re: Psoriatic arthritis, causes and treatment.

Go to Enbrel.com, get co pay card and this amount disappears

A friend of mine has psoriatic arthritis + ankylosing spondylitis, genetic marker included. I could go into how terrible things were for him pre-diagnosis (constant pain, fatigue, etc. + 9 ortho surgeries that we now realize may have been unneeded), but it sounds like everyone here gets it. He dealt with an idiot primary care doc who did nothing but throw minor pain meds at him for years, but he finally got a referral to a rheumatologist and a diagnosis in 2014.

He tried Humira with mixed results. It succeeded in lowering his inflammation markers within normal range, but the side effects were terrible. He would be sick for 2-3 days after every injection and developed IBD-like GI issues that he'd never had before. So he quit after a year.

Since then he got a new GP who wanted to try diet and exercise in lieu of (or at least in conjunction with) biologics. He started on the auto-immune protocol (AIP) diet in January, and it has been a life-changer. He feels 100x better than he ever did with or without the Humira, and his inflammation markers are in a workable range. And all with zero side effects. The diet is INTENSE (stricter than Paleo/Whole 30) but so worth it.

I never bought into alternative medicine until I saw what a difference changing his diet made. So with diet + the right meds, I'd imagine ever more is possible. He's just not ready to go the biologic route again after the nightmare that was Humira.

TL;DR version: Autoimmune issues suck. Meds can help, but don't rule out diet as well.

I've felt much better since dropping a lot of weight. Helps the humira work better. I'm not on a specific diet, but try to eat as low carb--no sugar--as possible.

Going to try the AIP diet and see how I feel. Still need to drop some pounds too. Wondering what I'll eat for breakfast as a scrambled egg has always been my go to.

As I mentioned, I strongly encourage joining the National Psoriasis Foundation forum. It's so helpful to talk with other folks experiencing the same thing or who have experienced it and gotten relief. They can provide so much information and tips.

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misdiagnosed for a good while.

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When my symptoms started presenting early on in High School the 1st idiot dermatologist I saw suggested I just put some rubbing alcohol on the plaques (they covered my back, chest, and arms at the time). Never burned so bad in my life.

I had to go to multiple doctors before they actually put it together that the skin issues and swollen knee was linked. I went through High School "treating" it with Methotrexate, light treatments, and creams. I never saw a hint of relief until I got on Enbrel.

My mother has rheumatoid arthritis. Its taken its toll on her her hands and feet. I forget which drug she is taking now but all the medications mentioned in this thread sound familiar. I'm 38 and about 3 months ago I started having redness and pain on my elbow, hands and shoulder. My mother said this is how her symptoms started at the same age. Then my knees swelled up and remained swollen for about 6 weeks. A steroid shot and prednisone has alleviated a lot of the symptoms but I still feel tired all the time. Do some of you all just feel the fatigue without the pain?

This thread has me wondering if I have PA. I have never heard of it before. I have been having psoriasis for as long as I can remember. In the past couple of years I have been getting pain in my fingers and toes. It is not intense pain all the time but it gets up there sometimes. I haven't been to a doctor in years and don't take anything for the psoriasis, just try to cover it up as much as possible.

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Coot and Thumpin, go get checked out. Pain equals damage

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This. The damage can be stopped if you catch it in time. If not you'll become horribly disfigured. Not joking.