Guest guest Posted March 4, 2003 Report Share Posted March 4, 2003 Hi Glad to meet you. Sorry to hear you have RA at such a young age. I was in my 40's when I was DXed and for 2 years I fought treatments and suffered. It sounds like you are in good hands. You should feel fine with your treatments. When I went on methotrexate I almost forgot I had RA. good luck. Jan. --Original Message------- From: Rheumatoid Arthritis Date: Monday, March 03, 2003 14:18:52 Rheumatoid Arthritis Subject: new member Hi all. I was just diagnosed with RA and am in that stage where I'm a little scared about what's going to happen. I'm glad I found this group. I am 28 and this all started with a cold that wouldn't go away for about three months and then wandering joint pain that eventually settled in permanently into several joints. I am on prednisone and an NSAID and start methotrexate tomorrow. I have a couple questions... I am on prednisone at 10mg a day and will stay on it for about six more weeks (8 total). Has anyone had bad side effects with that low of a dose for that amount of time? And my other question is... I also have a minor heart condition (SVT- a form of tachycardia) and wonder if anyone out there has something similar or has heard of any type of connection? Thank you so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 5, 2003 Report Share Posted May 5, 2003 Hi Sara, Does your mother take folic acid along with her methotrexate, it helps with the "sickies" I also read that if you took the meth at night just before you went to bed that you could sleep through the sick time. Hope this helps, I am pretty new at this thing myself. It is wonderful that you are taking an interest in helping your mother. Just goes to show you what wonderful teen we have today. Take care, Becky Pacey Eagar, AZ ----- Original Message ----- From: Sara Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Thursday, May 01, 2003 9:07 PM Subject: New Member I was searching for support groups on RA, and I stumbled across this one. I hope it can be a help to me.I am 16 years old. My mother was diagnosed with RA about a year and a half ago. She was recently put on Enbrel as a joint-preservation medication, and still remains on Methotrexate for the pain. She still gets sick from it every once in a while, but its getting better.Any pointers on how I could help her out?Thanks a lot,Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2003 Report Share Posted May 6, 2003 Sara, You are angel . Just being their for u mother and help her out as much as u can. God Bless you . I aslo take care of my mother who is 75 year old and she has Alzheimers, I'm not as young as u . Lucy I was searching for support groups on RA, and I stumbled across this one. I hope it can be a help to me. I am 16 years old. My mother was diagnosed with RA about a year and a half ago. She was recently put on Enbrel as a joint-preservation medication, and still remains on Methotrexate for the pain. She still gets sick from it every once in a while, but its getting better. Any pointers on how I could help her out? Thanks a lot, Sara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 6, 2003 Report Share Posted May 6, 2003 Welcome to group Lynda , I'm also new myself and hope we can help each other out I have RA & Fibro for 13 yrs. God Bless you. Lucy My name is Lynda. I am a new member. I have arthritis and am interested in checking this out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 Jenn, I too had a weight problem, over 100 lbs. and RA in my spine, knees hands & shoulders. My doc said there was a good possiblilty that food allergies were contributing to the problem. He told me to try soy supplements so I tried slimfast soy and used nonfat milk instead of water to increase the calcium per his reccommendation. It has helped alot (lost 114# in 16 months and am keeping it off) the shakes are a good way to get breakfast with mimimal hassle. I don't eat any red meat due to the hormones and limit wheat products as well as chocolate and saturated fats; for me this has been a great success and I am much more comfortable as the swelling and inflamation is less when I stick with the dietary restrictions. The fatigue still comes on when I am stressed or cheat especially with chocolate and fats. Good luck to you with getting things to a manageable level. I feel very blessed to be back on my feet. Anneta --- In Rheumatoid Arthritis , " Jenn H. " <ginjin7@h...