Re: Meds and morning stiffness

[Guest guest]

Jay, I'm glad you finally got your medicines and have started to take them. Each of us is different so one person's experience is not likely to be the same as another person's experience. For me, I never had significant morning stiffness or reaction to Methotrexate. Prednisone did wonders for my pain and weakness but neither Arava nor Methotrexate alone did me much good. Many people get benefits from one or the other.of these. When I first started on Remicade along with Methotrexate I didn't have much benefit for the first few infusions but now I'm pretty well controlled and finally off Prednisone. It will take time and patience to find what medicine or combination of medicines is right for you. Most RA medicines (except Prednisone) usually take several weeks to several months to become effective. Good luck and God bless.

----- Original Message -----

From: Jay Bishop

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 10:45 PM

Subject: Meds and morning stiffness

I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri nite or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my Doc if I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have daily? I suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour a cup of coffee some days.

[Guest guest]

Jay,

Are you also taking folic acid. I hear that is important if you take

Methotrexate. I am currently on Methotrexate 12.5, Vioxx and folic

acid. Take Methotrexate on Fridays and am tired on Sat but really

wipeout on Sun. Kathy

> I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

> daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri nite

> or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my Doc

if

> I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

>

> Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have daily?

I

> suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour a

> cup of coffee some days.

[Guest guest]

Kathy,

Right now I'm taking a multi-vitamin and my Doc ordered some folic

acid to go with the Methotrexate. I'm going to take my first dose

(10mg)of trexate this Friday nite incase it makes me as tired as it

does you.

Did the morning stiffness go away for you?

Thanks for your contribution.

God Bless

Jay

> > I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

> > daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri

nite

> > or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my

Doc

> if

> > I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

> >

> > Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have

daily?

> I

> > suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour

a

> > cup of coffee some days.

[Guest guest]

Harold, At least now I'm getting started on my journey of discovery

of what and how much will work for me. I am both eager and

apprehensive to see how they will affect me. Afeter two doses of

Prednasone and Plaquinil I don't notice anything yet. Four or five

more days and I should benefit from the Prednasone.

I go see my doc again the first week of june. Will have about three

weeks of meds in me by then. Maybe I will be able to tell him

something more than " I HURT " !!

Glad you missed out on the stiffness in the AM. It is debilitating.

It takes me an hour and a half before I can do much of anything.

Good Bless, Jay

> Jay, I'm glad you finally got your medicines and have started to

take them. Each of us is different so one person's experience is not

likely to be the same as another person's experience. For me, I

never had significant morning stiffness or reaction to Methotrexate.

Prednisone did wonders for my pain and weakness but neither Arava nor

Methotrexate alone did me much good. Many people get benefits from

one or the other.of these. When I first started on Remicade along

with Methotrexate I didn't have much benefit for the first few

infusions but now I'm pretty well controlled and finally off

Prednisone. It will take time and patience to find what medicine or

combination of medicines is right for you. Most RA medicines (except

Prednisone) usually take several weeks to several months to become

effective. Good luck and God bless.

> ----- Original Message -----

> From: Jay Bishop

> Rheumatoid Arthritis

> Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2003 10:45 PM

> Subject: Meds and morning stiffness

>

>

> I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

> daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri

nite

> or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my

Doc if

> I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

>

> Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have

daily? I

> suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour

a

> cup of coffee some days.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Jay,

I have had RA for 3 years now. I take 25mg methotrexate (injection), 500 mg

Remicade, along with folic acid and vioxx and prednisone and darvocet for

pain. The morning stiffness has NEVER gone away for me. And depending on

the day sometimes I have to spend quite a few hours in bed. I wish you the

best!

Carla

-----Original Message-----

From: Jay Bishop [mailto:jbirdak@...]

Sent: Thursday, May 22, 2003 12:50 AM

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject: Re: Meds and morning stiffness

Kathy,

Right now I'm taking a multi-vitamin and my Doc ordered some folic

acid to go with the Methotrexate. I'm going to take my first dose

(10mg)of trexate this Friday nite incase it makes me as tired as it

does you.

