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Symptoms Anyone...? Expand / Collapse
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Crystal20
Posted Wednesday, April 04, 2007 10:03 PM


 

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Hi all,

I'm a 35 year old female with a history of odd medical occurrences that never seemed to make much sense until recently. I won't get into listing everything at the moment, but at the age of 14 I had my first flare in one of my wrists. I tested positive for RA, but once the flare ended I didn't. They told me it was probably just a sign of things to come. Since then I've had intermittent flares in various joints, along with the other odd events.

During the past 4 years we've been trying to figure out exactly what type of arthritis I have, because I also have terrible back pain. At first I thought AS was very suspiciously familiar, but the rheumy I was seeing was very black and white about things, and just kept telling me I was fine. I don't see him anymore, of course!

Well, I have an appointment coming up with an orthopedic surgeon, regarding my back pain because it's somewhat of a mystery, and is causing some real problems. Earlier this week I was at an appointment with my Psychotherapist (I've always been the caretaker and had to learn to talk about myself!!), and we were discussing my health. He's also a regular doctor, so he has a pretty good knowledge of many areas. Until the other day I hadn't mentioned to him that I've had a patch of psoriasis appear on the palm of my hand for 5 months now (it's owie!). I've also had a little bit off and on, on my scalp. When I told him this he just looked at me very shocked and said, "well, this is a whole different ball game then!" As far as he's concerned, I have PA. I've read up on arthritis quite a bit, but breezed over PA because I had only had that little bit on my scalp.

Reading about PA the past couple of days, I'm now realizing that he's probably right! I think the pain in my lower back in the tendons and other tissue, and everything else seems to fit much better than the other A's. I'm quite stunned, and somewhat relieved!

Anyhow, sorry for this epic post, but there are a couple of other symptoms that I have and do experience. I'm wondering if any of you do, or know if they are related to PA?

One very strange occurrence happened when I was about 25. I woke up feeling not so great one morning, and throughout the day started feeling more and more like I had the flu. By that evening I was unconscious and in the hospital with a kidney infection. They were quite confused because I hadn't been sick, and they weren't under the impression that I had an auto-immune disease. Does anyone know if this is related to PA? I know it can do this with other organs, but I've only seen one fleeting mention of kidneys.

The other symptom has been going on for a few years. I go through phases when I'm just exhausted, but often I'm having a very uncomfortable ache in my body. It almost feels like when you get the flu and have a fever - that horrible ache in your body. I usually have it through my neck and the top half of my back, but it sometimes occurs in other areas. Anyone know of this?

Sorry this ended up being such a long post! I really appreciate any comments you all have!

Crystal
Post #4083719
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Jeannine152
Posted Thursday, April 05, 2007 11:23 AM


 

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It sounds to me that you have pa. I also get all over pains, but most of my pains are in my si joints. I havent heard much about kidney problems. I would go see a rheumy and look into getting a thoracic and cervical mri.
I am 35 also and had been dealing with the pains and tiredness since I was in my late teens. It never occured to me that I may have arthritis. I had an mri this past summer and I have eroded my si joint. I had seen my primary care and an neurologist, but nobody had given me a clue that I had arthritis. I am now on remicade and feel soooo much better.
Please see your dr and look for a good rheumy. It will make all the difference in your life.
good luck
Post #4101427
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LadyeMac
Posted Friday, April 13, 2007 7:22 PM


 

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I had a similar hard time getting diagnosed. I only have very small patches of psoriasis on my elbows and knees. My arthritis was pretty mild at first, but right now I use a cane to help me walk most days because of hip problems.

PsA just isn't something to immediately comes to mind for most doctors!

------------------------------------------------------------------
DX: Psoriatic Arthritis
PsA Meds: Remicade, MTX, Celebrex, Prednisone , Folic Acid

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"When we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire."
--Simone Weil
Post #4101428
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Crystal20
Posted Saturday, April 14, 2007 11:48 PM


 

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Hi Ladies! Thanks for your replies....

The more I read, the more I think this is what's going on. Actually, what got me looking more closely at this is a conversation I had with my psychotherapist (good lord, is that a stress reliever - highly recommend!). He pretty much knows about my medical history and also the issue I have with that rheumy I mentioned. The other day we were talking about how exhausted and achy I've been feeling for the past few months and I happened to comment on the patch of psoriasis I've had on my palm for about 5 months. "Well, that's a whole new ball game!", was his comment. He said that as far as he's concerned, I have PsA.

