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Hi - I have been reading the posts now for about a

month and have found this group to be very helpful. I

tend to ramble on but bear with me as I give you some

STATs!

I am 48 at the end of June and was diagnosed 3 years

ago. I had been working for 2 years with a friend

designing and handmaking jewelry, had aching joints in

my fingers but attributed that to doing too much

jewelry - lots of small, very intricate work. Prior to

that, I had worked many years in medical transcribing

so my hands and wrists have had quite the workout over

the years! Then one day, the pain did not go away,

increased overnight to almost unbearable, and by the

morning my hands were like two red, swollen, hot

little balloons. My doctor got blood work done and

placed me on Prednisone and Motrin. When the blood

work came back RA positive, she put me on Plaquenil

too. I took Prednisone for only a month. Needless to

say, the jewelry making had to stop and I lost my

little bit of extra income. It wasn't much but did

make me feel better to contribute to the upkeep of my

horses (not really hubby's sport) but they are my

therapy!

The Plaquenil and Motrin did well for about 2-1/2

years and then the RA became more aggressive attacking

my elbows and Methotrexate was added (I was not really

crazy for this idea but...),and Pred till the Metho

kicked in. I was pretty good for about 3 more months,

the RA got aggressive again this time my shoulders and

hips, and my doctor took me off Plaq, and added Arava

to the Metho and again more Prednisone until they

kicked in together. She also switched the Motrin to

Bextra. She really wants me on Embrel but you all know

the story with that. I have been trying to avoid the

Pred taking but after having brochitis for the past

week and flaring bad, I gave in to the pain yesterday,

and started Pred again last night - hate that med but

already feel it working on my joints - and disrupting

my sleep!

We live on a small farm here in So Calif, myself, my

husband, my son who is 18 and my daughter who is 15 -

she helps a lot with the horses. We have assorted

fowl - chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons, and

rabbits, 5 dogs and 4 horses. Quite the petting zoo.

My husband does the heavy unloading of the hay and

feed and my daughter picks up with the corrals and

such when I can't do it. I try to ride as much as

possible but it is getting a little harder to groom,

hoof pick, and saddle (luckily my horse is short or I

would never make it); however, I am determined to keep

riding - it's my therapy. My husband has even built

me a stairstep, with handrails no less, for me to

climb up so I can mount easier and then off I go.

When I'm riding I feel " normal " again if you can

understand that - my daughter and I trail ride and go

team sorting on occasion - I feel really good when I

ride - horses are good for the soul.

So, the wait for the Embrel continues - I have heard

that maybe, maybe, by the end of the year they will be

accepting new patients into the program. Hopefully

sooner than that - I'm tired of being tired and achy.

Since this RA journey has begun I have also been

diagnosed with Raynaud's (my dad has this too, his

mother had RA, and her male siblings suffered from

some sort of immune system disease as far as I can

tell - they are all dead now), I have tingling from

time to time in my hands and fingers, I am developing

TMJ from arthritis in my jaw, and I am developing

cataracts which my doctor attributes in part to the

Metho and Pred. RA - the gift that keeps on giving!

Anyway, sorry to have rambled on so long, hope some of

you have been able to hang in there to read this all!

Kathe in CA

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