Joining the community

claire33a

Hello,

I'm Claire, I live in Wiltshire and have psoriatic arthritis which mainly affects my knees and wrists. I'm 57 and have just reduced my hours to part time, one reason being that working full time was becoming a struggle, combined with running a home etc.

I actually don't know many people with arthritis, despite being diagnosed at 26 years of age, so am interested to know how others exercise - I've found I have put on weight since being on JAK - anyone else experienced weight gain? and if so, have you managed to reduce your weight via diet / exercise?

Best wishes

Claire

jeddison1985

Hi @claire33a firstly let me welcome you to the forum I hope you find the information and support you are after from our wonderful community.

I can see from your post that you have had Psoriatic Arthritis for a while and that you want to widen your network (our lovely community will help that), about exercising with PSA and also weight loss via diet and exercise.

The site is full of information and conversations I wanted to signpost you to a couple of places; firstly, around exercising with PSA and a general page on PSA which touches on exercise and diet.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2020/june/staying-active-with-arthritis/

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/psoriatic-arthritis/

I can tell you about my personal experiences of using exercise and diet to reduce weight and manage my condition, my main diagnosis is Axial Spondyloarthritis (spinal) but I did have initially PSA. I managed to lose and maintain 6 stone reduction, which was lost over about 4 years. It was a combination of the medication Humira helping my pain, discovering the power of walking for my physical and mental health and eating a low carb diet, reducing any starchy carbs. This combination worked for me but everyone is different and I am sure some others will be able to share other success stories.

Please feel free to search the forum for others with similar experiences and I am sure that some of our community will be able to help offer some useful suggestions.

Take care and I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks

Joe

claire33a

Thank you Joe, that is encouraging, thanks for the information and advice,

Claire