What You Need To Know About Psoriatic Rheumatoid Arthritis

If you are a psoriasis sufferer, you may have already thought of all the complications that could accompany this disorder. Psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis is probably the most troublesome of all the complications that you will encounter. Somewhere between 10% and 30% will develop this debilitating affliction. Your main joints are the ones that are most affected with possible involvement into some secondary joints. While the disorder can occur at any age level, it most commonly starts in the fourth decade of life with woman being affected more so than men.

Trying to get out of bed or hold items or walk from a stationary position requires a great deal of effort. You will need to perform some stretching exercises to get the joints operating properly. Once in motion, leisure walks are a great therapy. As with all forms of arthritis, psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis will require a regimen of anti-inflammatory agents to help you get through the difficult times. The most common over the counter drugs used for this include acetaminophen, ibuprofen and good old-fashioned aspirin. Some buffering in stomach such as food or milk is well advised to guard against any gastrointestinal upset.

If stronger agents are indicated, your doctor has a large selection of prescription drugs to choose from. Other non-steroidal drugs include celecoxib, meloxicam and ketorolac. Beyond these nsaid's as they are called we see the use of steroids such as cortisone and prednsione. Unfortunately all of the aforementioned agents do not protect the joints from further destruction. If your physician would like to use more aggressive therapy which will protect the joints, he or she can choose from two newer categories of drugs. The first is a class of DMARD's or disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs such as azathioprine or methotrexate and the second category of biologic agents known as biologic response modifiers. This second class includes agents such as etanercept and infliximab.

As with everything in life, greater reward comes with greater risk. As such, these newer agents can bring much relief and joint protection but they also come with some serious side effects. That does not mean you should not try them if your physician feels they are right for you. You should consider all forms of therapy by learning about them, when deciding upon a course of action.

While no drug, prescription or otherwise, is without side effects, the goal of any therapy is to control the symptoms, bring relief to the patient and increase the quality of their life while keeping the side effects to a minimum. Working with your physician to achieve these goals is something you can definitely do to control your psoriatic rheumatoid arthritis!