son with psoriatic arthritis

[chungy111]

hello there i have joined to try and help my son who is 26.he was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis about two years ago . he was on sulfasalazine and then methotrexate but his blood count levels dropped so was taken off all meds (not the best time for him)he is now on 10mg methotrexate a week he has been on this for 4 weeks but so far he is worse . Is this normal? do u feel worse before you see any improvement? He wasn`t swollen before but today hands and feet are bad. hes let himself go quite a lot i think hes quietly given up and its very hard to help him when hes like this

[astrajewel]

hi i was on sufasalazine for 3 months i was doing great on them then developed a rash from head to toe so was taken off them and put onto methotrexate i was on them 5 weeks i was very unwell with fatigue and severe headaches and feeling really sick since starting them and was taken off them i felt a lot worse on them

[Nettac]

Sorry your son is having a hard time. I have the same disorder and have tried sulfalazine and leflunomide.

I'm afraid the side effects of these drugs can be horrendous. Sometimes they just don't work. I had an awful time on sulfa, and am not great on lefluomide.

I would suggest your son contact rheumatology and tell them asap about swollen joints. The illness plus meds can also make people very depressed. If yoyr son is depressed ( reasonably!) This needs to be dealt with too.

[LizzieR]

Hi,

I felt much worse after starting methotrexate- it seemed to make my psoriatic arthritis worse. But that wears off. It must be awful for him to be going through it so young x

[Radiogirl]

I have RA and have been taking Sulphasalazine for almost two months. I go in for labs because my doctor had said something about increasing my dose. I currently take 500 mg twice a day.

Are you saying that reactions to this drug don't really show up until a few months later? I sure hope not. So far I've been tolerating it pretty well.

[Belle76]

I started to suffer with PsA when I was 23, I had just had a baby. So wasn't the best time!. I was started on sulfasazine, which did help after a while, I have been on this for most of the time, I am now 41 it does effect my bloods. But I was unable to tolerate the lowest dose of metheraxate, would of felt better if I had been hit by a car!. Aweful drug, I have also been on lefluomide as well which was great it really no symptoms then after a while it affected by bowel movements, great for the waist line but not so when you couldn't leave the house so went back on sulfasalazine max dose, I have had a bad few years with PsA and been in the most amount of pain where I was unable to use my hands as my wrists are most affected. (Feet hands fingers hips all affected) I want them cut off or fused as I couldn't take the pain,the surgeon refused, but so glad he did. I have had steroid injections into my wrists which helped a great deal, really painful but worth it, but my PsA has never been totally under control until now. They have put me on benipali pen injections and I now feel on top of the world no brain fog, fatigue gone have stopped pain killers first time in 18years. It's tough to deal with especially with the fog and fatigue, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. But you need to keep going try other drugs I found cold packs helped with the swelling, and pain rather than heat. With the summer and the hot weather I would swell up but not this year. So go talk to his doctors with him as they give so much information it's hard to take in.

[stbernhard]

Hello and welcome. Unfortunately most of us on this site are not qualified to answer questions regarding medication. We are all so different that it's hard to say what's normal and so you'll have to make do with a lot of empathy, understanding and general advice. That is a very valuable source of information and comfort for lots of us. If you have specific questions about medication, I suggest you phone the NRAS helpline, it's more likely that they can point you in the right direction. All the very best.