Puzzle Pieces

I wrote more about the diagnoses I got in the past year here. I gave a medication called Cymbalta a try for awhile. I feel like it might have been helping me with some of the pain and fatigue I was having with the psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia, however, I gained about 8-10 pounds on it. I was so frustrated when I stepped on that scale. After all the work I’ve been doing the last few years to get rid of the diet mentality and quit the scale and calorie counting…and it brought me right back to where I was. Stuck.

In the end I consulted with my doctor and therapist and stopped the Cymbalta and went back to what worked for me for a long time. It worked well, why rock the boat? I wasn’t quite sure it had been helping with the pain aspect of my autoimmune disorder and my doctor and I had been discussing going up in dosage to see if that helped more. So I am glad I decided not to do that. I say that because Cymbalta is in the same family of medicine as Effexor (which is an AWFUL antidepressant and when I took it 20+ years ago I gained 40 pounds on it).

Now let’s talk pain.

For months now I have been dealing with on and off Achilles tendinitis pain. I am not sure if I wrote about that here. I was given a hard boot to wear during the day. I saw a podiatrist. I wear a special soft boot at night. It lessens and I stop wearing the boots and then it comes back. It never goes away completely. It has made my life difficult, to be honest. I’d like to be able to go for long walks with Zoey and the dog. Some days walking even 1 mile is unbearable.

A few weeks ago, I started having horrific knee pain. I’d wake up every morning and my knees felt swollen and I could barely walk. Stairs were near impossible. A few hours later, it would lessen.

I asked my doctor and it was apparently the psoriatic arthritis.

What is enthesitis?

“Enthesitis is an inflammation of the enthesis, the point where a connective tissue such as a ligament or tendon attaches to a bone. There are over 100 entheses in the body. One in three people with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) will develop enthesitis.  The presence of enthesitis is often used to help diagnose PsA. (source)”

Talking to my doctor was a relief. I got some answers. The knee pain, the achilles pain, the back pain that has flared up. It’s all related. But while it was a puzzle piece that fit together and answered a lot of questions I had, it left me with a “now what” feeling.

My doctor said it might be time to think about medication for PsA. He said in his experience he’s never had a patient regret starting the medication and I needed to start thinking about my quality of life. I had an appointment with my rheumatologist to discuss options and he said something similar. It was time to consider my quality of life and if I wanted to be able to be active again. If I wanted to be able to walk without pain and pick up Zoey without excruciating back pain.

We talked about options and I’m starting a medication soon that is similar to Humira. I’m sure everyone has seen the commercials for that one! They always sound terrible when they start listing all the horrific potential side effects. But the one I’m going to take has less side effects, supposedly. The doctor said it is “well tolerated.”

I’m nervous but hopeful!