Psoriatic Arthritis: The Gift You Never Wanted That Keeps on Giving

I was diagnosed in 2000. I had no psoriasis at the time, but I had developed crippling pain in my right wrist. As a nurse in a critical care unit, this was a problem. I had to wait three months to see the rheumatologist and I was not actually diagnosed with any specific problem, but Sjogren's syndrome and "mixed connective tissue disease."

My rheumatologist thought I probably had scleroderma, but after a couple of years, the diagnosis was psoriatic arthritis due to the clue from the "sausage" fingers that I had developed.

Comorbidities of psoriatic arthritis

The next thing that came along was Raynaud's and my hands became a source of the problem. I wore gloves for grocery shopping since my hands were very affected by any cold. One fingernail developed an ulcer which was extremely painful but my rheumatologist was able to give me a medicine that was used by scleroderma patients and it cleared the ulcer up which was an enormous relief.

My most recent "gift" related to this disease is autoimmune hepatitis. I was informed by the gastroenterologists that having my PsA was what predisposed or made me likely to develop the AIH. Whee!

As for psoriasis, I had been diagnosed with PsA for about five years before I ever had any psoriasis when it developed along my thighs and trunk. It lasted about a year and then it went into remission. The next breakout came three years ago, when I developed scalp psoriasis and, as you know, any psoriasis is painful.

Working to find the right treatment

I have had a knee replacement and a shoulder replacement is probably in my near future. As for meds, I tried taking Methotrexate for a while, but then it was no longer possible to take it because it adversely affected my kidneys. Next, I took Kinneret which caused a massive infection that required bone grafts in my mouth so it was out after that. And, after the Kinneret fiasco, I wouldn't take much of anything to my rheumatologist's displeasure.

He did put me on Doxycycline (it helps with joint pain) and I had taken Plaquenil almost from my initial visit until the autoimmune hepatitis was diagnosed and Plaquenil had to go since it is not good for livers. I cannot take NSAIDs nor any med with Tylenol such as Percocet for pain due to the ill effects on my liver due to autoimmune hepatitis.

I will tell you that my flares and pain have finally, after quite a few years, made me give up and agree to take a biologic. Oddly enough, the first treatments seem to have made a great deal of difference in my pain.

Who knows what "gift" PsA might give me next? That is my story.