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Subject: Psoriatic Arthritis..No Such Thing..?
Hello All, Sorry this post is rather long, but I'm sure you PA sufferers will find this interesting. I live in Cyprus. I'm now 60 years old and have had Psoriasis on and off for about 36 years. 18 months ago I developed arthritis in both hands, lower spine and knees. My GP, who is also a general surgeon, diagnosed PA and referred me to a Rheumatologist. She has confirmed his diagnoses and has been treating me. She operates privately here in Cyprus and also acts as a consultant for the UK NHS so she is up to date with modern methods. I have had to close my business here due to the PA, have been a self employed car mechanic and its got to the stage where I cannot use hand tools. I applied to the Cyprus NHS for a disability pension. I was instructed to go for a medical with their Rheumatologist. This is how it went...... He spent a whole 5 minutes with me. I presented 6 medical reports from both UK and Cyprus doctors which detailed my Psoriasis, two of which detailed my PA. I also showed him recent X Rays. He looked at the X Rays, read one report and ignored the other 5. He stated that there is no connection between Psoriasis and Arthritis. The pitting and ridges to my finger nails means nothing. I suffer quite badly from Pustulosis to my hands, linked to the Psosriasis apparently. He ignored that. Result....Request for disability pension denied. I reported back to my Rheumy who was as perplexed as I was. There is an appeals procedure here and she has advised me to follow that up immediately which of course I am doing. My Rheumy knows of the government Rheumy who examined me. He is an elderly chap and was apparently the first Rheumy registered here. She intimated to me that his ideas are "Conservative, old fashioned." So now it seems that I have to do battle with the actual Minister of labour here...I'm just hoping that she has half a brain..! Fortunately I have the backing of my Rheumatologist who is currently the head of the Cyprus Anti Rheumatic Society so hopefully her report will carry some weight with the relevant authorities. So there, all you PA sufferers will be pleased to note that PA does not exist according to the Cyprus governments Rheumatologist.
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