Thats why experimenting with new medications andbeing persistent with your doctordespite any setbacks is so crucial.
Keep in mind that your treatment options may change over time based on new research and newly available therapies.
check that you have ongoing conversations with your doctor about which treatment options may be best for you.
People explain bow taking biologics for psoriatic arthritis changed their lives.
My self-confidence has gotten better.
Anne Tindall was diagnosed withpsoriatic arthritisin 2018 when her knee became achy, sore, and stiff.
After seeing several doctors, Tindall was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and put on immunosuppressive medication.
So, she took me off that and put me onbiologics.
Like so many others with psoriatic arthritis, Tindall also haspsoriasis.
Now shes taking a different biologic and says its been great for her skin and her joints.
My self-confidence has gotten better, she says.
I would make excuses like, I have a headache or I dont feel good.
Now that her whole body feels better, she feels better mentally too.
Being on the right medication gave me a better life, Tindall says.
I used to have to wake up early to stretch because I was stiff.
I dont have to do that anymore.
Jennifer Pellegrin, 38, was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis in 2009.
My doctor did some X-rays and noticed I had inflammation in my joints.
I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, Pellegrin tells SELF.
After taking that medication for three months, Pellegrin switched to an injectable biologic.
The medication also significantly reduced her psoriasis plaques within three weeks.
I needed to do extra stretches before I could really start my day.
I dont have to do that anymore, Pellegrin says.
It was mentally depleting to have to go through her stretching routine every morning.
I was able to plan a trip and actually enjoy it.
I was limping and I couldnt walk on it, she tells SELF.
During that time, the pain spread to her other foot as well.
I was in so much pain, and thepsoriatic arthritis treatmentswerent working, she recalls.
I finally just broke down in the exam room at one podiatrists office.
The doctor acknowledged she shouldnt be in so much pain and referred Downey to a rheumatologist.
At that point, Downey says, she was severely fatigued on top of dealing with her foot pain.
The pain in my feet was excruciating, she says.
I was issued a handicap placard for my car.
She had an MRI that revealed joint swelling, which led to her diagnosis.
She tried three biologics but none of them helped her symptoms.
I was getting pretty depressed at this point, Downey says.
But the fourth biologic she triedwhich she found about two years after she first started her treatmentwas a winner.
It helped with the fatigue and the pain, she says.
Before the medication, Downey wasnt able to travel at all because of her foot pain.
Psoriatic arthritis is so unpredictable, it is difficult to make travel plans.
Within three to four weeks, I was walking without a cane.
Katie Roberts, 44, was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis when she was 17.
Something was better than nothing, Roberts tells SELF.
Shes been taking that same medication for nearly 20 years.
I noticed a difference within a few weeks, Roberts says.
At the time I was mostly in a wheelchair and using a walker.
I went to a cane within a matter of a few weeks.
Then, within three to four weeks, I was walking without a cane.
I was able to walk unassisted pretty quickly, and Igot my life back.
Roberts says the medication was so pivotal for her, because it allowed her to have independence.
I was so young when the disease really set in, she explains.
I had to have people help me bathe, get dressed, and do my hair and my makeup.
I couldnt go to the mall and hang out with friends because the walking was too much.
But once her condition improved, Roberts was able to do the things she wanted to.
My hands worked, my knees bent.
I could sit in a chair and actually hold down an office job.
I could go grocery shoppingall by myself for the first time in a long time.
Walking unassisted in D.C. was huge for me.
I felt great in the weeks that followed.
When I had the second dose via an injection, I noticed improvements again.
Walking unassisted in D.C. was huge for me, she says.
A year prior, I had collapsed in agony on the sidewalk after walking a block from my hotel.
It felt so defeating having to hail a cab just to get a few blocks down the road.
Now, Holland says, shes thrilled to be able to travel and wear shoes.
My new medication has allowed me to be mobile enough to retain my full-time job.
Over the span of another six months, I noticed this was getting worse, he says.
I still have good and bad days.
But I can do most of the things I enjoy, he says.
That includes volunteering with theNational Psoriasis Foundation.
I love to volunteer, participate in community events, and travel, Simmons says.
