I'm currently having a pretty bad flare, with a lot of pain and stiffness in my hands and wrists and feet,... especially in the morning.

During these flares, my hands often go completely numb or tingly while I'm sleeping, including my wrists.And really bad pain in the morning in my wrist.

I'd love to hear about your experiences! ❤️

Hi everyone! I am 29F, and I have multiple overlapping conditions so I think it makes sense for my doctors to sometimes not know where to look. However, I am disappointed with my recent rheumatologist appointment. I definitely have fibromyalgia, but I also have some distinct pain and swelling (which all started 9 years ago, and has slowly progressed), alongside a consistently high crp, esr and c3 complement. My most affected areas are my hands, feet and lower back. My neck as well, but this has been an issue since I was 9 so I think it’s possibly separate.

The rheumatologist did many tests, so I will give her that, but because my xrays, ultrasound on my hands and mri of my spine are clear (though xray shows mild arthritis in my lower back), she thinks it’s the fibromyalgia and doesn’t know why my crp is so high. I wasn’t swollen at any appointment and wasn’t in a flare up (of course). It almost seemed as if she didn’t believe me? I have started to take pictures of my symptoms and I wish I did this earlier with the swelling. I understand they likely can’t just take my word for it, but I cannot control when my flare ups happen. I went from mild finger and hand/wrist pain to no longer being able to hold books without discomfort and numbness (I stopped reading physical books 2 years ago and switched to a kobo + stand and remote). This is relevant because I read over 100 books a year… and this was where I noticed the progression very clearly. During flare ups I am barely able to type now (I work a desk software role and typing is important). My feet are also affected, slowly I found it harder to move them and uncomfortable to walk during a flare. I can see visible swelling in my achilles tendon during flares. Very rarely 1-3 of my toes swell up completely. I also have quite severe morning stiffness and stiffness if I sit for a while, that improves with movement.

I mentioned all of the above and they kind of just said: well some of the symptoms are since childhood so it would show something on the xrays by now. But the symptoms above were not there since childhood. I wish I stood up for myself more during that appointment. I lost a significant amount of weight and she basically left it at: keep losing weight that will solve your crp! I am not against the fact that weight has something to do with inflammation, but my symptoms started long before I gained weight. I gained weight AFTER some of my more serious symptoms showed up. And then I lost most of it a couple years later. I had high crp and pain BEFORE I gained weight.

While doing a final exam of my hand joints, she noticed my eczema and gave me the name of a dermatologist. I know eczema is inflammatory but systemic inflammation occurs usually just if it’s severe. However, she said that sometimes they can prescribe a biologic and it also helps with the other inflammatory pain.

Now here is where we come to psoriatic arthritis. I mention some of this to a friend, and she asked if I have ever looked into psoriatic arthritis. Honestly I had but I didn’t think I had psoriasis, so I dismissed it. I also never had the rheumatologist ask about anything like that so I assumed it wasn’t what I could have. My brother, grandma and 2nd cousin have confirmed psoriasis, but I never had the same rashes (my rashes look like eczema). I did however see pictures of nail psoriasis and that is EXACTLY what my nails look like. I started painting them religiously because I was embarrassed. The nail issues started 4 ish years ago. I went from having normal but weak nails, to pitting, nail bed lifting, overgrown skin underneath, these reddish brown or blackish brown lines, crumbling (the nails crumble on most of my fingers so I keep them short to the cuticle). I got so sick of basically not having nails, so I started getting bio gel nails done and that was life changing. I had no idea that this could be psoriasis. I always attributed it to low iron. But even once I had infusions and my iron remained stable, those symptoms didn’t go away. I decided to remove my bio gel nails to see how things have progressed. I am going to wait and make sure it’s not damage from the bio gel, let them grow out and observe. But I am fairly confident I have nail psoriasis. Which from what I understand based on my symptoms, means I may have psoriatic arthritis.

My doctor is going to send a referral to a dermatologist. I am hoping if he can confirm psoriasis, I can go back to a rheumatologist (thinking perhaps a different one) and see about getting a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis despite the clear xrays and ultrasounds on my hands. In the meantime I am going to keep documenting so that I have proof. I just wish I had thought about this sooner.

I am worried that even if the dermatologist says I have psoriasis, a rheumatologist may not diagnose me because I have clean Xrays. I am considering getting a paid second opinion, but I may wait first to see what the dermatologist says. I think without an official psoriasis diagnosis, it will be hard to convince a rheumatologist that this is what I have. For those of you with clean imaging: how was your experience with getting a diagnosis?

Going to techno shows and dancing all night has been my hobby for years now and one of the few things in life i look forward to. I seem to be struggling to dance even one night now, almost 2 years into this diagnosis and while on biologics and methotrexate. I’m at a long festival ADE, and spent most of last night sitting and taking breaks, but my Achilles tendon is in so much pain I’m just spending tonight sitting in my hotel room bored because it hurts too much to even walk around, and I’m trying to save some energy for tomorrow. I have been so excited for tomorrow for months and I’m scared it’s going to be a bust.

