The Girl With Arthritis

Psoriatic arthritis is a complex, whole-body disease. Yet somehow, something as simple as water has had a significant positive effect on my health. There’s nothing simple about treating psoriatic arthritis (PsA). I wish it were as easy as taking a few pills and moving on with my life. PsA is a whole-body disease and has touched every part of my life. So much goes into treating it: medication, diet, exercise, topicals, lifestyle adjustments and accommodations, and so much more. But there’s one simple thing that has helped me a lot through the years: water. Water has had a positive effect on my life and has become essential to my treatment plan.  Read the full article at Bezzy PsA.

 Heel pain from plantar fasciitis is common for people with PsA. Through years of off-and-on flares, I discovered a few methods to help prevent pain or take the edge off during the worst of it. Some mornings, I wake up feeling like I jumped up and down on concrete all night. My heels feel swollen and throb like crazy. It’s unbelievably painful and makes getting out of bed hard. When most people think of psoriatic arthritis (PsA), they think of swollen and painful body parts like hips, knees, and fingers. Why on earth would your heels hurt? Read the full article at Bezzy PsA.

  Since the time I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, I feel like I've tried every medication under the sun. For years, I felt like a lab rat going from one treatment to another every few months. It was emotionally taxing to try new medications without seeing progress. There were even times my insurance wouldn't cover a new treatment until I had tried certain medicines. But in my opinion, the worst part was dealing with side effects on top of my usual pain. It can be hard to deal with medications that don't agree with you. Sometimes, it feels like the side effects can become worse than the disease itself. It can be even more frustrating if your rheumatologist doesn't seem too sympathetic. Many times, it takes awhile to know if a medicine or treatment is working. It's an unfortunate waiting game. But in my experience, keeping track of my side effects helped my doctor and I decide whether or not I could continue a treatment. It also helped us figure out ways to t...