pain. Good luck and keep us posted.

By the way...I do agree with Albie.... perhaps the reason a condition starts out as one thing and then changes to sound like something else is because it isn't uncommon to end up with more than one autoimmune disease....

[stacynb]

According to Spodylitis Assoc. of America, "Psoriatic arthritis belongs to a group of diseases, which are referred to collectively as the spondyloarthropathies (SpA). Ankylosing spondylitis is the main condition -- sometimes called the prototype disease of the group. The medical names of the other three are as follows: reactive arthritis, spondylitis associated with inflammatory bowel disease, and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy. This is where it starts to get complicated because psoriatic arthritis itself can be broken down into five sub-categories, each of which share two main symptoms: psoriasis, which is a scaly rash that occurs most frequently on the elbows, knees and scalp; and joint pain in the form of arthritis. To further complicate matters, about one-fifth of those with psoriatic arthritis will develop involvement of the spine, called psoriatic spondylitis. The spinal involvement is similar to that of ankylosing spondylitis and can cause the spine to fuse into one bony column, or skip areas and fuse randomly."

I am wondering if the pain in my back could be anything other than psoriatic spondylitis, or if that is what it is. How would I know if it is this or something else?

[Sarandipity]

Renee,

I am seeing two doctor's: 1) a bone and joint doctor, and 2) a gen practitioner

The gen prac. I have been seeing for years, since my youngest was only a few months old, (she is almost 8 now) And the bone and joint doctor sent me to phys therapy for two weeks to see if it could help. My gen prac. is giving me the blood tests in which she will " rule out " things- not sure what. I will ask my bone and joint sp. the name of a very good reumy (I live in Houston)

After having 3 years of relentless pain in my si joints, knees, hands, fingers, wrists, and in my shoulders- I am finally taking steps to get better instead of just saying ok- I have a degen disc - thats the cause of all my pain. It's not true. There is no way my body hurts all over and is NOT the cause of a disc. Like I said there is no other way to describe it except I feel like a old old woman (picture a grandmother bent over in pain) that is me.

I wait so bad to find out what is wrong with me and to deal with the cards Im dealt.

I cannot thank you enough for all of the information you have given me. You have been more than kind. You are a God- send.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Renee!

[strbay]

Hi SARANDIPITY & Stacy,
I think we all realize that just because PA doesn't mean that everyone else does too... If in sharing my symtoms, trials, pains, meds and success, someone else has insight into what might be going on with them or what may help, then my living with PA has not been totally in vain. Having said that.... I have noticed with doctors that what ever their specialty, that is there approach to your symptoms. I had two orthopedic specialists that came up with the same "ortho" diagnosis... and and internist that thought it was all just a serious infection I was dealing with. So how do you ever know if you have the right diagnosis???? I don't know.... So many conditions truly have the same symtoms...with one condition being as simple as the common cold and the other being a terminal condition. I think part of finding the diagnosis is finding the doctor that can bring control and relief to your symptoms....AND finding a doctor that doesn't poo poo your input and questions. My rheumy is open to all my questions and suggestions (and he never says no to an option without explaining why it is not worth or not safe trying.)
Hang in there!
Renee

***By the way.... yes, I do remember how it felt to walk and move as if I were 90 years old. While life is not perfect now, it is sooooooooooo much better than those first few years in pain.