Guest guest Posted July 17, 2002 Report Share Posted July 17, 2002 Patti: If you are not responding well to a medication, you should speak to your doctor asap. I know it can be intimidating to talk to doctors - especially if you don't want to do what they ask you to do. Remember that it is your body! and you have a right to good medicine. Not everyone responds the same. I'm on plaquenil, too, and have not suffered any side effects. But it sounds as though your disease is progressing fast and you need to stop it asap. There are other medications that might be able to help you. I urge you to talk to your doctor and not wait until he tells you to come back in. Or find another rheumatologist that you feel more comfortable with. You need to be your own advocate. Good luck. gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2002 Report Share Posted July 17, 2002 {{{Patti}}} Get to the rheumatologist FAST!!! Tell him what has been happening on the plaquinel, he should know. You do not have to take prednisone or any other med if you do not want to! Noone can make you take anything if you do not want to! Talk to the rheumy about alternative meds. I have told my rheumy that I will never again take prednisone, no matter what! It gave me horrible neurological side effects and I do not want to go there again! I told him to write it right there in my records, and he did. He has stopped offering it. I now take methotrexate injections, folic acid, bextra & ultracet. This has been a good combination for me, but it wasn't alway so. It may take a while for you to find the right combination of meds, but stay open to your rheumy, tell him how you feel and don't let him talk you into anything that you are uncomfortable with! Its your body and you have a right to relief it just may take some time. Since you are on the internet, look up some of the other alternative meds that are out there before your appt. Be educated, then talk to the rheumy about them. And never be afraid to CALL whenever you feel something is not right. Thats what they are there for, if your not comfortable with this rheumy, find another! Please let me know how you are doing and how this all turns out. We are here for you!! Good Luck & God Bless, Barbara justliloleme51 <patsywilliams@...> wrote: Hi, my rheumy diagnoised me with ra last year...He put me on plaquenel as he said i'm in the early stages and he hoped the meds would slow it down..i had serious side affects fro the medicine...hair started coming out in clumps, dizzy spells, stomach upset, eye problems, skin rash.He gave me a three month supply and said come back in 3 months to see how i was doing..well, after 2 months i stopped taking the medicine because it's side effects. now i'm afraid to go back because he's going to want to put me on prednisone probably.. i don't want to take that drug either.It's been 6 months since i've seen the rheumy and my ra is progressing rapidly...My knees have two large painful lumps (swelling that don't go away)over them on the left sides of the knees.. (what exactly is the swelling...is it fluid?? i didn't have this when i saw the rheumatoligist and my fingers are doing the swanneck thing and some of them look like sausages...my feet hurt so bad, i can hardly walk at times..My elbows hurt just carrying a light bag of grocerys and my wrists are hurting as i type. When i sit in a chair for more than 10min, it's very painfull and slow getting up.my question is: what else can i take besides the 2 meds i mentioned because i'm going to see the rheumatolist soon and i can talk to him about it.i have extreme fatigue and weakness now and it's causing a lot of depression...i can't take anti-depression meds because i take maxalt for migraine and the two can be a deadly mix. I can't give up the maxalt as i would have to go to emergency for relief. I really wanted to try the anti-depressants but this stopped me.thank you for listening.patti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2002 Report Share Posted July 17, 2002 Hi Patti, I know what you mean about the side effects. When I first started prednisone I was on 40 mg/day. I gained weight and was depressed for awhile. I'm on 4 mg/day now, 2.5 years later. It provided a lot of relief in the beginning and being on the Remicade allowed me to wean myself to a lower milligram. I hope to be completely off it by the end of the year. Good luck,Steph ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Strength and courage aren't always measured in medals and victories. They are measured in the struggles we overcome. The strongest people aren't always the people who win but the people who don't give up when they lose." ( )~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: Click Here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 20, 2002 Report Share Posted July 20, 2002 Yes, you are very right...i must go see him and not let him talk me into any medicine that i don't want to take...I will start to do some research as well to see what else i can take. I have to find something cause i'm having probs walking and the naproxen doesn't seem to be working for the swelling....Is it normal to have heavy duty fatigue with RA. I'm hoping it's from my thyroid meds cause at least they can adjust it and i can feel better..it may be too low. thanks everyone for caring... patti ----- Original Message ----- From: Barbara Kinney Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 8:45 AM Subject: Re: plaquenel {{{Patti}}} Get to the rheumatologist FAST!!! Tell him what has been happening on the plaquinel, he should know. You do not have to take prednisone or any other med if you do not want to! Noone can make you take anything if you do not want to! Talk to the rheumy about alternative meds. I have told my rheumy that I will never again take prednisone, no matter what! It gave me horrible neurological side effects and I do not want to go there again! I told him to write it right there in my records, and he did. He has stopped offering it. I now take methotrexate injections, folic acid, bextra & ultracet. This has been a good combination for me, but it wasn't alway so. It may take a while for you to find the right combination of meds, but stay open to your rheumy, tell him how you feel and don't let him talk you into anything that you are uncomfortable with! Its your body and you have a right to relief it just may take some time. Since you are on the internet, look up some of the other alternative meds that are out the Good Luck & God Bless, Barbara justliloleme51 <patsywilliams@...> wrote: Hi, my rheumy diagnoised me with ra last year...He put me on plaquenel as he said i'm in the early stages and he hoped the meds would slow it down..i had serious side affects fro the medicine...hair started coming out in clumps, dizzy spells, stomach upset, eye problems, skin rash.He gave me a three month supply and said come back in 3 months to see how i was doing..well, after 2 months i stopped taking the medicine because it's side effects. now i'm afraid to go back because he's going to want to put me on prednisone probably.. i don't want to take that drug either.It's been 6 months since i've seen the rheumy and my ra is progressing rapidly...My knees have two large painful lumps (swelling that don't go away)over them on the left sides of the knees.. (what exactly is the swelling...is it fluid?? i didn't have this when i saw th Autos - Get free new car price quotes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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