Connect
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) overlap?
I've recently been told by my rheumy that she now believes that I have RA with a PsA overlap. The RA was definitively dx'd back when I was 52. I'm 69 now, but when I was 16 and again at 29 I was dx'd with lupus. That led to years of plaquenil and Nsaids and staying out of the sun. The RA was triggered by contracting Lyme and acute adult B-19 parvoviris at the same time. Within a few months following that my Rheumatoid factor shot way up and the joints most involved were hands and feet. I was kept on plaquenil and Enbrel was added. It worked really well for 8 years. Then I had a flare that led to a series of trails of other TNFi's and eventually a doctor switch. Rinvoq kept me sick with sinus infections constantly, so she recently switched me to Xeljanz and added Leflunomide. I'm not doing well at all. My hands are much worse, as in all fingers joints are getting bigger. All nails are affected. My feet are terrible, as are both ankles. I have been told it is possible to have PsA without the psoriasis, and I don't have any plaques or rashes other than some JAKne from the Xeljanz. I love to hear from someone else about this. I feel like it's a double whammy. I also have colitis and secondary adrenal insufficiency which requires daily prednisone. Clearly, I'm not very healthy haha. Let me know what you think.
Like
Helpful
HugInterested in more discussions like this? Go to the Autoimmune Diseases Support Group.
Connect
Thank you, rdf56. I’m doing better than I was four weeks ago. You are right — we already have a great deal to cope with and certainly do not need additional symptoms.
The reason I mentioned MRI imaging is that longstanding conditions can often be identified that way. At least then we know what we are dealing with instead of having symptoms dismissed or labeled as psychological.
My medical history is extensive. In addition to Addison’s disease, psoriasis, psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and VWF types 2 and 5, a full-body MRI, including the head, performed in 2008 revealed Chiari I malformation, ankylosing spondylitis, Tarlov cysts at C3, T11, and T12, as well as in the sacral/coccygeal area, and an enlarged amygdala — not including additional comorbidities.
I cannot walk uphill or climb stairs easily. Unfortunately, 3 weeks ago I had to carry about 40 pounds of groceries up 24 steps. The strain aggravated my existing Tarlov/meningeal cysts. For more than two weeks, I could neither stand, walk, nor sit without excruciating pain. No pain medication or treatment provided relief. All I could do was lie on my right side in bed and wait for the pressure from the cysts and cerebrospinal fluid on the spinal nerves to subside.
We need to be our own advocates in order to reduce pain and manage symptoms.
wishing you well.
wish I had psa without psoriasis , the stuff on the scalp is driving me crazy
@rdf56
Hi, you mentioned, “Probably not too much iron.”
I forgot to ask, have you had your ferritin levels and thyroid hormones (Free T3 and Free T4) tested?
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionYes, they're done periodically. My PCP says I'm pretty much dealing with "the anemia of chronic disease". The rheumy says it's really just having too much autoimmune s*** going on. I'm willing to bet it's pretty typical for a lot of us on this forum!