Guest guest Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Hi Harold Thank you for the wise sharing. I am taking Minocin 100mg, 3x a week as well as Methotrexate 7.5 mg once a week with the folic acid 4x a week. I have been taking the MTX for only 5 weeks. My right hand has swollen up with small subcutaneous collections of fluid. My left knee now clicks when moved and I'm seeing a physiotherapist soon to assess and treat the damage. Harold, any tips or suggestions for me? Ken.Harold Van Tuyl <hvantuyl@...> wrote: If you really have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) it is important for you to be on aggressive medications. RA is bad even with the best treatment and without a good treatment it usually leads to a wheelchair. Most of us find that any medication is better than a wheelchair. You should try hard to find a way to get to a board-certified rheumatologist to make sure of what you are faced with. If it is likely to be RA, you will probably be given a medication to try to slow or stop the permanent joint damage. The weakest medications, usually with the least side effects, are Plaquenil and Sulfasalazine. Next comes Methotrexate that is the most commonly prescribed treatment but it can have troublesome side effects that are usually controlled by adding Folic Acid to the treatment. Also injections of Methotrexate usually have fewer side effects. Arava is similar in effectiveness to Methotrexate for most people but is more expensive. Next come the biologics that usually cost over $1,000 a month and most insurance will not pay for them until you have demonstrated that some less expensive medications will not work for you. A totally different treatment system is antibiotic therapy using derivatives of tetracycline. This is usually less popular with rheumatologists because it is not pushed by drug companies in spite of its effectiveness. Changes in diet can help RA. A “Mediterranean diet” heavy on fruits and vegetables and very light on red meat can help. Also if you are overweight, losing weight can help. I take a multivitamin, vitamin C and D supplements, calcium, magnesium, and a little zinc in addition. I drink a lot of dark juice, especially pomegranate and grape. I also try to eat fresh pineapple daily. I don’t know how much these supplements do for my RA but they are generally healthy so I keep taking them. Also some people find that they have certain food sensitivities, especially to wheat, gluten, or casein (milk products). You might try to remove one or more of these from your diet to see if that helps things. What is often called an “elimination diet” is better for learning about food sensitivities but it is hard to follow and requires a lot of discipline. These are several suggestions that might help you but the most important one is to see a good rheumatologist. God bless. From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of cecil_8299Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 9:16 AMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: hi hello everyone i have this rheumatoid arthritis and a hate rainy season comes coz it make leegs weaks my knees. at this time i can`t even go to a doctor coz im working mom a single mom life is too busy every single mins. i want to know if theres a kind of food or anything just this arthritis make a little better or drugs ofcourse not the bad drugs please advice me. thank you cecil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Hi Harold Thank you for the wise sharing. I am taking Minocin 100mg, 3x a week as well as Methotrexate 7.5 mg once a week with the folic acid 4x a week. I have been taking the MTX for only 5 weeks. My right hand has swollen up with small subcutaneous collections of fluid. My left knee now clicks when moved and I'm seeing a physiotherapist soon to assess and treat the damage. Harold, any tips or suggestions for me? Ken.Harold Van Tuyl <hvantuyl@...> wrote: If you really have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) it is important for you to be on aggressive medications. RA is bad even with the best treatment and without a good treatment it usually leads to a wheelchair. Most of us find that any medication is better than a wheelchair. You should try hard to find a way to get to a board-certified rheumatologist to make sure of what you are faced with. If it is likely to be RA, you will probably be given a medication to try to slow or stop the permanent joint damage. The weakest medications, usually with the least side effects, are Plaquenil and Sulfasalazine. Next comes Methotrexate that is the most commonly prescribed treatment but it can have troublesome side effects that are usually controlled by adding Folic Acid to the treatment. Also injections of Methotrexate usually have fewer side effects. Arava is similar in effectiveness to Methotrexate for most people but is more expensive. Next come the biologics that usually cost over $1,000 a month and most insurance will not pay for them until you have demonstrated that some less expensive medications will not work for you. A totally different treatment system is antibiotic therapy using derivatives of tetracycline. This is usually less popular with rheumatologists because it is not pushed by drug companies in spite of its effectiveness. Changes in diet can help RA. A “Mediterranean diet” heavy on fruits and vegetables and very light on red meat can help. Also if you are overweight, losing weight can help. I take a multivitamin, vitamin C and D supplements, calcium, magnesium, and a little zinc in addition. I drink a lot of dark juice, especially pomegranate and grape. I also try to eat fresh pineapple daily. I don’t know how much these supplements do for my RA but they are generally healthy so I keep taking them. Also some people find that they have certain food sensitivities, especially to wheat, gluten, or casein (milk products). You might try to remove one or more of these from your diet to see if that helps things. What is often called an “elimination diet” is better for learning about food sensitivities but it is hard to follow and requires a lot of discipline. These are several suggestions that might help you but the most important one is to see a good rheumatologist. God bless. From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of cecil_8299Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 9:16 AMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: hi hello everyone i have this rheumatoid arthritis and a hate rainy season comes coz it make leegs weaks my knees. at this time i can`t even go to a doctor coz im working mom a single mom life is too busy every single mins. i want