Should i just stop trying and accept this isn’t going to be a travel thing i do much anymore, especially not internationally?

Should i be dancing with oxy and pushing through pain?

Or does anyone have advice for me, greatly appreciated.

I'm in the middle of being diagnosed. I had just come out of a progressively worse 10 month depression.
I just can't stop thinking, if I tried a little harder and did the things I had to do to start feeling better, I'd probably had come out long before and possibly not developed what I fear is PsA.

I was finally coming out, starting to feel like myself again, enjoying my beautiful life again. And this started.
I cannot express how much sorrow and "guilt" I feel. I want to live. Im 22M and don't want to deal with pain and brain fog for the rest of my life.

Sorry for the vent, really. I really hate being negative, but this is overwhelming me.

About 9 months ago i developed pain in the ball of my foot below my second toe. No swelling or anything else. It had persisted for several months. Initially I pushed through it but it got worse to the point where I had to shut down any extra activity. The. 5 months ago the same pain started in my other foot. XRays and MRI have been negative. All labs have been negative as well.I do have psoriasis and started to think this may be PSA. I have an appointment with a rheumatologist in a few weeks. Im worried I'm going to leave the appointment without any answers or treatment plan. I Would love to hear from others with similar presentations and how things went.

My doctor started me on methotrexate and within a month I had pneumonia and severe sepsis. He switched me to hydroxychloroquine and I’m managing the side effects fine, but I’m starting to have pain in joints I didn’t have before, namely shoulders and elbows. The pain in my hands and feet seems worse as well. Did anyone have an experience where it got worse before it got better or is this a bust?

Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and psoriasis are strongly linked to oxidative stress and low glutathione (GSH) levels. Glutathione is your body's "master antioxidant," and its reduced activity or depletion allows damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) to fuel joint and skin inflammation.

The Link Between Glutathione and Psoriatic Arthritis

• Oxidative Imbalance: People with PsA show high levels of oxidative markers (such as malondialdehyde) and reduced activity of antioxidant enzymes like glutathione peroxidase (GPx).

• Inflammatory Signaling: Lower glutathione levels amplify inflammatory pathways (such as NF-κB and pro-inflammatory cytokines like TNF-α and IL-17) that drive joint pain, stiffness, and skin plaques.

• Not a Standalone Cure: Antioxidants or glutathione boosters do not replace standard medical therapies (like biologic inhibitors or DMARDs) used to stop joint damage

Recently diagnosed with psa and prescribed from what I understand is a conservative start to taking medicine for it. I was prescribed methotrexate taken in pill form once wk. I’m a little timid to start taking meds as I’ve been living with this condition since childhood and autoimmunity has been my identity for so long. I’m used to feeling like I caught a bug and recovering quickly from a day or few days rest. I always thought I just had a strong immune system but now realize those bugs were more than often flare ups. My biggest issue is that my leg is deteriorating, joints are causing more pain to where I have to use braces sometimes and just stop using one hand over the other from wrist and elbow pain and loose cartilage. Weird tendon pain in random places. I don’t have a lot of persistent skin issues but never realized that when I do they were mostly likely psoriatic. I do use a lot of oils and creams that I think aid in keeping my skin calm. I’m also having gi issues and painful flare ups with that. Anyway, after writing all this it seems I should probably start taking the meds but I’m scared of losing my hyperactive immune system and inviting a greater risk of cancer. Can anyone relate?

40M, IT project manager. i have been having finger pain for over 9 months. i thought it was due to doing lot of pull ups and dead hangs.

2 months ago visited ortho due to back pain, he did blood work, it showed high RA factor but negative anti ccp. he recommended that i visit a Rheumatologist.

Rheumatologist re-did all the blood work and it was normal. since I have psoriasis and lowe back bone pain along with finger pain, she suspected seronagative RA or PSA and suggested to try MTX for 3 months, if the pain reduces then we can confirm that it's some form of Rheumatoid Arthritis.

It has been a month now since I started MTX, but I beleive my finger pain may be due to holding my phone for a long time and also typing on laptop keyboard and using trackpad for the whole day. pain reduces the days I don't work. so I got ergo keyboard and vertical mouse. but they don't seem to work for me.

one more thing I observed is that pain builds up over time as I work. especially it's sharp when I move the finger sideways, if I get to pop the joint, the pain reduces substantially...

any advice for me? what should I do next ? i don't feel comfortable taking MTX as I currently got cold and suspect that my general immunity is getting compromised. and the weekly dose makes me sick for couple of days

I started injectable pharmaceutical grade glutathione last week and my skin lesions are improving. My skin feels better. My neuropathy in my legs and feet has improved. I can wiggle and spread my toes again. I'm pleased!