re: Psoriatic arthritis, causes and treatment.

I have Ankylosing Spondylitis, same family of diseases. Basically, inflammation run amok in your body because your immune system is overreacting to something. What that something is, is what they haven't truly figured out yet. With these, it seems to be that your are predisposed (genetically) to getting them and something triggers it during your lifetime - might be an illness, an injury, or exposure to something. It's like a switch is flipped and the inflammation starts to take over. With mine, it ultimately causes fusion of your major core joints - sacroiliac, spine, neck.

I was on oral anti-inflammatories for years until they finally gave me an ulcer, then started to affect my kidney function. At that point, switched to a biologic (Simponi, same general class as Humira) and it's worked great for 5+ years or so. While Humira I think is a once a week or every two-week injection, Simponi is a once a month. You do it at home with a pen-type applicator. It's worked great so far, but who knows the long-term effects. Better than letting the disease ravage me or killing myself with anti-inflammatory meds. Such is life! We all have our obstacles and mine could be so much worse!