to know if theres a kind of food or anything just this arthritis make a little better or drugs ofcourse not the bad drugs please advice me. thank you cecil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 17, 2008 Report Share Posted May 17, 2008 Ken, I’m glad you liked my post, but please note that I am not medically trained and only make suggestions for you to consider together with your doctors. Unfortunately there are many things with some symptoms that are similar to RA and it takes a good board-certified rheumatologist, and sometimes considerable time, to make sure that RA is what you have. In the meantime it is prudent to be treated as if it were RA because permanent joint damage can develop rather quickly if it truly is RA and is untreated. I am reminded in an early visit I had with my rheumatologist and I asked if I had RA. He was careful to avoid saying that I have RA but he did say that my symptoms were consistent with RA. That was over six years ago and I haven’t asked him again but I am being treated for RA and responding well to the treatments. I think a diagnosis is less important than effective treatment, but a good rheumatologist can provide both. The small subcutaneous collections of fluid sound like they could be rheumatoid nodules and these are one of he criteria for diagnosing RA. That, along with six other criteria, makes up the American College of Rheumatology criteria for diagnosing RA but because of the variability of RA any four of the criteria are sufficient for a positive diagnosis. I usually have a dozen or so nodules on my hands and perhaps half a dozen elsewhere, and some come and go while others come and stay. As far as I am concerned they are merely a diagnostic tool and have no other significance. If I put a lot of weight on one it will hurt but otherwise I ignore them. The swelling is probably a sign of joint inflammation and might be helped with a strong anti-inflammatory like Prednisone. However, with a high dose and prolonged use Prednisone can have some bad side effects so most of us use it with caution. Often it takes several months to see much effect of the Methotrexate and you are on a rather low dose. I think 25 mg Methotrexate weekly is the highest usual dose for RA but much larger doses are used for chemotherapy. You don’t mention side effects of Methotrexate but with more Folic Acid and/or using injections rather than pills most people are able to reduce side effects. I’ve never taken Minocin (or the generic, Minocycline) but I have heard very good things about either of them. There seems to be a lot of information available from the Roadback Foundation but I don’t look at that regularly. Most people who are on Minocin also take probiotics to replace the good intestinal flora that are killed by the antibiotic. People generally recommend getting some from a health food store and many prefer a mixture with as many varieties of probiotic as possible. Again, I am not medically trained but I have studied RA a fair amount from the net and message boards. I hope you have good success. Keep the questions coming. God bless. From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of Ken Pearson Sent: Saturday, May 17, 2008 1:32 AM Rheumatoid Arthritis Subject: RE: To Harold and All Hi Harold Thank you for the wise sharing. I am taking Minocin 100mg, 3x a week as well as Methotrexate 7.5 mg once a week with the folic acid 4x a week. I have been taking the MTX for only 5 weeks. My right hand has swollen up with small subcutaneous collections of fluid. My left knee now clicks when moved and I'm seeing a physiotherapist soon to assess and treat the damage. Harold, any tips or suggestions for me? Ken. Harold Van Tuyl <hvantuylcharter (DOT) net> wrote: If you really have rheumatoid arthritis (RA) it is important for you to be on aggressive medications. RA is bad even with the best treatment and without a good treatment it usually leads to a wheelchair. Most of us find that any medication is better than a wheelchair. You should try hard to find a way to get to a board-certified rheumatologist to make sure of what you are faced with. If it is likely to be RA, you will probably be given a medication to try to slow or stop the permanent joint damage. The weakest medications, usually with the least side effects, are Plaquenil and Sulfasalazine. Next comes Methotrexate that is the most commonly prescribed treatment but it can have troublesome side effects that are usually controlled by adding Folic Acid to the treatment. Also injections of Methotrexate usually have fewer side effects. Arava is similar in effectiveness to Methotrexate for most people but is more expensive. Next come the biologics that usually cost over $1,000 a month and most insurance will not pay for them until you have demonstrated that some less expensive medications will not work for you. A totally different treatment system is antibiotic therapy using derivatives of tetracycline. This is usually less popular with rheumatologists because it is not pushed by drug companies in spite of its effectiveness. Changes in diet can help RA. A “Mediterranean diet” heavy on fruits and vegetables and very light on red meat can help. Also if you are overweight, losing weight can help. I take a multivitamin, vitamin C and D supplements, calcium, magnesium, and a little zinc in addition. I drink a lot of dark juice, especially pomegranate and grape. I also try to eat fresh pineapple daily. I don’t know how much these supplements do for my RA but they are generally healthy so I keep taking them. Also some people find that they have certain food sensitivities, especially to wheat, gluten, or casein (milk products). You might try to remove one or more of these from your diet to see if that helps things. What is often called an “elimination diet” is better for learning about food sensitivities but it is hard to follow and requires a lot of discipline. These are several suggestions that might help you but the most important one is to see a good rheumatologist. God bless. From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of cecil_8299 Sent: Saturday, April 26, 2008 9:16 AM Rheumatoid Arthritis Subject: hi hello everyone i have this rheumatoid arthritis and a hate rainy season comes coz it make leegs weaks my knees. at this time i can`t even go to a doctor coz im working mom a single mom life is too busy every single mins. i want to know if theres a kind of food or anything just this arthritis make a little better or drugs ofcourse not the bad drugs please advice me. thank you cecil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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