At age thirty five I was diagnosed with bursitis and received cortisone shots to alleviate the pain, the treatment was successful. At forty, the pain had moved to the inside of my hip (Groin area) and since then have been diagnosed with rheumatoid and osteoarthritis and have total replacement of both hips and one knee with the remaining knee on the block at this time. I had surgery on both feet to correct the overlapping of toes. I have tendon problems in my elbows and shoulders. I am on several drugs in an attempt to control the advancement. I have back pain from lower back to neck. Having read the information on this site about Psoriatic arthritis I believe that it might be in tune with my ailments and i will be asking my doctor to investigate if indeed this is the case. I offer kudos to this website for the detailed description for this disease, thank you.

I was first diagnosed with P/A at the age of sixteen when I had a bad fall in the winter. Then after I was bedridden for eighteen months, I was told by the doctor I may never walk again, but I wasn't giving up that easy. I'm very stubborn. After many injections, pills, and therapy I was back on my feet. I am now thirty five and it is gotten more severe. I've never wanted to accept my fate and in some ways I still don't want to accept that I have to live with this forever. Any information I can get about this will help me. And any support from other's who live with P/A may help me get out of having the blue's. It's very hard to explain or talk to other's who don't know what you're going through.

When I was 34, I started having severe joint pain in a couple of fingers. My grandmother had rheumatoid arthritis, so I went to see my doctor. After some initial blood work showed signs of inflammation in my body, I was referred to a rheumatologist. Through various tests, rheumatoid arthritis was ruled out. I continued to have joint pain in hands, one wrist and one hip. He was always asking me about psoriasis or a family history of psoriasis and there was none. I happened to scratch my head at an appointment (I thought I had dandruff) and he noticed. He looked at my scalp and suspected psoriasis and it was confirmed by a dermatologist. I then was formally diagnosed with PsA.

Aged 45, I contracted chicken pox, which laid me low for 12 months off work. I was like a zombie most of the time and unable to work. About 12 months after this I got morning pains in my heels/feet, which was like walking on glass which lasted about 2 hours. My ankles were swollen as well. I was finally diagnosed 5 years later but also contracted in no order, engina, sleep apnea, Psoriasis, type 2 diabetes, Carpel tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis. Before the chicken pox, I was a normal adult with no major health problems.

I got out of bed for work when I was 30 years old, and within a few steps, I was overwhelmed by a sudden pain in my hip and fell to the floor. I could not walk for a year while going from doctor to doctor trying to determine what was wrong with me. A pain doctor, not a rheumatologist, determined that I had psoriatic arthritis. I have had psoriasis from age 4. Once properly diagnosed and medicated, I started to slowly improve and am now able to walk with assistance from a cane. Things progressed rapidly for me, destroying almost every joint in my right hand before treatment could be made effective. Every single joint in my body would hurt. I would have to circle the entire body to explain where I hurt. Many people treat me as if nothing is wrong with me because they cannot see it. I take Methotrexate, Humira, Gabapentin, Cymbalta, Hydromorphon (morphine), Opana, Propolanlol, and Hydrachlorathiazide. Before medication, I remained in the fetal position in indescribable pain. Now, nearly six years later, I can slowly walk like an old man with a cane.