(No subject)

[Guest guest]

Good morning, I hope everyone is doing well.

I've only been dealing with RA (and also fibromyalgia according

to my rheumatologist) since March but I already feel like I've been

dealing with this forever.

I'm seeing the doctor again on Monday and I wanted to see if any

of you have any comments on how I could get the most out of

this appointment.

I've been on plaquinel since April, had a month of prednisone

and also spent about 10 days taking sulfasalazine along with the

rest of the stuff. I couldn't tolerate the GI side effects of the

sulfasalazine and had a really severe and frightening reaction to

it after spending some time in the sun (covered with a hat and

30spf everywhere). So, at this point I'm just taking plaquinel.

The pain, which was never completely gone, has returned to

joints in my hands and feet and I have some swelling, but not the

worst it has been. I also have lots of pain in the elbows, hips and

shoulders - the doc says it's the fibromyalgia there.

Anyway, my concern is that if I complain of the joint pain on my

next visit, the doc will prescribe another DMARD to take on top of

the plaquinel or perhaps prednisone again. I've only had this

diagnosis for a few months and I am torn between wanting relief

and NOT wanting more medication. The experience I had with

both the prednisone and the sulfasalazine was enough for me.

I'm considering asking the doc for xrays to sort of get a baseline

picture of my joints, some pain medication for really bad days

(ultram or something) and maybe try to sit with it for 3 months or

so before adding more drugs.

Does that sound reasonable? If the primary concern aside from

pain is preventing joint damage, why wasn't an xray one of the

1st things the doc ordered? I did have blood work which revealed

rheumatoid factor, but a very low tider. If the doc offers another

DMARD at this point, what's next on the list?

Thanks for listening

Charlotte in mass.