Psoriatic arthritis

[AMT]

Greetings!

I am pregnant with my first (13 weeks right now), and I am also experiencing some flaring of my PsA. Knock wood... my skin is pretty good, though.

I try to relax the joints and easily stretch or move them often. Walking a little bit actually helps to avoid too much of tightening up. I also, pretty regularly, wear a sport support on my knee. It really helps keep my knee in place. The ankle support is alright. I got them at the pharmacy. I actually find that basic point and flex stretches work well for the ankle... at least temporarily.

I was on Enbrel. My rheumy has been recommending either Cortisone or Prednisone (sp?) if I really get in tough shape now that I am pregnant. I am trying to avoid both as long as I can!

I agree with the other posts about feeding. My plan is to breast-feed for a month (if I can make it and longer if that is at all possible!), then go to formula so I can go back on Enbrel. I have also heard that PsA gets rough after birth.

Has anyone tried acupuncture for the inflamed areas while pregnant instead of taking meds????

[butterfly_warrior]

I found that acupuncture would give me some relief during a flare - but it wasn't particularly long-lasting. It would certainly take the edge off, though!

However, I do wonder if my experiences with RA can translate to PA, because mine got better during pregnancy.

AMT, if you get to the point where you have to make the choice, try the prednisone before you go for cortisone injections. I was on prednisone for my entire pregnancy - never more than 10mg, and only 5mg for the second half... I'm assured that it's completely safe for the baby, it's just pretty rough on you if you end up needing a higher dose. Congratulations on your pregnancy, too.

The sad news... I only lasted with breast feeding for two weeks, and that was only dribbles. We had problems with supply as well as my RA flaring quite severely... I'm heavily dosed up on my regular meds and I'm just not comfortable exposing Samuel to them even when he was only getting dribbles of breast milk. I suspect that when my rheumy returns from holidays (mid-Feb, ugh!) that I'll have to start on methotrexate.

BW

[Trillian]

Hi AMT and welcome! I think that you have to take the best course of action for your situation. If it flares up really bad afterwards, then as much as you know breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for baby, it's not much good if Mum can hardly move or pick baby up because of her arthritis, so you have to take a holistic approach and look at the entire picture.

BW, if you do have to go on MTX, then you would have to have given up breastfeeding anyway - it will have adverse affects on bubs and you can't BF while taking it. But I really hope that it works well for you and you don't get any side effects from it. I imagine you would be taking a much higher dose for your arthritis than I am taking for my p.

[Mum030709]

Hi,

Sorry to butt in here.. I am not a sufferer of psoriatic arthritis..

My 5y.o DD however is on Methotrexate for Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. I really am hoping she goes into remission before she reaches adulthood. She was diagnosed over 12mths ago & it affects her right knee.
I of course cannot give her the medication, due to being pregnant & depending if I breastfeed this little one, I'll have to continue to avoid it..

I guess the point of me crashing this thread is to be able to talk to someone who has had experience with methotrexate or even find someone else whom has a child on the medication..

[Trillian]

Hi Mon, I don't personally know of any children on it, but there is a site I go to for p and PsA sufferers and I know some of them have children on MTX. If you like I can give you the link.

[butterfly_warrior]

Trillian, I knew I'd have to give up BF if methotrexate came on to the scene... In fact, that's about the only thing I know about it! I've been flat out refusing to discuss it as an option with my rheumy until we finally got IVF to work so now the only thing I can remember is that it's taken weekly instead of daily. I have no idea about side effects or anything else - I simply can't remember! Of course, it's much more important that Samuel have a functional mother than be breast fed... If you can call the current limping about on high doses of pain killers functional.

BW

[Trillian]

Yep, it's only a weekly dose and you need monthly blood tests to check liver function etc as it can wreak havoc on your liver, but I've been fine. Its not nice to read the info you'll find on it, but like with anything you have to weigh up the risks v benefit. And you deserve to be fully functioning too, not just for his sake (but that's important too) but for your own, I can't imagine how you're feeling atm.

[Mum030709]

Hi Mon, I don't personally know of any children on it, but there is a site I go to for p and PsA sufferers and I know some of them have children on MTX. If you like I can give you the link.

That would be absolutely fantastic if you could please

[LeighBee]

Hi,

Im 21 and have psoriatic arthritis and planning to start a family, am currently taking diclofenac but would like to know if this is still safe to use during pregnancy as i am afraid i will be unable to cope without them.

Any info would be a great help

Thanks
Leigh