Finally found my way here

Navyblue

Hello, I’m a man who has had Psoriatic Arthritis for, I guess, about 30 years now, since my late 20’s. I’ve never really read up on it, just see my consultant every 9 months and plodded on. I’m lucky in as much as I have no Psoriasis as such, just a few tiny dry skin patches and only a couple of stiff finger joints on my left hand. It’s never stopped me working and it’s never caused me to take a day off though there have been many days I’ve felt like it. I’ve always appreciated how lucky I am considering that I know there are so many of you unable to work who would love to, but can’t due to unbearable joint pain. In that context it feels almost churlish to say that the one thing I have always struggled with is fatigue. It’s a daily battle and as I’m aging it feels more and more attritional. I’m usually good in the morning, excepting sometimes the couple or three mornings after my 20mg Methotrexate inj ( sometimes I’m fine after my inj * shrugs * ) but tail off in the afternoons and by the time I’ve eaten my dinner in the evenings I’ve rarely any energy left to be able to enjoy and hobby or even read a book. I am very lucky to have a historic contract which would give me 6 months sick pay in the unfortunate event I should I require it. My first ten years after leaving school were in the Royal Navy though and that instilled a strong work ethic. So I’d find it very difficult to phone my manager and say I’m not coming in today as I’m tired. Though to that end I have initiated a conversation with a manager and tried to explain about my Arthritis and the effect of fatigue. They didn’t say much. I also emailed him explaining why I would not be available when he requested volunteers for a contract that would have meant erratic working hours over a week. Didn’t hear back from him. Anyway, that’s my introduction and state of play. If you’ve got this far thanks for reading, I hope to be dropping by regularly as I have plenty of both experience and questions. Good night zzz 😴

CarylW

Hello@Navyblue and welcome to the forum. We are a supportive and friendly group and hopefully you will get some responses to your email from people who have empathised with your message.

I understand that you have Psoriatic Arthritis and you find the fatigue very difficult to cope with. Well done for not having taken sick leave from work! I hope you may find this information from our website gives you some help:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/news/2022/april/5-ways-to-help-with-fatigue/

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

Please do keep posting and let us know how you are getting on.

Best wishes

Caryl

stickywicket

Hi and welcome from me too.

You sound quite stoical and pragmatic which, for me, is a good way of dealing with arthritis. Mostly😆 But sometimes we (I have RA) just have to get a bit of help and you may be going through one of those stages.

Firstly, I'd want to check if the disease is active ie if you might need your meds tweaking. That would mean a call to your rheumatology helpline to check your inflammatory levels.

Secondly, I'd want to ensure the boss understands. Many people think arthritis is arthritis is arthritis and can't grasp the concept of the crushing fatigue that an inflammatory form can bring. Here's what Versus Arthritis says about PsA including a mention, and link to, a section on fatigue. MYbe print it off for your boss?https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/psoriatic-arthritis/

Thirdly, my go to thing is exercises. Not fun exercise just boring, routine exercises - strength training normally but just gentle range of movement ones when flaring.

I hope all this might help a bit. That apart, there is distraction, Chopin and, of course, a nice Chenin Blanc!

Navyblue

Thank you Sir :) we are definitely in concurrence. I've always had the number for my clinics Rheumatology nurse and have used it when required, though with hindsight, not as often as I should have. Work wise I'll have no hesitation in printing that off to show work and now having slept on it, come to the conclusion that the next time I am struggling then I really doo need to just phone in sick and self certificate for a week.

Again , totally in tune regarding simple exercise. For a bout ten years I've been doing ten minutes of simple stretches and yoga every morning before breakfast and it really helps in so many ways. I started for back pain after a Physio told me they would definitely help if I persevered. He was right. They are so gentle but wake up my mind and loosen my body. I'm also gearing up to walk more. My work involves a lot of driving between jobs then being stationary while working on repairs but I did a short local walk of a couple of miles when I got home tonight and aim to keep that up and may start doing it before breakfast too. I managed this earlier in the year before fatigue hit hard. Sleep is not a problem but if I wake up during the night then there are some great music mixes on the BBC Sounds App, Ultimate Calm and Ambient Focus being two favourites to lull me back to sleep.

Looking to read up on diet changes too. The problem with fatigue is that comforting carbs are all too easy to wolf down. Need to make some changes though for some years breakfast has been a "Clean Green" smoothie of Spinach, Mango, Avocado, Apple juice , Ginger and Lemon. Swapping those carbs for beans, greens and other veg for my evening meal won't come easy but I know the body can adapt to new tastes after a couple of months if I can persist. The reward has to be worth it to lose that belly fat. Which reminds me, while searching the other night I chanced across a medical website listing belly fat in men as one of the side effects of Psoriatic Arthritis. Need to read up more as I'm not sure that can be true? Probably trying to sell a diet plan. Talking of which, I am very interested in looking into the possibility of trying Intermittent Fasting so I may post separately about that to see if anyone on here has had success. A quick search the other night shows sufferers can use this but at the start fatigue can be an issue which obviously might be a challenge.

stickywicket

It sounds as if you're doing many good things and I hope they help.

I love the sound of your breakfast smoothie but I gave up on dietary suggestions years ago. Now i just eat a - broadly speaking - Mediterranean type of diet and it serves me well. You write of belly fat as a potential problem with PsA. Interestingly, @jamieA put up a thread last week on the connection between PsA and cholesterol which you might find useful. https://community.versusarthritis.org/discussion/60980/psoriatic-arthritis-and-cholesterol#latest

(By the way, I'm not a 'sir'. I know, it's the username. I've confused others before. But many of us females are cricket addicts too😊

Navyblue

Looks like I’ve been caught in the slips 🫣 ( my cricket knowledge begins & ends there, much to the chagrin of my South African friends) I stand corrected ☺️. Thanks for the link. My cholesterol is fine but recent check while getting bloods done flagged up high blood pressure. Still in the first week of making changes to my lunch and evening diet and managing a 1.5 mile walk when I get home from work. Early days but I’ll be happy if I can keep it up.