Vanessa's Story

Vanessa has lived with psoriasis since she was a teenager, but her diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis was not easy. In her story, she talks about the pain she experienced before finally finding a treatment that worked for her.

The psoriasis appeared when I was 16 yrs old. It was most horrifying to see these white itchy silvery patches on the elbows and scalp. That was only the beginning of one of my biggest challenges in life, at least so I thought.

Nothing helped, no amount of topical creams or steroids. The dermatologist gave me a black coal tar ointment which did absolutely nothing for my scalp, it only made my hair greasy and so difficult to wash which was even more stressful. No matter how much I washed it the grease wasn't easy to be removed. Over the years of different types of creams and steroids still didn't help. The constant covering up, being stared at and people's judgement just got worse. Then having a job were more questions and more stares and more judgements. Some people seem to scorn the way I looked which literally caused depression and anxiety. Sometimes it would ease on its own and sometimes a bad flare from head to toe. Every part of my body itched and cracked which was painful. Vaseline was the only thing that eased the cracking. It didn't heal it but made it tolerable. It has been difficult, but it has made me a warrior. Everyone had a medicine for me to try. 

Then came joint pains in both shoulders and both wrists. Which made the psoriasis flare up worse. In October 2022 the pains worsen and doctors  misdiagnosed me with torn ligaments on both shoulders and wrists, maybe because I was in the gym still trying to exercise one way or the other. 

After 8 months, the right wrist and palm got swollen to a point that it looked and felt like it was going to explode. On Jan 13th 2023 I drove myself to emergency because the pain in my right hand was excruciating and was swollen so bad I couldn't touch or move it. The doctors didn't know what was wrong with me. After 2 pain injections, MRI, an x-ray, blood tests and thousands of dollars in hospital bills later, there was still no confirmation of what the issue was. I was then home and was recommended a visit to a Neurologist, an Orthopaedist and a Rheumatologist.

My nerves and limbs were healthy.

After numerous visits and blood tests, the Rheumatologist finally diagnosed with Psoriatic Arthritis.

Of course I needed treatment and was referred to joining the out patient clinic in the local hospital. Again, I went through a series of tests after test from that day till September 2023 which included MRI, Blood test, X-rays on both hands and chest, TB, AIDS, and more blood tests. These tests were necessary in order to qualify for the treatment medication, Humira and methotrexate.

I had been diagnosed with Psoriasis since I was 16 years old, so was expecting the joint pains (Psoriatic Arthritis) sooner or later. But never in a million years would I have thought the pain would be this excruciating.