Life with PsA involves a combination of joint and skin problems as well as the overall damaging effects of having an autoimmune disease. This makes for a complex set of symptoms. By tracking those symptoms, you and your health care provider will have a better picture of what’s going on with your disease.
Benefits of Symptom Tracking
Experts say symptom tracking is vital for learning how well treatments are working and your disease is faring. But alongside the lists of
symptoms, you also need to keep tabs on certain aspects of your daily life, such as your diet, sleep, and stress levels. Combining all these factors can help you learn what your symptom triggers may be so you can avoid them.
Just like tracking your spending helps you keep a healthy budget and save for the things you want and need, tracking PsA symptoms and discovering triggers can empower you and help you live your best life with your disease.
How to Track
To gather the information you need, look for physical symptoms and take down key details about them.
Skin rashes:
- Appearance: Red? Scaly? Silvery? Thick? Flaky? Bleeding?
- Location: Elbows? Knees? Scalp? Genitals? Nails?
- Size: One small patch? Multiple patches? Widespread?
- How long does it last?
Joint pain:
- Type of pain: Warm to the touch? Swollen? Stiff? Bruised?
- Location: Hands? Fingers? Feet? Toes? Lower back? Spine? Neck?
- How long does it last?
Other symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Itchy, painful, red eyes
- Mental symptoms such as depression, irritation, anxiety
- Muscle weakness
Alongside your symptoms, log specific details of your day that may give you insight to what’s triggering physical issues. These include:
- Any medications or supplements you take each day
- Foods you eat
- How much sleep you got
- A measure of how stressful your day was (a 1-10 scale may be helpful as a guide)
- Your mood for the day
- Weather
- Activity levels
If you do anything to try to feel better, write that down, too. What worked? What didn’t? Did you use relaxation tools to help reduce your stress levels?
Tracking Tools
For some people, a simple notebook and pencil is enough to prompt them to write down the details of the day. If you go this traditional route, keep your notebook in a place where you’ll see it and remember to track. Tip: Put it next to your bed on the nightstand and make it part of your bedtime routine.
Your smartphone is a handy way to track in real time. You can either keep your own notes, or you can download a symptom tracking app. A few choices include:
Arthritis Foundation’s TRACK + REACT app is specifically for tracking symptoms like joint pain and stiffness. The app can also make charts that you can share with your doctor, making it much easier to communicate.
Versus Arthritis’s Arthritis Tracker uses helpful visuals such as smiling, neutral, and frowning faces so you can quickly mark how you’re feeling and keep tabs on energy levels, pain, sleep, and more. The app summarizes your information so you can see it at a glance. It’s geared toward younger people with the disease.
Flaredown is an app tracks your symptoms along with your mental health, activities, medications, diet, and weather conditions. The app also shares the data it collects and anonymously with researchers so they can hone treatments for the disease.
The National Psoriasis Foundation also has an online tool for guiding you through a tracking exercise these called the Psoriatic Disease Flare Guide & Symptom Tracker, a free resource for tracking symptoms, recognizing common triggers, and learning ways to manage them.
Sharing Your Information
Whether you use your own pen and paper or an online tool, come prepared to your appointments with a summary of what you’ve learned, and make sure your doctor knows you want to go over it. Often, time with your doctor is limited, so you want to prioritize the big picture snapshot of how your disease is doing based on your records.
As you begin your symptom tracking journey, you may need more frequent check-ins with your doctor. They can adjust or change your medications if necessary and help you see patterns that could indicate a trigger for your flares.
Ask your doctor:
- Is there other information I could be recording that can give you a better overview of my condition?
- What patterns do you see in my symptoms?
- Which treatment options do I have based on what I’m dealing with?
It’s also wise to ask your doctor to keep a record of your tracked symptoms and to share that with other doctors on your PsA care team: dermatologist, rheumatologist, primary care doctor, and others. This way, everyone is on the same page when it comes to your disease management.
Show Sources
Photo Credit: iStock/Getty Images
SOURCES:
Arthritis Foundation: “Managing Psoriatic Arthritis Flares.”
The Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis Alliance: “Symptom checker for skin and joints.”
Versus Arthritis: “Arthritis Tracker.”
