December 31, 2019
Here is my personal explanation of PsA:
In a ‘normal’ person, inflammation is a good thing. It is our body’s natural defense against germs and bacteria that continually try to invade our systems. The swelling that you get from a bee sting or mosquito bite is a healthy response to your body fighting the invading item. If you get a cut, the redness and localized swelling is your body fighting infection.
For those who suffer from PsA, the body’s inflammatory response gets kicked into overdrive. It keeps flooding the body with signals saying “we’re under attack” and, since there is no real invader, the body attacks itself. As a result joints swell, and they particularly like fingers, toes, knees, hips and elbows. Ankles and the spine are other favorites. I hope to never experience the spinal level of pain. To add to the fun, since the body is busy attacking itself it wears a person out. Fatigue is never far away when battling PsA. Officially, there are five different types of PsA and an individual can have one or multiple varieties. The excessive inflammation in the joints causes the bones to deteriorate and become malformed. There are several different ways that psoriasis shows on the skin but the result is the same: painful inflammation, scales and blisters. None of this is contagious to others. There is no cure for this condition, only treatment of symptoms and the attempt to block symptom formation. Without treatment, it can become debilitating. Additionally, PsA patients are at an increased risk of vision problems and cardiovascular disease as the inflammation does not only effect the joints. PsA is not the same as osteoarthritis, the deterioration of joints as we age. PsA is termed “arthritis” as it effects the joints but is a completely different beast than arthritis as we age. It is a cousin to rheumatoid arthritis. Here is fun quick explanation of the differences: https://creakyjoints.org/blog/psoriatic-arthritis-differ-rheumatoid-arthritis/
PsA is a lot like Rheumatoid Arthritis but with a nasty skin rash.
creakyjoins.org
The drugs to treat this auto-immune disorder block the body’s normal inflammatory response in different ways. The downside to blocking a normal response is that the body no longer responds when there is a real bacterial or viral invasion. Thus everyone who is battling these autoimmune diseases with medication is ‘immune compromised’. This is a term that was beaten into my head while in the hospital. Any infection that takes hold can spread quickly and last longer because the body does not attack the invader. When antibiotics are given, all PsA and psoriasis medications must be stopped until the body and antibiotics fight the true infection. Once clear, normal treatment can resume. During that break of the PsA medications, PsA and psoriasis symptoms can flare up as well. This just creates a nasty spiral – one that I suddenly found myself in this month.
Options moving forward:
1) Do not treat with medications. Suffer the effects of PsA and psoriasis, including pain and joint damage. There are homeopathic and holistic options but none have been proven to stop joint damage and knock it into remission. I have tried diet testing for inflammation and working with a dietitian. While this helps support medications and I feel great eating to the specialized plan, it does not provide symptom relief. I used essential oils early on and had some initial relief but the disease quickly blew through any gains. CBD topically feels amazing on joints that are inflamed and taken internally keeps me from taking stronger pain drugs.
2) Treat with the medications that can put the disease into remission but have nasty side effects and increased risk of infections, some of which can be life threatening.
With either option, I need to learn what triggers inflammation in my body, i.e. stress, diet, over/under exercise, climate, etc. The dietitian helped me a lot with learning my diet triggers.
The rose-tinted glasses are gone
I am opting for Option 2 and with the help of holistic and homeopathic assistance. My goal is to get into remission and stop the joint damage. I turn 44 in December and have a lot of active live ahead of me. I do not want to be doing that from a wheelchair due to letting the joints erode. So, the aggressive treatments will continue until I find what works for me. The challenge is controlling the pain during flares and making sure I do not get sick. I was living in happy, little non-infection bubble as I was responding to Humira. Now, the rose-tinted glasses are off. I see this auto immune disease for what it truly can do to my life. I refuse to let it control me. Aggressive treatment will continue and I will win.
Thanks for following this part of my journey. I do not know if I will continue a journal or blog elsewhere. Personally, it has been therapeutic in wrapping my mind around this month. Also, a bit amusing as I read some of the posts from when I was on strong painkillers! This is a long road. I have an amazing husband, fantastic kids and the best friends and family anyone could wish to have. Life is good and this just my new reality that I will find a way to navigate.
PsA and a New Normal 