The Path to Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis

This episode, " The Path to Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis," features Dr. Perkins mapping the drug classes available for psoriatic arthritis.

In this episode Kameillia discusses her path to diagnosis. She recalls struggling with chronic pain, inflammation, and joint and tendon pain that worsened around 2014, years before anyone suspected psoriatic arthritis. She says she had assumed the pain was simply a consequence of her military service, since no one had raised rheumatology as a possibility. In 2016, the VA referred her to Dr. Perkins after lab work flagged concerning markers. Kameillia says Dr. Perkins was the first clinician to connect her chronic joint pain with her long-standing scalp psoriasis. She ultimately diagnosed psoriatic arthritis that year. Dr. Bakewell notes how fortunate it was that Dr. Perkins happened to be Kameillia's first rheumatologist. A correct diagnosis so often takes far longer to reach.

Up next, in "One Patient's Search for the Right PsA Biologic," Kameillia walks through the eight medications she tried before finding one that finally worked.