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What is 1 thing only another person with PsA would understand?

This giveaway has closed but we still welcome community members to share their perspectives on this topic.

When it comes to living with psoriatic arthritis, unless you have another chronic health condition, it may be hard for others to understand.

What is 1 thing only another person with PsA would understand?

Share your experiences with us in this forum thread.

This is a part of our World Arthritis Day Giveaway. As part of World Arthritis Day, we are giving away 1 lucky winner a set of compression gloves and the book, "The Psoriatic Arthritis Roadmap: Navigating an Integrative Approach," by rheumatologist Dr. Donica Baker. The giveaway starts on October 1, 2024, and ends on October 31, 2024, at 4 p.m. ET. To enter for a bonus entry, respond to the prompt below.

  1. One thing that a person with PsA would agree is that diet, sleep and anxiety play a tremendous role in how productive we are, learning to listen to our bodies has helped me have more good days than bad.

    1. hi, I have just joined this group and was wondering what sort of diet you’re on?

    2. Hi ! Welcome to the community - we're so glad you found us 😊 I actually haven't found any dietary changes helpful, but I know that we have lots of community members who have. I do still try to eat a healthy, balanced diet, just because I know that's what is good for my overall health. Perhaps can let us know if there's a particularly way of eating that they find helpful.

      If you're interested, we do have a couple of articles on diet and PsA. The first looks at the role of diet and nutrition in PsA: https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/psa-affects-health/food-nutrition-diet-link and the second looks at a few diets that may be able to help us manage our PsA: https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/living/diet-help There's also an interesting forum discussion on diet and PsA: https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/forums/diet I hope these are helpful. Have you had PsA for long? And are you treating it with anything at the moment? Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator

  2. The constant pain, tiredness, lack of sleep

    1. , Thanks for sharing this. No one understands how it feels to be in pain everyday. I have had psoriatic disease for 61 years. This illness makes you feel isolated and alone even when people are around you. Are you on any type of treatment? We would like to hear more from you. Diane (Team Member)

    2. Stress, stress, stress . This is definitely the trigger for me

  3. Fatigue is a constant 24/7 battle. No one but a psoriatic disease sufferer would understand

    1. thanks for asking,⁹ I started cosentyx in March on low dose of 150 mg, it wasn't doing much so the doctor finally up the dose to 300 mg in September. Now after the 3rd dose of 300 mg I feel like I'm starting to get somewhere but now cosentyx has changed their qualifications, so now I no longer qualify and may have to start over with something else in January. I'm a stroke risk so I cannot have any Jax. And this is like my 7th biologic now. It's always one day at a time

    2. Oh , what a pain it would be if you do have to start all over again with another treatment in January, especially as you're starting to finally feel some effects of the increased dose of Cosentyx. I'm over in the UK so I don't know too much about the processes over there - can you/your doctor make an appeal to Cosentyx about this? Another option might be to see if there are any assistance programs that could help you access the Cosentyx going forward. You've been through so much with this disease and all of these medications already. It feels really unfair that you might have to switch treatments again. Please keep us all posted if you can. Hugs! -Catherine, Community Moderator

  4. One thing that someone would not understand who doesn’t have PsA, is what you deal with on a daily bases. The pain & side effects from the medication you take to treat it. Not a lot of energy and fatigue just wanting to sleep in hopes it will disappear when you wake up!

    1. absolutely, we hear you! It is a very challenging thing to have those around you not understand the daily difficulties of living with PsA. I hope this community can be a place you can come to for support and understanding, because the people here get it. Sending you gentle hugs. -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)

    2. , you nailed it. People don't understand. And your absolutely right, the side effects and pain is bad. My doctors have had to change my medication so many times because of side effects. Thanks for sharing. The fatigue is not good either. What do you do to combat that part? Diane (Team Member)

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