I hadn't paid much attention to PsA in the past, because I only had a little bit on my scalp and other forms of arthritis commonly show psoriasis as a symptom. I just assumed PsA involved more intense psoriasis. Come to find out, it doesn't necessarily, and sometimes it isn't one of the first symptoms to appear. Now that I've been reading up, PsA seems to be exactly what I have. Why that rheumy didn't see it I don't know - he's a very, very prominent one too.

There are a few other oddities in my medical history as well, that make complete sense now. As I mentioned, I was diagnosed with having intermittent flares when I was 14. When I was 17, I very rapidly developed an acute case of Iritis, and almost lost vision in one eye. The doctors at the hospital were utterly astonished. At the time, I was a seemingly healthy young person, with no diseases. Well, hello auto-immune arthritis and Iritis! When I was about 25, I extremely quickly developed an acute kidney infection. About 3 years ago, I very suddenly developed non-viral pneumonia. These things always come about very quickly, often just hours between noticing something and being almost unconscious.

The terrible back pain would be spondyloarthropathy, the painful flare in the end joint of one of my fingers, the inflamed tissues around some joints.....I'm sure there are a couple of things I've left out, too! Noooo, all that shouldn't be obvious to a rheumy, lol!

Actually, my Ptherapist thinks I have Fibromyalgia too, and I think he's right. That's where the terrible flu-like aching I've been getting comes in, plus a few other things.

I see the orthopedic doctor soon, and hopefully he can refer me to a good rheumy. I feel quite confident that the mystery is finally solved, and I have to say that it's making me feel a little better. Just knowing helps.

Jeannine, I'm glad that you're having such a good response to the remicade! I would love to start feeling more like 35 than 80, lol!

LadyeMac, I'm sorry that you're now using a cane. Hopefully something will help ease your pain some day.

Take care ladies!
Crystal
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Keli in Florida
Posted Sunday, April 15, 2007 3:21 AM


 

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Crystal,
I wish I could say that PA is a walk in the park but it's not. It can be a lot like RA the major differences are of course you have the skin conditon, and you do not test positive for the Rhuematoid factor. I think that either disease can be brought on by tragic event or accident or infection. There is a type of arthritis called infectious arthritis. My offical diagnosis I believe is Psoriatic Infectious Arthritis or that is what it was at the time of diagnosis. I had no sign of infection so I really do not know how that came about. I have had Psoriasis since about 12 yrs old only I thought it was dandruff, ruptured the tendon in my right ankle when I was about 15-16 had to have surgery eventually and prior to surgery I started having joint pain. I was reffered to a rhuemy I saw him for 4 years and he never saw my psorisasis nor did he ever ask me if I had a rash. I finally sought out another doc and that's when my diagnosis came when I was 21. Yes he was one of the suppose to be best rhuemy's in the City. Yeah right. There are quite a few people who have PA that also have fibro so it would not shock me if you had both as well. PsA is also grouped with ankslosing spondilytis. I'm sure I chopped that up all kinds of ways but I'm running on 4 hours of sleep and really need to go to bed now. lol! Which can cause a lot of back pain. As far as weird things happening and putting you in the hospital, this does not surprise me either. I'm always in the doctors office or so it seems. also about when I turned 20-21 I began having allergies out of no where and they have become so much worse, to the point I do not know what else to do anymore. I've done the shots twice and it did not work. So i'm looking at trying another doctor. I get bad sinus and migraine headaches. I have chronic sinusitis, i've already had the surgery. I get so swollen in the sinuses to where I can't drain the mucus. I've had 4 surgeries on the muscles of my eyes for a condition i've had since birth, I have had my tonsils and adnoids removed when I was 5, I have bad acid reflux disease, Polycystic ovarian syndrome, a B-12 difencieny, My c-reactive protien stays elevated. There are so many mysteries with this disease and it has not been studied as much as RA so i'm not sure if we are lucky to have it insead. If you know what I mean. Iritis is a major symptom of PA also. Ok, well I think I have rambled enough for now. Hope you get an offical dx soon so you can get on some meds to help you soon. Oh I don't know if I said but I'm 28 now.

