Lori

[Guest guest]

Dear Lori,

I was so glad to find your letter on here.

I am new also. I'm 44, married 25 years, mom to three young adult sons and just

found out I probably have RA. I see a rheumy as soon as I can get into one!!!

I currently have an appt at the end of August with one but I'm trying to find

someone who can get me in sooner. I started this RA symptoms in April and I

don't want to wait til August.

I do believe diet and/or hormones have a big play in RA. I, too, am reading

" The Maker's Diet " !!! What do you think? Are you going to do any of it? I

think I'll try go for it but wow - it'll be a huge major change for me. My

grandma got ill with " rheumatism " after the birth of her last child. She

couldn't walk well and also could not use her hands as they were so painful.

They had to hire in help. No one knows what really happened but after a year or

two she got better and I never knew her to have anything except some osteo

arthritis in her knees. Something was going on with her hormones, I'm sure. I

just started menopause and I read a lot about women and menopause and RA - they

do connect somehow.

Please keep me posted on what you find out and what you are doing to treat your

RA. I'm on prednisone now (family doc) - 20 mg a day. I am trying to go down

to 10 but my hands hurt pretty bad when I do that. Where is your pain?

Hugs,

Kath

joyfulkate60@...<mailto:joyfulkate60@...>

Hi all,

My name is Lori, and I had a rapid onset case of RA 6 months ago when my first

child was a month and half old. This disease has been the biggest challenge of

my life. I first saw a quack doctor at UNC in Chapel Hill, then went to a

standard rheumatologist in Raleigh. He hasn't been much help either. His only

solution was to give me steroid injections and to put me on Lodine (NSAID). I

had to beg him to give me a rx for DMARDS. I have begun to try various diets as

well. I went through the elimination diet, and found that tomatoes made me

flare up so that I couldn't move. I saw an allergist (I didn't tell him my

theory at first) and he confirmed that I was allergic to tomatoes and oats. Has

anyone else looked into the link between RA and allergies? I have just finished

reading The Maker's Diet by ??? Rubin. I'm wondering if anyone has had any

success with these types of diet changes or if I'm merely wasting my time. I

feel as though there are no good rheumatologists around, and that swimming

around in the sea of internet medical jargin alone. My husband loves me very

much, and is completely supportive, but as I am consumed with getting over this

disease, it's hard for him to hear about it all the time. I have never been so

lonely in all my life!!! Can anyone offer any suggestions?