Newly diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis

NTandy

Hi all I just wanted to say hi and ask for any advice you may be able to give me. I have just been diagnosed this week with PSA and am looking at drug treatments. My consultant has given me leaflets on Sulfasalazine, methotrexate and Leflunomide. Any advice at all? Thanks in advance.

Chris_R

Hi @NTandy

Welcome to the online community ,great to see you posting.

You say that you have just been diagnosed with PSA and would like some advice.

Psoriatic arthritis | Psoriatic arthritis | Causes, symptoms, treatments (versusarthritis.org)

Versus Arthritis psoriatic arthritis information booklet

Ian’s story | Psoriatic arthritis | Versus Arthritis

Here are a few links that may help.Please log on to the forums and chat with others it can be very freeing to talk to others who know what you are going through.

Also please keep in touch and tell us how you are getting on.

All the best Christine

ZiziB

Hi @NTandy

i am in the same boat, newly diagnosed but about 5 weeks back..here’s my input if it helps.

I too was thrust the leaflets and chose Methotrexate, mostly because of ease of taking the meds (one 15mg dose every Monday eve, with folic acid taken the night before to help with any side effects you will have read about). The other drug i was offerered was Sulfasalazine but as far as i could tell they both worked in the same way and had same potential side effects so the latter felt like the better choice for me. I was terrified to take it ( i don’t know where your head is at with this bit?) but after 4 doses i have already seen improvements and i am fortunate in no obvious side effects. From my understanding they would have shown up by now ( i understand that everyone is different tho..)

I have good days and bad still, fatigue can get you so pace yourself if you can 🙏

feel free to message me directly or on here if you have any questions i haven’t answered.

Hope it helps , kind regards Sal x

MrsWalker

NTandy, sorry to hear about your diagnosis! I too have PA, I was diagnosed in 2017.

I have no knowledge about the other two medications you mentioned, however, I was using methotrexate for 14 months. Unfortunately it wasn’t the right treatment method for me, but I know others who it has worked really well for.

I would strongly advise keeping a diary whilst using methotrexate though, and be aware of possible changes in your mood. I was diagnosed with depression whilst taking the drug (I would literally burst into tears if someone asked how I was) and it wasn’t until a mix up at the pharmacy left me without my medication for 3 weeks that we realised it was cause of the depression. 3 weeks of not taking it and my pain and swelling were worse than ever but I was my happy bubbly self again. My rheum nurse said it’s rare but she has seen it before and was the one who advised me to keep a mood diary when they started trying me on different treatments.

I really hope you get the right treatment method for you soon, as it makes a huge difference

Tom

Welcome to the forum, @MrsWalker I see that you have PA and that you have already posted in support of @AbbyPink, this is just how the forum is supposed to work.

Here is another story from another member:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/october/pregnancy-and-arthritis-tips-for-new-mums/

Anyway, congratulations and let us know how you get on.

Tom