Is this site useable for people with Psoriatic arthritis or not?

[JoanneMc]

[sylvi]

Arthritis is all the same so yes it is useable for you as well.xxx

[allanah]

Course!! Pas has the same sort of symptoms as RA! There are hundreds of different types of inflammatory RA so, the more the merrier, and welcome , hope you enjoy the site xxxxxxxxx

[Hidden]

Hi JoanneMc, welcome to the site!

We have lots of supporters who have Psoriatic Arthritis so you won't be the only one! There are other organisations that specialise in PsA information though so please do check them out if you haven't already:

papaa.org/

psoriasis-association.org.uk/

If there's anything we can do at NRAS to help you can contact us on here or call the helpline on 0800 298 7650 and our website is nras.org.uk

Kind regards,

Ruth

Digital Media Coordinator

NRAS

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

HI Ruth,

From someone who has PsA and has visited these sites, they are not as informative or user friendly as this one. I have learnt far more on here than on those!

[Hidden]

Hi Georje,

Oh dear, sorry to hear that. Glad you have found this site helpful though! I was thinking more for the information on PsA rather than the online communities but this one is very good so I hope JoanneMc finds it helpful.

[fastball]

i tried a different site and found it difficult to use. I could'nt find a way to communicate on it so i stay on this one.I have PsA and the people on here help and you can ask them any thing or just state what you are thinking, just have a moan. Someone will usually get back to you and agree or advise you,

Hope you find what you are looking for, and stay with this one sending hugs

Chris

[Hidden]

So the answer is a resounding yes and welcome! I have been diagnosed with RA but often wonder if it might change to PsA one day - hoping not but if it ever did I would stay here anyway! I joined a psoirasis site reventky for itchy stuff in my scalp abd it was useful. i akso sometimes use the Living With Arthritis forum on Arthritis Care. this one is my favouriye of course! Xx

[earthwitch]

Yes its suitable, but do try out other sites as well. Ones like the spondylitis association of america and kickAS.org are both for spondyloarthritis and have a lot of folk with PsA on, so you may get more practical information from them. They are also international forums so have a lot more folk, which means a huge amount more experience available. I pop in and out of another couple of forums other than this one, and they all have their uses, with it being better to ask some questions on one forum than another.

As far as treatment goes, PsA does have some similarities to RA, but even though some of the same meds may be used, it doesn't really respond quite the same way to DMARDs and things like criteria for Anti-tnfs are quite different, as well as the disease scoring methods. So use here for general support, and UK specific stuff, but I'd suggest finding another forum to give you additional more targetted info and support for the PsA.

[rattusrattus]

i have psa and i found this site helpful and supportive and importantly for me members here are quick to reply when we're feeling depressed and scared because of the condition, but like earthwitch points out the specialized psa sites can offer info and advice about psa which we can't find here (no offence to this forum!)

if you have facebook there's a couple of groups on there which might be worth joining too - just search psoriatic arthritis and something will come up

[earthwitch in reply to rattusrattus]

I didn't mean to knock this forum either, but they are all a bit different, and you get different things from different groups. Its kind of like friends - you might have one friend who is great to go clubbing with, and another friend who hates clubs, but is great company on a night in with a DVD, and another who you go off to galleries and shows with.... etc. You wouldn't expect one friend to be everything for you.

[Hidden]

welcome to this group x

[JoanneMc]

Thanks all. I'm not really into the traditional treatments as I had nothing but more problems when I tried them. I'm managing through seeing a nutritionist and exercise therapy. Despite damage of old I seem to keep the arthritis more consistently in check this way. I will definitely use this site if others have a similar approach so will look around. I've had a bike specially adapted for me recently too and think these kinds of tips might be helpful to share. Thanks again.