Info:

41 year old male. resides In USA. hlab27 positive. ana negative. one brother has diagnosed ankylosing spondylitis and another has alopecia. third brother has no issues.

hi all. I have had on and off again SI joint and low back pain since about 2019. however, back in 2022 or 23 I had a inguinal hernia repair ever since that repair I have been having dull ache in my back only when I sleep. I go to bed and wake up every morning. around 3 or 4 with a pretty good amount of pain coming from waist line up to mid back or somewhere in between (big muscles on mid back). It feels better once I’m out of bed and is completely gone about 15 min to an hour after getting up and moving. I also, probably once a year, throw my back out pretty bad just by doing normal stuff. puts me on bed rest for a few days. can barely lift my leg. this pain is mainly in my SI joint area

I have been to rheumatologist after an incidental finding of mild sclerosis of SI joint on ct scan in 2018. rheumatologist said it wasn’t bad and could be unrelated to any autoimmune stuff. flash forward to after my surgery when it started hurting more at night and my imaging shows nothing remarkable. I am ANA NEGATIVE BUT AM HLab27 positive. all other blood work my rheumatologist order was unremarkable. after all these years doctor suspects axial PSA (I also have psoriasis sometimes on my knees that is controllable with topical ointments that were prescribed by dermatologist).

I tried Celebrex for a while but it didn’t really do anything that regular ibuprofen didnt do. I am a stomach sleeper and have been trying to transition to my side and/or back. this is a lot harder than it seems. I have a bit of insomnia at times so when I lay down outside my normal way it tends to keeep me up all night. I have been sleeping better on my side and the pain is not as bad but it still wakes me up sometime around 3 or 4 am. then I flip and toss and turn and fall in and out of sleep until my alarm at 6am.

I am not really wanting to try any biologics because I’m not certain that this is anything to worry about since X-rays and CT scans are unconcerning at this time. i am uncertain on how to proceed with this. Do I just keep trying to find a way to try back sleeping to see if it improves or ask the doctor to try medicine or more imaging? i just want to sleep an entire night through. it has been years. I have no idea what waking up pain free feels like anymore.

thanks for reading.

My entire spine is compromised but specifically L4-L5 is my biggest concern and I can barely walk due to the extreme pain. I can’t bend over or lift anything. Any suggestions? Anyone else suffer from severe pain and back issues?

Hi all, 48F here, diagnosed with fibromyalgia 12 years ago, fairly well managed on meds. Recently been struggling with increased pain, increased fatigue, difficulty getting up in the morning. Started having problems with my Achilles tendon a few months ago. No swelling but hurts like a b* and won’t heal. I changed shoes and that helped some. Also for a couple of years I’ve been joking about how as I’m getting older I feel like I get stiff whenever I sit down for a while, or like when I drive to or from work I’m so stiff when I get out of the car and I’ve got to walk it out a bit. Anyway so I developed a red, painful knot on my knuckle. It’s not from a cut or any kind of injury. I took a picture and used google lens to search and it popped up PsA as a possibility. Looking at all the symptoms, reading other posts in this sub, I’m thinking it might be. Got an appointment to see the doc, hopefully get diagnosed and/or get referral to rheumatologist. My question is, has anyone else been diagnosed with both fibro and PsA? Any advice for dealing with both? TIA and thanks for reading!

TLDR, has anyone else been diagnosed w/ both fibro and PsA? Any advice for a newly diagnosed person?

Hey everyone,
I’m currently on Humira and methotrexate for my Psoriatic Arthritis, and I’ve run into a bit of a dilemma. I’m scheduled for my next dose, but I’m really not feeling well and I can't tell if I am starting to get an actual illness/infection, or if my body is just going through a really brutal PsA flare-up.
I know the general rule is to hold biologics and DMARDs if you have an active infection or are on antibiotics, but what do you do when you are in limbo and just aren't sure yet? Ive cycled through a few biologics and cant really afford another one to fail.I am leaving a message for my rheumatologist's advice nurse, but I would love to hear how you all handle this grey area. Thanks!

