Psoriatic Arthritis Is A Bigger Issue Than My Blindness

I was diagnosed with Psoriasis about 25 years ago when I was about 30 years old. When I was diagnosed, my skin looked terrible. It was mostly on my body, but I did have some on my head. Psoriasis is very uncomfortable on two fronts. There is the itchy, rough skin that sometimes cracks and bleeds. Then there is the looks that you get from people who think you’ve got some communicable disease. People ask you why you don’t do anything about it. If only it were that easy. There are all sorts of steroidal creams, lotions, home-remedies, injectables, and oral meds that can help clear it up. But they don’t always work. Sometimes, they work for a little bit of time and then they stop. Diet sometimes also helps. The creams and a healthier diet pretty much cleared my skin. I will still get the occasional flare-up, but, for the most part, my skin has been 98% clear for the last dozen years or so.

A few years after I had my skin under control, I noticed some aching in some of my joints. It probably started before this, but since the pain would come and go, I attributed it to something else. When the pain would come around and stay longer, I started to realize something was up. Jane kept telling me it was Psoriatic Arthritis and I should go to the doctor. She was 12 or 13 at the time. Finally, I listened to my daughter and I went to a rheumatologist. I tried one med that made me feel sick all the time. And, I still had the pain. Then I tried Otezla, which was fairly new at the time. I am always a little hesitant about taking any kind of med, because I am terrified of the side effects. Early on, I did have some of the minor side effects they talk about, but this oral med was working! And it did until 2017. The pain started to increase and in more places.