Guest guest Posted June 8, 2002 Report Share Posted June 8, 2002 Hi, I've just been recently diagnosed with seronegative inflammatory arthritis. I have all of the symptoms of RA but my RA Factor is negative although my c-reactive protein is positive so that is the diagnosis for now. It is interesting to me that these symptoms started the week after my mom died with joint swelling and pain, fever, fatigue, and " fluish " feeling " . I was able to get in to see a rheumatologist within a few weeks. He started me on Prednisone to see if it would help (it did). Then I had a flare of my asthma while on it and so was maintained on it for 6 weeks. My arthritis symptoms were great although I sure became irritable on it. I startd Plaquenil May 14th but I guess it takes a long time to take effect. Anyway, I've been off Prednisone for a week now and my joint pain has gotten so much worse. I suspected it would since it began to get just a bit worse each time the Prednisone dose was decreased but now it seems worse than it did at the beginning. I'm irritable, tired, and having difficulty coping with just day to day life. I'm not sleeping because my hands and wrists hurt so much. I've been getting up in the middl of the night and doing hot paraffin treatments to try and ease the pain. I try not to complain but some days my hands ache so bad all day I can hardly hold a pen. My coworkers (doctors and nurses, mind you) are not at all sympathetic and I am beginning to feel like a real wuss! Yesterday seemed to be a little better so I mowed my backyard (power mower) and 2 acres of our property (garden tractor) and then yesterday afternoon developed a low grade fever, increased joint pain and stiffness. I am so frustrated! Nothing except the Prednisone seems to make it better and I certainly can't stay on that forever, especially since 30 mg is the only dose that totally relieves the pain. Does anyone have any suggestions? This is all new to me. I am in the medical profession and have read a lot of material on RA and such; lots of information about the disease process, drugs, etc. but nothing on coping with day to day life. Any suggestions on coping with that middle of the night pain when Motrin isn't touching it? Thanks in advance. Charlotte Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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