Psoriatic Arthritis & trying to conceive

I am a 30 year old female;  height = 5'6"   weight = 165 lbs
Diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis january 2010; started methotrexate at that time.
It works great, no complaints.
I stopped taking it 1-16-2011 because I want to have a baby.  I know that I must be off of MTX for at least 6 months before attempting to conceive, and I'm fine with that.
Before MTX, my pain was 10 on a 0-10 scale (I took ibuprofen to help with the pain before mtx).
MTX works great for me, brought by pain to 0 (I take 8 tabs once per week....total of 20mg)
It's only been 3 weeks since I've stopped MTX, and I already notice the pain returning.  Right now it is 1 on a 0-10 scale.  
I am going to start exercising, because I think that would help....and I've been wanting to back into shape, anyway! :)

I accept the fact that I will likely have to relive all the joint pain that I had before MTX, but I would like to know if there is anything I can do to delay it's return or to lessen the severity, without compromising the conception of a healthy baby.  
What can I do to help keep the pain from returning while I am off of methotrexate?  Any supplements? Diet changes? Specific types of exercises? Cardio vs strength training?

Thanks in advance for any advice!
  

[Garth L Nicolson, PhD]

You might look into the possibility that your PA is caused by one or more chronic infections in the synovia.  I have discussed this possibility in previous posts and the role they could play in chronic pain and neuropathy.  Since the MTX is a chemotherapeutic drug that works by suppressing your immune system, you really should not consider that this a long-term option.

Unfortunately, the best treatments for chronic infections if they are present are antibiotics or antivirals, and these can't be used during pregnancy either.  So if this route is taken, it would be best to treat before pregnancy.

As to dietary recommendations and supplements (vitamins, lipid replacement therapy, immune supplements, etc.), you can read our recommendations on our website, www.immed.org under Treatment Considerations.

Prof. Garth Nicolson