Psaiaratic arthritis

rpj

Hi all

New to the site first post hello everyone

I've recently been diagnosed with psa and just trying to get my head around things.

I'm on methotrexate and meloxicam, at the moment I'm struggling with the pain and fatigue.

I've dropped to working 3 days a week as I do a job with heavy lifting and a lot of bending, I'm hoping things will settle with the medication

Looking forward to chatting and getting any advice thanks paul

noddingtonpete

Hello @rpj and welcome to the community. We are a friendly and supportive group and I hope that will be your experience as well.

I understand that you have been diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. Fatigue can be quite common and I've put a couple of links in below to information on our website which might help.

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/managing-symptoms/managing-fatigue/

and

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

Good to have you here and please keep posting and let us know how you progress. If you have any questions just ask - it is likely someone has had something similar and will share their support and experience.

Best wishes

Peter

jamieA

Hi @rpj

Welcome. I've also got PsA - I was diagnosed at 65 having already retired. I think many people here on MTX suffer from some form of fatigue that usually occurs a day or two after we take it. Many people take it the day before they are off for the weekend or their rest days. Are you also taking folic acid on the days you don't take MTX? I was referred to a pain clinic run by my local health board and that helped. I was also referred to an occupational therapist and a rheumatology podiatrist as well as a rheumatology physiotherapist. The physiotherapist helped greatly.

When I was at my worst I was given regular Kenalog steroid injections that usually gave 4-6 weeks respite each time though they didn't always work.

Is it possible for you to ask your employer to be moved to a less physically onerous job?

Hope you get some form of relief soon.

rpj

Thankyou for the warm welcome

I was getting a lot of pain through out my body and feeling completely wiped out, I put it down to my age 56 and the type of work I do. I've always been relatively fit and healthy, I went to see a physio for the pain in my joints who noticed I had psoriasis and I was referred to a rheumatologist.

And was then diagnosed with psa

Methotrexate and folic acid and bloods taken regular and all the vaccinations, not what I was used to more xrays tomorrow its crazy how psa can change your life and health in such a short time. The hardest for me is the fatigue it has got worse since taking Methotrexate.

Again thanks for the warm welcome

Paul

rpj

Again thanks for the warm welcome

Update got my x-ray results

I've OA in my back and both knees and calcification of my left ankle, still waiting for my mri. My PSA is still causing pain and stiffness in my feet, hips, hands, elbow, shoulder and knees ect and still struggling with fatigue.

At this point I'm starting to wonder about continuing with my job, I do a lot of heavy lifting and some plumbing and electrical work so a lot of bending and working in confined spaces. I have ok days at work but more bad days with pain and fatigue and wondering if I should stop working as this is making my OA worse and concentrate on what I can do to help my Arthritis

Many thanks paul

jamieA

Hi @rpj

I think until you are able to get your PsA under control it would be difficult to say what your best option is. I know that when I was at my worst I couldn't contemplate any physical activity. I'm on a cocktail of sulfasalazine, methotrexate and the biologic adalimumab and I'm now able to walk my dog 50-60kms a week. Funnily enough last year I met the guy who built an extension to my house 20 years ago and it turns out he has PsA and takes the same cocktail as me and is still building extensions. I know we are all different and I certainly couldn't imagine doing the hard manual work he does but it was quite an eye opener.

One thing I would say is that I realised early on in my treatment that I needed to be more assertive in my dealings with medics to get things moving at a quicker rate. After all they aren't feeling your pain levels. I remember meeting an RA sufferer who said she wished that she could inject her consultant with a drug that would give him her RA issues for a month so he could experience it. I couldn't agree with her more.

I think unfortunately the inflammatory arthritis appears to lead to OA in a number of us. I've now got OA in my knees and feet.

I hope you get stabilised soon.

KPez09

I'm almost 2 years into PsA diagnosis. I stopped work a year ago as I couldn't do my job as a carer, I can't even manage to do up buttons on my own clothes or chop vegetables so couldn't complete the tasks needed with my job. Now 3 and a bit months with mtx, I still have bad days but life is becoming bearable. The fatigue for the 2 days after mtx dose is still there but I try to have those days free of any appointments or anything else so I can stay home and be safe. Everyone is different so it will be trial and error to work out what helps you to get through each day