Psoriatic Arthritis - Feeling Like a House Case
October 29, 2023Tags:
About a month after my psoriasis diagnosis, I noticed I had some severe pains appearing in my hands. When I returned to dermatology for a follow-up, I showed them my hands and said “I need help. These hurt.” They were able to refer me to the local rheumatologist.
In my last blog post, I mentioned that I had heard nightmares about getting specialist appointments. Rheumatology fits that pattern. I had to wait 3 months before I could get into the rheumatologist. Heating pads, compression gloves, and rest were what I had to work with. But it was frustrating for me to understand what was going on. Was this the arthritis component that can come with psoriasis? 🤔
When I finally got into rheumatology, I was introduced to the secrets of bloodwork. In order to get to a psoriatic arthritis diagnosis in the US, having psoriasis isn’t enough. There were still many blood tests I had to go through in order to get there.
They tested my rheumatoid factor. In this test, they saw a negative result, which gave some insight into the weirdness known as my body. However, this test alone doesn’t lead to a conclusive diagnosis. It’s just a piece of the puzzle.
My Sed rate was tested, and my inflammation markers were high. So we knew my body was truly in an unhappy state.
The largest of the tests I had to go through was the ANA – a test for Anti-Nuclear Antibodies. Certain results are indicative of autoimmune diseases, and one of my titers came back suspicious. The ANA results indicated a pattern that had a higher rate, so we had a list of diseases to consider and eliminate.
With the ANA results, we had to eliminate more diseases in order to back into the psoriatic arthritis diagnosis:
- Not lupus
- Not Sjögren’s Syndrome
- Not scleroderma
- Not myositis
- Not mixed connective tissue disease
By process of elimination, we eventually were able to back into the psoriatic arthritis diagnosis. With a diagnosis, we can finally start treatment!