Reactive Arthritis

Donander

My partner became very sore towards the end of our recent holiday in Tunisia and I had to arrange assistance at the airports as I am a wheelchair user and couldn't provide a great deal of assistance.

On the day we returned home she was taken to hospital by her son and daughter-in-law using my wheelchair and she was told that she was suffering from reactive arthritis and they prescribed Diclofenac on top of her existing medication - she has Psoriatric Arthritis. A week later she is only just managed to get out of bed and we are both concerned about this as she has never experienced this before.

How likely is it that this reactive arthritis will recur as we are now extremely concerned about our next holiday in Mallorca in September? Is there anything that she can do to prevent this recurring or to reduce the crippling effects of this condition?

Thanks for any information that you can provide as her next appointment at her regular arthritis clinic is not due until October this year.

Donald

helpline_team

Dear Donald,

Thank you for your enquiry to Arthritis Care. I wonder whether your wife has consulted her rheumatologist about this yet? They should be able to suggest best ways of handling severe inflammatory episodes. Sometimes they can provide you with a small supply of strong medication to ease your mind.

I'm not sure how common this extra kind of diagnosis is - and the rheumatologist might be able to shed some light on the whole situation.

With reactive arthritis people can usually identify a bug that might have happened - e.g. tummy bug or infection. You might be able to be extra careful if you know that your wife is sensitive to bugs.

If you or your wife would like some support, you'd be most welcome to ring us at Helplines.

Kind regards

Guy