Ohhh I used to have some good posts on PA... Gone gone in one crash or
another.   I know that people come to my RDs office to be treated for the P
in PA.  I know that Enbrel and Remicade both are very effective in dealing
with PA.  I would wager that other anti-tnfs can be said to do the same
thing.   Many people in this newsgroup have and deal with it well.
Harv

See, Lurker in Disguise, I told you you could come back!  Mama Char has PA
but she's been taking it tough lately and is mostly lurking these days.  I
forget who else is on the PA bandwagon.  Someone will be along soon to help
answer your questions.

DeeTee
________________________________
DeeTee and Bob Taggart
http://www.marykay.com/dtaggart3
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze8fwov/
________________________________

Welcome back to to this group.

I was diagnosed with PA a little over a year ago. The doc. started me
on MTX 15 mg oral and ramped that up to 25 mg. There were no
significant improvements in that time (5 months)
Went to injections last fall  and after a few weeks the PA went into
remission to the point where I was contemplating going back to work.
At that time I noticed that my psoriasis had also subsided quite a
bit.
Had a flare-up just before X-Mas when it got really cold here, also
noticed that my psoriasis was also getting back into the act.
The doc icreased mu injections to 30 mg which is getting close to the
limit I'm told and also started me on plaquenil at that time.
At present I'm starting to see improvements in the affected joints and
also the psoriasis is looking to be under control. Skin is only red
but not tender inaffected areas. (elbows, butt and shins, has
completely disapeared from knees)
I'm using dovobet for topical treatment on the remaining areas.

Hope they find the magic combination for you and hang in there.

PS

A lot of us have PA and RA (no rule says you can't have both).

It's like they say, "Sometimes I think that if it weren't for bad luck
I'd have none at all."

Nann does. Who else. My mind is blank.
Duckie

Hiya!  I have PA/RA - my official diagnosis seems to shift back and forth. I
definitely have inflammatory arthritis and plaque & inverse psoriasis.  I've
had the latter since my early teens (many years, not saying just how many!
LOL).  The joints gave me periodic trouble for years, but never bad enough to
see a doc for until I was 28.  Now here's where it all sounds kinda like your
story.  Initially I was diagnosed with sero-negative RA, not an unreasonable
diagnosis as my dad and his mom both had it.  Back then they didn't treat it
as aggressively as today.  For several years I was on NSAIDs which helped
some and, briefly, plaquenil which didn't help at all.  Over time, mine too
calmed down to the point that OTC ibuprofen, varying the amount by how I felt
that day, took care of it.

During those years of near remission, I developed the nail changes of
psoriasis which I'd not had previously.  When my joints started to go haywire
again in 99, my diagnosis was changed to PA.  I've been working the gamut of
meds ever since with nothing like the previous remission appearing.  So, if
you have any more specific questions, I will try to answer, but of course
each person's experience is different.

As for general advice, have you found the psoriasis newsgroup?  They aren't
as prolific as this one by any means, but will jump in with advice when a
question is asked.  Also, one member maintains an FAQ and resource list, both
of which may be helpful.  She posts that info frequently (biweekly?) so it
shouldn't be too hard to find on Google groups.

Also, I highly, highly recommend the National Psoriasis Foundation.  They
have oodles of information, both scientific and of the "it works for me"
variety.  This includes both treatments and tips for dealing with the
itching.  They can be found at psoriasis.org.  You can join as a full member
for as little as $1.  They also support research in a huge way and have
helped discover several key elements in psoriasis and auto-immune,
inflammatory diseases ingeneral.  Lately they've been doing a lot more in the
PA area along with psoriasis itself. It's a great organization.

I really feel for you having pustular P and having it so extensively.  While
my Ps was in really annoying, tender ares, it was limited to inverse and
plaque varieties and probably never passed the 5% coverage mark.  I never
realized just how fed up with it I'd become until my current PA meds cleared
the psoriasis for me.  It's so wonderful not to be covering up all that
itching in social situations these days!

just wanted to say, welcome home and i'm sorry you are
hurting,(((((((LID))))))))).

kate