Did the morning stiffness go away for you?

Thanks for your contribution.

God Bless

Jay

> > I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

> > daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri

nite

> > or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my

Doc

> if

> > I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

> >

> > Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have

daily?

> I

> > suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour

a

> > cup of coffee some days.

[Guest guest]

Hi Jay,

The Prednisone should take about a week to fully kick in. Methotrexate takes 4 weeks-6 months to work. I've never taken Plaquinil. My meds are very effective for me. My morning stiffness typically lasts 15-30 minutes most mornings. A hot shower when I first get up helps speed the process along.

Take care,

in VA~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone >daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri nite >or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my Doc if >I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that. > >Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have daily? I >suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour a >cup of coffee some days.

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[Guest guest]

Hang

in there Jay! It might take some time but your doc and you will find the

right combo of drugs and strengths. I am seeing my 2nd rheumy¡Ä¡Äall

the first one wanted to do was give me more and more oxycontin. I was

diagnosed 3 years ago this month and it has taken this long to find the right

combo of drugs now we are fine tuning the strengths. I also have ulcerative

colitis, another auto-immune disease, and many other maladies. I find

that the most important thing is communication!!!! Don¡Çt just tell the

doctor, ¡ÈI hurt.¡É Describe it to him or her. I tell mine it feels

like I have a bad toothache in all of my joints sometimes. Anyhoo¡Ä.that¡Çs

my 2 cents. I wish you the best! We are here! I don¡Çt post

too often because of my hands but I do read all the posts and you all are in my

thoughts and prayers!

Take

care!

Carla

<>

>I

started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

>daily.

I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri nite

>or

Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my Doc if

>I

shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

>

>Does

the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have daily? I

>suffer

for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour a

>cup

of coffee some days.

Help STOP SPAM with the new MSN 8 and get 2 months

FREE*

[Guest guest]

Carla, My hands too are bad, I can only type on an ergonomic keyboard......it is the only way I can still work on my awful days. Luckily, I started Enbrel about a month ago, and the pain is still there but much more tolerable, and the morning stiffness is only lasting about 30min to an hour. Most of all, the daily fatigue made it difficult to do much of anything. It was much worse on weekends, after my Friday Methotrexate dose. In addition to the fatigue, bowel problems basically made me stay close to home> After taking the Enbrel for about 2 wks, both the fatigue and bowel problems seem to be much better. I feel as though I have my weekends back! (Doing a happy dance!) Just having a sense of normal life again has resulted in a HUGE improvement in my depression. I hope it stays this way, but I'm celebrating the good days I'm enjoying at this point. It took 18 months to get here. Best of luck and prayers for you! Sandy

From: "Carla Janes"

Reply-Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject: RE: Meds and morning stiffness Date: Thu, 22 May 2003 15:25:10 -0400

Hang in there Jay! It might take some time but your doc and you will find the right combo of drugs and strengths. I am seeing my 2nd rheumyccall the first one wanted to do was give me more and more oxycontin. I was diagnosed 3 years ago this month and it has taken this long to find the right combo of drugs now we are fine tuning the strengths. I also have ulcerative colitis, another auto-immune disease, and many other maladies. I find that the most important thing is communication!!!! Donft just tell the doctor, gI hurt.h Describe it to him or her. I tell mine it feels like I have a bad toothache in all of my joints sometimes. Anyhooc.thatfs my 2 cents. I wish you the best! We are here! I donft post too often because of my hands but I do read all the posts and you all are in my thoughts and prayers!

Take care!

Carla

<>

>I started my meds today. 200 mg Plaquinil and 7.5 mg Prednasone

>daily. I will start my Methotrexate this weekend, probably Fri nite

>or Sat due to the fatigue thing I hear about. I need to ask my Doc if

>I shoud continue with the NSAIDs I am on, forgot about that.

>

>Does the meds help with the severe morning stiffness I have daily? I

>suffer for well over an hour, can hardly walk and can't even pour a

>cup of coffee some days.

_____

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