Do you consider psoriatic arthritis to be an invisible illness?
Do you consider psoriatic arthritis to be an invisible illness? Why or why not? Please share your perspective.
For the most part. Personally, you would have too look at my hands closely to see it or see me get up from a chair after sitting a bit to notice. I'm active and eat cleanly so I look rather healthy. However, it takes me a good hour at my computer in the morning with my coffee after I peel myself out of bed to feel like moving more and I don't do anything in the evenings because I'm too tired and brain dead ! I try real hard, exercise & stretch daily and take a Humiro biosimilar but I'm still in some pain and wear wrist braces a lot and good shoes.
If only people could see how hard so many with PsA struggle to get moving in the mornings,
. I hope the Humira biosimilar continues to help. Thanks for sharing! - Lori (Team Member)
For me, the biggest thing is the absolute and utter fatigue which leaves me with no energy to do much of anything. But I don't LOOK different, and people cannot understand what's going on with me. I get tired of explaining, and so then find myself isolating from those who don't understand.
Hi Cathy, it is hard for other people to understand what I'm going through. My hands and fingers are sore. My husband dies nothing to help me with housework, laundry. He doesn't know the pain I'm in,how hard to bend my fingers. 
Hi again,
💖 I wish you (and we all) had more understanding from those around us. I think it is hard for anyone who hasn't experienced this to understand, but I don't think that it's hard for them to respect and believe us. I'm sorry to hear that your husband isn't helping out with the household chores - I'm sure that you could do with some extra help, given how sore your hands and fingers are. Please let us know if we can find any information that might be helpful to share with your husband, to try to help him understand. The following article is a popular one for sharing with family and friends: https://psoriatic-arthritis.com/living/5-things-i-wish-my-family-knew Sending hugs! -Catherine, Community Moderator
I agree with you 100% the fatigue is absolutely debilitating! I retired early, partly to do with this and also due to the pandemic. People don't understand how much we suffer day to day.
Hi again,
💖 The fatigue truly is awful and you're right, people really do not understand how much we have to deal with each day. It's terribly frustrating and draining. I hope the early retirement has allowed you to rest up when you need to, although I know sometimes resting doesn't actually seem to help very much. Softest of hugs! -Catherine, Community Moderator
Most people don't know I have it, and I don't mention it unless it's absolutely necessary. Fatigue is the hardest to deal with. Finding the balance between over-doing it and doing the things I enjoy and/or need to get done is a daily hurdle. Declining invites for evening activities makes me self conscience. I try to keep evolving as my PSA changes.
, thank you for joining the conversation here. As you can see from the other comments here, you're not alone in this awful fatigue struggle. I, too, don't really talk about my PsA anymore, although that's because I've learned that talking about it only leads to frustration with others' lack of understanding. Have you always not spoken much about your PsA or did you have a similar experience to me, with disappointing responses from others? It really is hard to balance not overdoing it whilst also still trying to do something/anything ! What kind of things do you enjoy doing when the fatigue allows? Warmly, -Catherine, Community Moderator
