Symptoms, Causes, Treatment
Psoriatic arthritis(PsA) andfibromyalgiaare two very painful and life-altering health conditions.
While each condition has its unique features, they do share many common characteristics.
PsA is a key in ofinflammatory arthritisthat causes joint and tissueinflammationthroughout the body.
Verywell / Michela Buttignol
It can also affect the skin.
Fibromyalgia also affects the muscles, tendons, and other soft tissues, causing whole-body pain.
Verywell / Michela Buttignol
These two conditions can exist alone or together.
Symptoms
Both PsA and fibromyalgia are painful conditions that cause whole-body symptoms.
Common symptoms of both conditions include pain, chronic fatigue, andbrain fog.
An abnormal tissue response leads to joint inflammation and the overproduction of skin cells.
PsA affects about 30% of people with the inflammatory skin conditionpsoriasis.
These symptoms can subside, and you will experience periods where the disease is milder or less severe.
It is also possible to experience remissionperiods of minimal disease activity.
Doctors dont consider fibromyalgia to be an autoimmune disease or an inflammatory condition.
The pain and tenderness from fibromyalgia willcome and goand affect various parts of the body.
Additional symptoms of fibromyalgia are:
Can PsA and Fibromyalgia Coexist?
Researchers also determined that having fibromyalgia with PsA might lead to worse disease activity scores.
The people with the highest risk of PsA are those who already have psoriasis.
It affects males and females equally.
A family history of PsA and/or psoriasis also increases your risk of PsA.
This is because fibromyalgia tends to run in families.
Anyone can get fibromyalgia, including children.
PsA Diagnosis
There is no one specific test to confirm a PsA diagnosis.
The condition is diagnosed using various methods to rule out other causes of joint pain and stiffness.
People with PsA can have joint deformities, seen on imaging, very early in the disease.
Fibromyalgia Diagnosis
Like PsA, there isnt a specific test to diagnose fibromyalgia.
This is a challenge because widespread pain is a symptom of many conditions, including PsA.
For example, enthesitis from PsA can be mistaken for widespread muscle pain from fibromyalgia and vice versa.
But not all doctors use thetender point systemfor diagnosing the condition.
Treatment
There is no cure for PsA or fibromyalgia, but both are treatable and manageable.
Because these conditions have different causes and underlying processes, they require different treatment methods.
Goals for treating PsA include reducing pain and other symptoms and preventing joint damage.
Most people with the condition take medications regularly to keep inflammation in check and to manage pain and swelling.
Treatment for fibromyalgiaincludes lifestyle therapies and medications to improve symptoms.
Medicines used to treat the condition include antidepressants and prescription andover-the-counter pain relievers.
Prevention
Conditions like psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia generally cannot be prevented.
Doctors do not know of any way to prevent PsA, and no treatment can guarantee prevention.
Most experts concede that fibromyalgia generally is not preventable.
Summary
Psoriatic arthritis and fibromyalgia are two very painful and debilitating conditions.
They share many similarities, especially symptoms.
They both appear to run in families and are linked to gene mutations and environmental triggers.
No one test can confirm either condition.
PsA is diagnosed using a variety of methods, including blood work and imaging.
There is no cure for PsA or fibromyalgia, but both conditions are treatable.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Fibromyalgia.
American College of Rheumatology.Fibromyalgia.
Park DJ, Lee SS.New insights into the genetics of fibromyalgia.Korean J Intern Med.
Part I: etiopathogenesis, classifications and radiographic features.J Ultrason.
