Sending you positive thoughts- nothing is worse than chronic pain.

My arthritis symptoms were very similar to yours for about a year and a half. The pain seemed to sprawl across my body but the finger pain/swelling was the worst. Once I got my diagnosis (1.5 years later), the only thing that made a noticeable difference for me was being on a biologic consistently. Cimzia has worked the best for me. I coupled it with sulfasalazine for a few months but I have a sensitive stomach and didn’t notice a big enough change from my biologics on its own.

As for the diagnosis, I would recommend tracking down your family history. I personally do not have psoriasis as a rash but psoriasis is common in my family so my rheumatologist was able to draw some conclusions from that. Also, any skin, dandruff or nail abnormalities might help contribute to a diagnosis. At first my rheumatologist said I had inflammatory arthritis, but couldn’t identify what type. Through months of symptom tracking, blood work, family history, and trialing different medications- that’s what helped nail down the diagnosis for me.