Re: Rheumatoid Arthritis/

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

It sounds like you two have been through a difficult year and haven't

yet seen any signs of improvement. Hang in there! Things can, and

probably will, get better.

It was interesting to read your post to get a sense of what a spouse

goes through--I was just diagnosed with RA and am also married. It

sounds like the frustrations with the disease and its treatments as

well as fears about the future affect the person with RA and the

spouse in very much the same way. Probably the only difference is

that the person with RA experiences the physical aspects of the

disease and the spouse faces having to take on more responsibility.

It may be helpful for you to look into a support group for spouses,

or to try to find one on-line. The Arthritis Foundation's website is

pretty elaborate--maybe they have something there.

All the best,

Sierra

>

> hi all..well for those of you that know me, I just wanted to give

> everyone update. As you know, my wife has had RA for the past 12

> months. Shes 29 and started taking remicade in March. The Remicade

> was helping a lot with a combination with Methotrexate and Folic

> Acid. She received her last infusion in Oct03 and at that time, she

> went in a week early because she was hurting and they also increased

> the dossage from 3mg/k to 5mg/k. 2 weeks after the infusion, she

> was still hurting and it looks like her body is building antibodies

> against the Remicade. Also, 3-4 months ago, she started getting

> rashes the size of a quarter on her back, behind the ears and now on

> the side of her face and chest. We have found that was being

> caused my the Remicade and theres only like 8 cases of this reported

> and when its reported, they report it in dermatology reports not

> rheumtology reports.

>

> Now its back to the drawing boards because shes on 17mg

methotrexate,

> folic acid, and steriods - prendisone (10mg per day)..she just

> started plaqunil and that takes like 3 months before it's going to

> work. She does massages bi monthly to help and is going to try

> acupuncture next week. She has full blown RA and wanted to see if

> anyone else that has it has found anything that works.

>

> If anyone has any ideas or thoughts, please let me know..i dont want

> her to take the 10mg of prendisone beacuse of the long term

> effects. Not to sure about the plaqunil, but heard some good and

> bad. Also, any ideas on other treatments would help. I've

> heard a lot about the food book, but cant get my wife to belive in

> it because she never hurts after eating any particular food. It's

> sad to say, but they TNF agents are the best thing on the market

and

> without her able to take them, i'm scared that life might be really

> hard in the future months/years.

>

> Thanks

>