What area of your body is most affected by your PsA?

Hi , I first started with severe pain in my hands. Couldn’t even lightly touch my thumbs without flinching. I had a lot of trouble walking with pains in my feet soon after that but didn’t feel it really much anywhere else, until recent months, when I think my Enbrel injection is becoming less effective.
Now I have pain in my shoulders, elbows, legs, feet and also believe I may have some form of IBD. (Will be discussing with the hospital next month)
Think I said once before, PsA is so generous, just keeps on giving doesn’t it 😊
It is starting to limit what I can do in my daily life, I used to walk 3 miles each day or even cycle 15 miles, three or four times a week. That’s absolutely out the question for the time being but I hope that a replacement biological will give me some of my life back.
As Monty Python once said “always look on the bright side of life”, I’ll leave you to do the whistling 😗

All OF THE ABOVE! Fortunately not all at one time. I feel my PsA kind of snuck in the back door. It started with IBD and progressed to heart disease then psoriasis, and finally full blown psoriatic arthritis. At the time of these apparently diverse diagnosis's I had no clue, didn't even know what PsA was, but in hind thought I can see it now. Having plenty of time to contemplate now with PsA affecting my life I can see way back the things that led to my present position. All the way back to my youth. Isn't hindsight great? My hat is off to all of us that suffer in silence. Just started on XELJANS so hope this helps. Time will tell.

Will do. They say about 3 months and I was doing better already being on sulfasalazine and now moving onto Xeljanz with sulfasalazine, hoping to ween myself off the sulfasalazine and end up with just the Xeljanz. I also hope someone can think about the sciatic stretches' for all the back and leg pain.

Hi . I found this website by accident & decided to join because I need the support of others who are suffering with PsA. I am affected by PsA from my head to my toes. Looking back through the years, I've had PsA for at least the last 25 years. I've suffered from auto-immune diseases all my life. It started mildly & when I sought medical attention for whatever was bothering me at the time, there was always a common ailment explanation. Recommended treatments, medicines, physical therapy & sometimes surgery helped, but, as the years went on my symptoms increased, but, no one ever suggested that I seek out a rheumatologist for an evaluation. 2 1/2 years ago I suffered a major heart malfunction & cardiac arrest. An emergency surgery done by a very talented & gutsy thoracic surgeon brought me back to life, but, no one knew why this particular heart malfunction happened to me. A year ago, my dermatologist recommended I see a rheumatologist because of an auto-immune skin disease that I've had since 1979 when I was 28 years old. When this disease flares I am so miserable & the dermatologist said that maybe a rheumatologist would find an answer to how she could best treat me when I went into a flare. Meanwhile I had all this body pain, inflamed achille's tendons in both feet, & so many other indicators of widespread auto-immune inflammatory diseases, but, figured it was a combination of age, osteoarthritis & genes. Imagine my surprise when on my 1st visit, after xrays of 8 body points, visual & hands on examination my new rheumatologist informed me that I had PsA & more than likely RA as well. I was sent to the lab for a blood draw (10 vials!) & when I returned to the rheumatologist 2 weeks later not only was the RA confirmed, but, I also have Systemic Lupus. Well no wonder I am in terrible pain!!! My first question to the doctor was 'You mean I'm NOT crazy???' & I started to cry when he said 'You most certainly are not crazy.' He did say that he was quite surprised when he saw the positive Systemic Lupus results & that he has had very few patients with all 3 conditions in his long medical career. We discussed all 3 conditions & all the options available to me. He helped me choose treatments I am comfortable with. I take hydroxychloroquine & methotrexate. This past February I was hospitalized with covid19 & when the hospital cardiologist came to my room & read my medical history, she said 'Well, now we know why you had that heart problem 2 years ago! Your heart became inflamed from all these inflammatory arthritis conditions you have.' I hadn't had any cardiac testing other than my regular cardio visits since being put on the anti-inflammatory meds so she ordered a few while I was in the hospital & they all came back with great results. I've learned to adjust my life to my PsA, RA & Lupus. I never miss taking my meds & I've learned to ask for help if I can't do something that years ago I could do without a second thought. I use a walker, take naps when I get tired & admit it when I am too tired to go anywhere or do anything. These conditions take a mental toll as well as a physical one & we cannot be 'too proud' to admit our weaknesses or inability to do something. My biggest mental hangup was that people would look at me & see a feeble old lady. It took me months to get over that, but, after my 3rd fall because I cared what people thought & didn't use a walking aid, I realized how foolish my thoughts were. My PCP has been encouraging me to start an exercise program. My son who teaches yoga has been begging me to start doing yoga. My daughter who walks an hour every day rain or shine, has been begging me to start a walking program, but, my achille's tendons are way to painful more often than not for me to keep to a walking program. Tonight, my oldest son who is my housemate & caretaker & I went to the fitness center where we live. We looked at the different equipment & I tried the recumbent bike & was able to use it for a full 5 minutes with minimal pain. I am setting a goal for myself to go to use the bike every day & not to force myself to do more than I am comfortable doing. If I can use it for more than 5 minutes each day, I will & if I can only use it for 3 minutes, I will only do that. I know my PCP & my children are right about doing more than sitting in a chair all day & I'm determined to start taking better care of myself.


I'm glad I found this site & look forward to learning new things about PsA & how to take better care of myself.