> wrote: > Hi all, I just joined this group and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is > Jenn. i was diagnosed in July 2001. Currently I am taking Enrel and see > some improvement. In reading the recent posts, I would like to share of my > experiences. > > My rheumatoid begin in 1997 but was miss diagnosed becaue only one joint, > my right hip was effected so severely drs just thought it was a strange > occurance from a childhood fever. For over 4 years, I went to many different > doctors and they kept saying, it is not rheumatoid. Then in 2000 my wrists > and hands began to swell and finally a 3rd RA dr. looked at all the results and > agreed it was in fact RA, Isn't great to put your faith in doctors who seem to be > missing the boat. Oh well, I finally have a dr I respect and listen to since I am > finally seeing results (little ones but they are there). > > So my question for the group is about nutrition. I recently lost 65 pounds on > Weight watchers. Since on the new medications, I have stopped weigh loss > completely. I am currenlty on 4 medications (a new cocktail). Enbrel, bextra, > arava and plaquinal (may have spelled it wrong - sorry ). Since on the > combo, I am very tired nd hungry. In recent weeks I meet with a alternative > medicine doctor and nurse practioned to look into other options to try since I > am having problems with the drugs. Their sugestion was the Zone diet - no > dairy, no carbs and grains (or low) with a goal of " wheat free. " My original > feeling was BS. But now I wonder. I have tried balanced meals for the past 3 > days and I seem to have a little bit more energy but now I am dizzy. Has > anyone on the group has success with the balanced diet (protein to carbs to > fats)? > > Sorry for the novel. Next time hopefully I will be shorter in my message. > > Thanks for letting me ramble. > > JennH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 14, 2003 Report Share Posted July 14, 2003 It sounds like things are working fairly well for you right now and I hope they continue to get better. Don't be too hard on the doctors who didn't give you a diagnosis of RA right away. It often takes a long time for the disease to be definite enough to permit a diagnosis. I'm personally not into special diet control but I generally adhere to a Mediterranean diet. Someone who posts on another board has apparently done very well by diet control. You might want to read his stories. http://arthritisinsight.com/living/diet/joe.html http://arthritisinsight.com/living/diet/leakygut.html Good luck and God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: Jenn H. Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Sunday, July 13, 2003 9:13 PM Subject: New Member Hi all, I just joined this group and I wanted to introduce myself. My name is Jenn. i was diagnosed in July 2001. Currently I am taking Enrel and see some improvement. In reading the recent posts, I would like to share of my experiences.My rheumatoid begin in 1997 but was miss diagnosed becaue only one joint, my right hip was effected so severely drs just thought it was a strange occurance from a childhood fever. For over 4 years, I went to many different doctors and they kept saying, it is not rheumatoid. Then in 2000 my wrists and hands began to swell and finally a 3rd RA dr. looked at all the results and agreed it was in fact RA, Isn't great to put your faith in doctors who seem to be missing the boat. Oh well, I finally have a dr I respect and listen to since I am finally seeing results (little ones but they are there).So my question for the group is about nutrition. I recently lost 65 pounds on Weight watchers. Since on the new medications, I have stopped weigh loss completely. I am currenlty on 4 medications (a new cocktail). Enbrel, bextra, arava and plaquinal (may have spelled it wrong - sorry ). Since on the combo, I am very tired nd hungry. In recent weeks I meet with a alternative medicine doctor and nurse practioned to look into other options to try since I am having problems with the drugs. Their sugestion was the Zone diet - no dairy, no carbs and grains (or low) with a goal of "wheat free." My original feeling was BS. But now I wonder. I have tried balanced meals for the past 3 days and I seem to have a little bit more energy but now I am dizzy. Has anyone on the group has success with the balanced diet (protein to carbs to fats)?Sorry for the novel. Next time hopefully I will be shorter in my message.Thanks for letting me ramble.JennH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 30, 2003 Report Share Posted July 30, 2003 Hello Everyone, I am here to promote my Arthritis Group that's called " Gouty Arthritis~Arthritis Group " . Please use cut and paste with the link I give you. This is our homepage, but you can join by using the link on the page or in the guestbook. Feel free to leave your comments. Truely Yours, Robin (owner) Link: http://www.geocities.com/robinj41/goutyarthritisgroup.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 29, 2003 Report Share Posted August 29, 2003 Heidi: About exercising: I feel so much better when I can exercise - I used to be a runner and extremely active. I had to give up running and any sort of hard impact sports because my feet are my problem. But I do biking at the gym, Pilates, weight-lifting and it all helps just to make me feel better. I do think that the more stretching you can do, the better. I know that helps make things feel much better for me. Lots of people recommend swimming and yoga, too. Good luck to you. gloria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 31, 2003 Report Share Posted August 31, 2003 Hi, Heidi. I've only had RA for about 20 months and others on this board have had it much longer. Artritis Insight web site gives general information about RA and lists the 7 criteria for diagnosing RA. