A Year in My Life Living With Psoriatic Arthritis

Living with psoriatic arthritis always brings challenges with it. I often compare it to playing with a yo-yo. One minute, you are up and moving around. The next, you are down and can barely move at all.

It’s a vicious cycle that keeps repeating unless you are lucky enough to find a treatment that works for you. In my case, that is not the situation. I honestly think it is because it took so long to diagnose psoriatic arthritis.

The persistent challenge of joint damage and pain

Once the damage reaches the joints, that damage cannot be reversed. Therefore, it will always be a problem.

When I feel good enough to do anything, it doesn’t take long, and my back starts tightening. Let what I am doing take more than 30 minutes, and I am in serious pain.

If you have been following my articles, then you know it was this time last year that I suffered a broken knee. Here it is a year later, and my knee is still a major issue.

When the break happened, the orthopedic specialist told me that he could see extensive arthritis damage in that knee on top of the break.

It has been a long road to rehabilitation where I can walk. I am still looking at a total knee replacement in the future.

The impact of PsA and aging

A year more of dealing with the pain that psoriatic arthritis has caused in my back. It’s sad when you know that the damage has gotten to be more extensive.

I question how long my back will hold up as I age. I just hit the mid-50s. As we age, that brings on a whole set of problems.

Arthritis is at the top of that list of problems for most of us. Given that fact, it makes me concerned that it will cause my psoriatic arthritis to flare even worse.

Psoriatic arthritis can affect a number of joints. For most of us, that is the case.

My hips became an issue for me this year. It doesn’t seem to affect me during the day. At night, however, when I am trying to sleep, it is another issue entirely.

I got great feedback from this community on things those having the same issue use to help elevate the pain. The one that seems to be the most useful for me is using a pillow between my legs.

Not being used to it being there, it took me a bit to fall asleep, but it does help. Thank you to all who suggested things for me to try. Everyone sharing is one of the reasons I love this community.

Embracing the ups and downs

Living with psoriatic arthritis is no cakewalk. It is filled with many ups and downs.

I love the days when the pain is minimal, and I can do what I want to do. Sadly, it doesn’t seem like there are many, given my current situation.

A new year brings with it hope that there will be far more good days than bad. However they come, all I can do is take one day at a time to face what that day brings with it.

I have no time to sit and mourn the old me. That only leads to being depressed.

There is too much life I want to live, and somehow, day by day, that is what I intend to do.