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...

(Resharing this article from 2022- it's such an important topic!) People with psoriatic arthritis often face significant delays in diagnosis. Once you get that diagnosis from a rheumatologist, it's tempting to stay with them for the long haul. And sometimes, it's a great decision to stick around. But a bad or even "meh" patient-doctor relationship can hurt your care. As a patient, you deserve to feel respected, heard, and know you're in the best hands. But if you dread seeing your doctor and feel like you're no longer receiving the best care, it's okay to find a new physician. Read the full article on psoriatic-arthritis.com.

 When my jaw flared, I quickly became tired of soft food, sleeping in new positions, and feeling sore all over. It was hard to get through the day. A long time ago, the thought of my psoriatic arthritis (PsA) attacking my jaw was my worst nightmare. I have many family members who have struggled with jaw pain for one reason or another, and it scared me to death. Unfortunately, my jaw started to show evidence of active arthritis as a teenager. Read the full article at Bezzy PsA

 Do you ever feel like you live in a world not built for you? I do. Recently, I've felt this way about a hefty door on my commute. It takes a lot of force to open and immediately swings shut; I find it painful and tiring to handle. Others have complained and had a handyman look at it, but it's remained in this state for months... Click here to read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com.

 When you have PsA, it can take trial and error to make the office environment work for you. Here are my tips for staying comfortable and focused. I come from a family of tradespeople, nurses, and people in other professions that keep you on your feet. So, as you can imagine, I try to keep it to myself just how exhausted I am when I come home from my office job. Due to my juvenile-onset psoriatic arthritis (PsA), I initially picked an office-oriented career track. I also went to a vocational high school, where I tried hands-on careers and quickly found I had difficulty handling labor. Both of those factors sealed my fate. Read the full article at Bezzy PsA.