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/disease/ra/ra.html Any four of the seven criteria will permit a diagnosis of RA but four of the seven require having the symptom for over 6 weeks; You are unlikely to get a firm diagnosis this early because some of your symptoms seem to have become severe quite recently. At an early appointment my rheumatologist said my symptoms were consistent with RA and he has been treating me for RA and that's good enough for me. There are over 100 kinds of inflammatory arthritis with subtle differences but most of them are treated in essentially the same way. A definite diagnosis does not really help that much. You're generally right about the uses of Methotrexate and Prednisone but some doctors want to start mild cases with Sulfasalazine or Plaquenil because these seem to have fewer side effects than Methotrexate but are generally not as effective. Here's a link to some general information about many medicines used for RA. http://www.arthritisinsight.com/medical/meds/ The latest theory seems to favor aggressive treatment early to avoid permanent joint damage. The biologics are the newest, most expensive, and usually the most effective drugs. Usually insurance will not pay for them unless you have tried at least two other DMARDs and they have failed you. I'm not going to get into exercise options. I try to walk a mile a day on the treadmill as my exercise and ignore other muscles. That's not something I recommend especially for younger people (I'm 75 so I can accept being weak easier than a youngster like yourself can). I think you should try to get one appointment with a physical therapist to get an exercise program laid out and get some pointers on when to make changes to the initial program. Good luck and God bless. Harold Van Tuyl (Grandpavan1927) ----- Original Message ----- From: andros_moon Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Thursday, August 28, 2003 11:06 AM Subject: New Member Hello to everyone! My name is Heidi, and I am 33. I am awaiting diagnosis. My symptoms started the last week of June - my hands felt swollen and stiff when I woke up in the mornings, but it would pass, so I didn't think a whole lot of it. Right after the 4th of July, the stiffness didn't go away, and went to my elbows. It got uncomfortable, and then I got concerned. I went to the local ER, thinking I was experiencing some sort of allergy or something. My sed rate was 28, ANA negative, and I was sent home with directions to take ibuprofen 3x/day and tylenol 3x/day. After several visits to my local doc, and more blood tests, which all came back essentially normal, I was referred to a rheumatologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN (I live in a town nearby). They did some more tests; the sed rate increased to 30, and x-rays of my hands and wrists showed some osteopenia. Still no definitive diagnosis; the rheumatologist said that although I haven't had it long enough to make an official diagnosis, signs point to RA. I go again to see him on the 11th of Sept. I have been taking Celebrex twice a day, and tylenol 3x/day. I think things are the same, if not even worse. My hand joints don't like pressure applied to them, and when I move them at any sort of an angle, they scream! My elbows, wrists, hands, and knees are the worst, but I have pain in my ankles and feet as well. I was supposed to call the rheumy a couple of weeks before my appointment to report how things are going, so that if there was no change, they could order more tests and possible joint scans for my visit. I left a message for him yesterday, so I hope that I can get some answers and a diagnosis. It seems strange to complain about the length of time I've been dealing with this when I read how some of you went undiagnosed for such long periods of time! I just hate not having any answers. It's frustrating when I'm so miserable, but yet the tests don't reflect the pain I feel. At least the rheumy didn't look at me like I was crazy or tell me it is all in my head! The rheumy told me that if I was still dealing with the pain on my next visit, they'd be adding another med, bridging it with the Celebrex. I have done quite a bit of research on the meds, and it seems that methotrexate seems to be the front-runner as far as usage is concerned. Is that usually the first med tried? Since it takes awhile to take effect, is prednisone usually prescribed to bridge it? I know everyone's circumstance is different, but I am nervous and wonder what to expect. Exercise is another thing I'm wondering about. Before all this started, I gave up my gym membership and bought a Bowflex and a Gazelle Edge (elliptical trainer). The Gazelle is pretty low-impact, but does anybody know about Bowflex's usage in RA? Is it safe? When can I exercise? I have read that if you're in a flare, you shouldn't exercise, but rather wait until the flare passes. But how would I know if I'm in a flare vs. just the garden variety pain? Sorry if these are stupid questions, and sorry about the length of the post.Take care everybody! Thanks in advance for any advice.Heidi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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