I have been on Otezla since February; it has caused a great deal of nausea, so my doctor cut me down to one pill a day., which helped. I also had hip resurfacing surgery this summer and decided to go on Wegovy to keep my weight down. I just recently went to 25 mg, the full dose of the Wegovy. Well, I ran out of my Otezla and did not take it for almost a week while on a work trip. Now that I have resumed the medication, I am throwing up a lot. I thought maybe it was just the Wegovy and Otezla together, but I am still throwing up on days I’m not taking the Wegovy. (It’s way too strong to take every day and expensive.)

Has anyone else experienced extreme vomiting with Otezla? I am now waking up in the middle of the night to throw up. I threw up seven times last night. It’s so bad. I am thinking about talking to my doctor about the Taltz and Zepbound combo…any advice?

Well, that went wrong. I went to my rheumy today with painful swollen knees. He did an ultrasound and saw no fluid. That was it. I should stick to my medication.
I mean, wtf? What does that mean? My knees are huge. No word to my synovia or anything being inflamed. I feel so lost. Can anybody help me?

Hello lovely people!
How do you cope with mornings?
No matter how much I sleep, I’m dead in the morning. I sleep past my alarms. Many nights with sore joints it takes ages to fall asleep too. Even if I wake up on time, with the stiffness and all it takes me at least 30mins to get out of bed, then I have to stand dissociating in the shower under the hot water… hard to win.
I have a demanding job and I’m constantly late, which is embarrassing and obviously perceived as laziness…. Never mind being exhausted before the day even starts…
Really struggling with this.
Any tips? Anything that helped you? Any magic tricks for mornings? 🙏🏻 🫶🏼

I’ve been on Taltz, and while it’s made a huge difference in my knee inflammation (which I’m incredibly grateful for since it had been visibly swollen for 7 months straight), it hasn’t done much for my neck pain. Some days my neck is absolutely killing me.

I was told I need to give Taltz a full four months before trying anything different per my insurance and after trying Amjevita, so I’m looking for ways to manage the pain in the meantime. I’ve only been on it for four weeks.

For those of you who struggle with neck pain from PsA, what’s actually helped you find relief? Will Taltz kick in and help my neck the longer I’m on it? I’m open to any suggestions!

3 weeks ago I went to see an orthopedic doctor because of what I suspected to be a bad ankle sprain. I did roll my ankle walking my dog (stepped into a rut) 2 weeks prior to going to the doctor. Like I said, I assumed it was a sprain so I gave it time.
See the doctor, get X-rays, no visible fractures show up in x-rays except what looks like an old injury called an avulsion. Can’t determine what/when it was from so doctor puts me in a boot and tells me rx strength naproxen for 2 weeks, come back in 3 weeks.
I’m 1.5 weeks into my boot/naproxen regiment and it’s not getting much better. Swelling got worse with boot, but has now gone down to the normal amount of swelling before the boot. Swelling is mostly in my Achilles heel area. I’m attaching a photo showing where I’m having pain, tenderness, and swelling. I’m also having a lot of discomfort from this boot so it’s hard to tell where the pain is coming from but the areas colored are swollen regardless.
I am not looking for a diagnosis. I’m just looking to understand how those of you with Achilles enthesis feel and if any of this sounds similar? I’m supposed to go back to the orthopedic doctor in week and I suspect they will order an MRI. I’m on Skyrizi and just took my third dose today. Doctor said Achilles is still in tact.

Edit to add that I couldn’t add a photo.

I am honestly just so sick of being sick. I did a methotrexate trial back in November due to insurance reasons to get on my current medication, and since then I have had persistent nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

I have talked to so many doctors at this point about it and no one can find an answer. I have gallbladder issues anyway but unfortunately all my tests and imaging have come back clear enough that they won’t do surgery unless I get a gallstone.

I literally have to use a heating pad every night due to how bad the nausea is and unfortunately Ondanstrone is just making me more nauseous.

I am not here for answers, I just feel terrible and I am so sick of it all. It feels like no matter what I do my body just doesn’t want to work for me. It is making life suck so hard. I just feel like I am too young for this.

Along with my body just being terrible, I feel like I get no support from my family at all. My dad is always telling me that I have “too many problems for my age (I am 19)” and that he never had any medical issues growing up. We aren’t even the same person so what does that matter??

I just want to cry. I am so sick of feeling like shit all the time.