Good luck to you,

Keli
Post #4101430
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LadyeMac
Posted Tuesday, April 17, 2007 8:08 PM


 

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Crystal,
No worries w/ the cane. It helps me get around, so it's worth it! I'm just waiting for the Remicade to really kick in! It's really helped my feet and hands (well it helps for about 2 weeks after an infusion at least) as well as my skin.

Keli,
You are right in that PA and AS are similar. PA and AS are spondylarthropathies. They don't have the Rheumatoid factor. They both have a genetic component (HLA-B27 specifically), so they tend to run in families. In my family, my dad has psoriasis and some type of arthritis (probably PA, spondylitis type, but he's never been diagnosed) his brother has AS. If you have a parent with PA or P, you're something like 50% more likely to PA. Ick!

Those of us with autoimmune diseases are more likely to get yet another autoimmune disease. I've had bad allergies and asthma all my life along with chronic infections (ears and sinuses mostly with bronchitis and pneumonia thrown in every now and then). Then I developed joint pain that mysteriously faded for a few years. Then fainting spells and blackouts. Then migraines. Then the PA. And in the past year endometriosis. (though the fainting, blackouts, migraines and PA all came at once over the span of less than a year! My sophomore year of high school sucked!).

Anyway, yeah, I think I need a Dr. House to fix me! (Love that show, btw).

------------------------------------------------------------------
DX: Psoriatic Arthritis
PsA Meds: Remicade, MTX, Celebrex, Prednisone , Folic Acid

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"When we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire."
--Simone Weil
Post #4101431
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Keli in Florida
Posted Sunday, April 22, 2007 9:24 PM


 

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Posts: 480, Visits: 234
LadyeMac,
Thanks LadeMac, you know sometimes you just start wondering if it will ever end. lol! I know it's been a long week and almost and even longer weekend. The migrines and headaches ugh! If they would stop, I think I would almost be happy.
Post #4101432
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LadyeMac
Posted Tuesday, April 24, 2007 3:20 PM


 

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Keli,

Yeah, when things get crazy, it seems everything starts happening at once. I'm trying to sell my house and move out of state... Way too much stress!

------------------------------------------------------------------
DX: Psoriatic Arthritis
PsA Meds: Remicade, MTX, Celebrex, Prednisone , Folic Acid

"Well behaved women rarely make history."
--Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

"When we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire."
--Simone Weil
Post #4101433
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Keli in Florida
Posted Wednesday, April 25, 2007 1:31 AM


 

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Last Login: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 3:06 AM
Posts: 480, Visits: 234
LoL! We all know stress doesn't help us a bit either. Good luck trying to sell the house. Where are you moving too?

Post #4101434
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Kimberley7301
Posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 2:28 AM


 

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I am new to this forum, but this is all too familiar to me. I am still trying to figure out which symptoms to fight! But the polycystic ovaries, wheat allergies - plus many more, spinal stenosis, migraines... I think I have found the place I need to be. I'm NOT alone! I also have intersitial cystitis & overwhelming fatigue. Seven surgeries in five years! I have an appt. w/ my dr. tomorrow & I can't wait to pick his brain. I haven't gotten past prednisone, but I cannot function nor sleep. I'm 39 & feel 89! Thanks for posting your ups & downs. It really does help us newbies. I am still scared of mtx & enbrel. It can't be too much worse than prednisone. My dr. also believes there is a systemic yeast connection. Has anyone else heard this? Mine is still out of control!
Thanks!
Kim
Post #4212589
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Kimberley7301
Posted Thursday, June 25, 2009 2:41 AM


 

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Sounds sooo familiar to me! All my life I have had minor things put me DOWN. After I had my daughter 8 years ago, I started having migraines, worse allergies, and then it spiraled out of control. I had a kidney infection that almost killed me four years ago. Then constant IC, back issues, colitis, & chronic pitting edema in both legs! Trying to get disability now. I can hardly take care of myself, much less family & my husband has been fighting sarcoma since 2007. Can this all be PsA?!?
Post #4212590
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starshine
Posted Friday, June 26, 2009 3:47 AM


 

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Hi Kimberly and welcome.  I noticed that you posted on a really old thread.  Come on over to RA Connect where it is much more active.  They welcome posters with other types of arthritis than RA.  Not many folks even come to this section of the site.  I come here often because I have RA and PsA.  I am in remission with MTX and Enbrel.  Hope to see you at RA Connect.  starshine
Post #4212990
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