Getting Through Stressful Times Without Triggering My Psoriatic Arthritis

I must say, my plate is full. I just found out I have chronic kidney disease, and my husband was recently diagnosed with it as well. My youngest son is on dialysis, too. I'm a caregiver to my father, who is 90.

I am also a patient advocate and attend meetings every week. Sometimes, I feel overwhelmed, but despite this, I need to manage my stress and anxiety to keep my psoriatic arthritis (PsA) at bay.

Managing stress to alleviate PsA symptoms

I understand that stress is the last thing I want to cope with as a PsA patient. When stress strikes, pain and inflammation worsen.

While I can't eliminate stress, learning to handle it is critical for my health. Through the years, I've learned what works for me during stressful times, and I feel it can also help you.

The most important thing is to recognize when I am anxious and what causes the stress. Understanding when I'm stressed and what's causing it allows me to better manage it.

When stress strikes, I usually get anxiety, muscle tension, and headaches. When I notice this, I usually seek out friends to talk with. This helps me to revert my mind to other things.

Daily habits for PsA management

My friend turned me on to green tea, which wasn't my favorite thing at first. I now make sure that this tea is always in the home.

Green tea helps me relieve some stress. I can't be 100% sure, but my joint pain is better.
I drink it twice daily, early in the morning and late at night before bed. It also helps to reduce the severity of psoriasis, which is mostly on my legs now.

Before leaving the house, I make sure that I have my painkillers and other medications with me so that I don't forget to take them. I also make sure that I have all of my prescribed medication with me. Because of my kidneys, I have to work very closely with my healthcare team because they have a suspicion that some of my medications affect the kidneys.

All my doctors have suggested I do frequent exercise. This is supposed to control my pain somewhat. I tried going to the gym a couple of times a week. It was just too painful.

So, I invested in a stationary bike, which is much better. I do 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night.

I try and ride my bike 4 times a week. This helps me start my day feeling well and sleep peacefully at night.

By exercising as often as I can, I can have a good night's sleep, manage easy movements on the stairs, and be physically fit enough to move around throughout the day and continue to live a productive life.

Finally, I make sure that my friends and family are available for support and encouragement. If things don't go as planned, I can rely on them to help me out in a pinch.

Moving forward together

It is not easy, but things must move forward, life must continue, and I must live and be strong for the people I care about. Trust me, I am living my best life.

We are all in this together.