Ashley's Journey: From Reluctance to Resilience in Managing Psoriatic Arthritis

Ashley Krivohlavek discusses her challenging journey to find the right PsA treatment. She talks candidly about her initial fears of starting treatment and her concerns through seven treatment changes, weighing the potential side effects against her quality of life. Among the highlights in this episode: 5:16: Ashley Krivohlavek shares what it was like to wake up one morning and know it was time to make her first appointment with a rheumatologist. 7:21: Dr. Ruderman, an expert rheumatologist, weighs in on the key hallmarks of inflammatory arthritis that signal it’s time to start exploring Treatment decisions 9:01: Ashley shares her journey to get diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. 10:33: Ashley talks about the difficulty of starting treatment with an oral medication that caused stomach issues, and shares what she did about. 11:45: Ashley reveals what was going through her mind when she was resisting starting a biologic to treat her PsA and talks what ultimately convinced her to start treatment. 14:57: Ashley uses an app called ArthritisPower to track her symptoms and treatment so she can collaborate with her rheumatologist to make better informed decisions about treatment. 17:05: Ashely shares what it’s like to make the difficult decision to make the switch from infusion therapy to an injectable. 19:32: Ashley describes what it’s like to have a flare and what she does to take care of herself during these times. 23:04: Ashley talks about building an online community for support. Contact Our Host Angela Degrassi, Research Manager for Patient-Centered Research at the Global Healthy Living Foundation: [email protected] We want to hear what you think. Send your comments, or a video or audio clip of yourself, to [email protected] Catch up on all our episodes on our website or on your favorite podcast channel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.