The Girl With Arthritis

When you’re having a flare-up, getting dressed up and going out somewhere fancy doesn’t sound appealing. Dates don’t need to be fancy to be special. Consider some of these unique date night ideas for an arthritis-friendly evening. When I was little, I imagined all the fun dates my future husband and I would go on. I pictured dinner, dancing, ice skating, hiking, and other fun and romantic activities! What I didn’t picture at the time was dealing with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) as a young adult. I didn’t know that dating would look a little different for me. My pain and fatigue have influenced many parts of my life and my relationships, from little things like dates to what the future might look like. Read the full article at Bezzy PsA.  

 Fatigue is a whole body symptom, and fighting it takes a whole body approach. People don’t get it when I say that fatigue is one of my most challenging symptoms. But the fatigue I experience from psoriatic arthritis (PsA) flares is different from just being tired. It’s like I have a never-ending case of the flu or like living in a fog. It’s hard to go about the day; even thinking and focusing can be challenging. Fatigue is a difficult symptom to treat. Short of directly treating the cause, there’s no magic pill you can take to fix it. With PsA, it’s often the effect of ongoing inflammation. Living with chronic pain is also an energy-suck; it’s mentally and physically draining. Read the full artcile at Bezzy PsA.

While brushing my hair this morning, I discovered a single gray hair. This is delightful, especially since I'm still in my early twenties. I'm prone to growing a white strand of hair during particularly stressful periods, and I believe this was the third one I found this week. To say it's been a stressful few months would be an understatement. Attempting to buy a house in this market and planning a wedding that will occur during one of the busiest wedding seasons in decades has been quite daunting, on top of the usual day-to-day stress of working and living with psoriatic arthritis. Read the full article at Psoriatic-Arthritis.com

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.