Re: Hi Everyone To Jefersea

[Guest guest]

Hi Jefersea,

Yeah, my first eight months or so were really strange. At one time

or another, I had pain and/or swelling in just about every joint of

my body, one right after the other, and in some places that aren't

even joints, like my collar bone. Another strange thing was that I

never had pain in more than one place at a time....one joint

would " heal " and then another would start hurting within a day or

so. As scary as it was to have it settle into a more RA-looking

pattern, at least it was more predictable. I still have occasional

episodes of that type of pain. To my rheumatologist, I call it

the " crazy pain " because it's so unpredictable and it almost feels

like a spasm rather than a steady ache. That's what he calls the

palindromic rheumatism.

Do you test positive for RA? I did from the very beginning, even

though neither my primary doctor or my rheumy thought I had it at the

time. I've only been " officially " DXed with RA since this April.

> Hi ,

>

> Welcome ! Wow, your journey sounds just like mine! I didn't know

WHAT to make of my joints. I thought I had banged my shoulder

against something too, but then the shoulder on the other side would

start doing the same thing. A few days later, another joint would

start to feel strange. I just went for assessment a while back,

still waiting for the results. Meanwhile, I began to take a

increased amount of Calcium and Tylenol prescribed by the specialist

until they know for sure what I have, and I'm rubbing in some Icy Hot

and a blue creamy stuff called " Blue Emu " . To some degree, my

joints seem to be responding to this mixture of stuff.

>

> I too get fatigue easily. Sometimes I end up sleeping 12 hrs.

Something I never did before. My sleeping schedule is really wacky

to say the least!

>

> I'm really amazed as to the varied types of Arthritis. A few

months ago, I only knew about Osteoporosis, and very little at that.

Now I'm learning about all this other stuff. , you've found a

very informative group to join in with I think! I'm really glad I

found this group too. They're great folks!

>

> Take care, huh?

> Jefersea

> [ ] Hi Everyone from Another Newcomer

>

>

> I've been reading the posts for several weeks now. I'm starting

to

> feel like a " peeping Tom " from learning so much about some of you

> while not sharing anything about me, so I thought it was time to

> introduce myself.

>

> My name is , I'm 49, live in Texas with my husband and two

> kids. My journey with this wonderful disease began very suddenly

in

> April 2003 when I woke up with a swollen, throbbing right hand.

I

> honestly thought I had somehow broken a bone without knowing it.

The

> hand seemed to heal after two or three days, to be followed by a

four-

> day bout of excruciating pain in my right shoulder, followed by

> another three days of swelling in my left wrist, and so on and so

> on. I know this sounds stupid - even to me - but I honestly

thought

> I was somehow hurting myself without realizing it. Finally

figured

> out something wasn't quite right (duh). I was originally

diagnosed

> with palindromic rheumatism, even though I did test seropositive

RA.

> (I don't know if you're familiar with PR, but it's another

> inflammatory arthritis that visits a joint for two or three days,

> causes immense pain, and then randomly moves on to another

joint.

> You get it in flares, like RA, but it supposedly rarely causes

joint

> erosion. Still hurts like hell, though.) Finally in April of

this

> year, it started falling into a more " rheumatoid type "

pattern.more

> consistent pain, especially in my knees, feet, and hands,

> morning " stiffness " (and isn't that an understatement?), yada,

yada,

> yada. Fortunately, my internist had sent me to a great

> rheumatologist at the end of last year, so I was already taking

> Celebrex and had started Plaquinel for the PR. Now I'm also

taking

> fairly small doses of Prednisone (5mg) and Methotrexate (7.5). I

> consider myself VERY fortunate because so far I'm responding well

to

> a fairly small dose of meds -- Minimum side effects and a pretty

big

> reduction in pain. (Yes, I know this can change very quickly,

but

> I'm trying to look on the bright side and be thankful for where I

am

> today!) I'm really just having a few aches and pains right now,

and

> I'm much, much better in the mornings. Actually, one of my

biggest

> challenges right now is the loss of energy, especially since I

> started the methotrexate. Given the option, I could probably

take

> about four naps a day.

>

> I think I'll stop here.Otherwise, I'll tell you everything I know

and

> never have anything to post again. Like I said, I just wanted to

> introduce myself while I'm in a fairly " good place " so that maybe

> when the bad times come, I'll have a few more friends (and you

can

> never have enough, can you?) You seem like a really great bunch

of

> people and I look forward to being a part of this group.

>

> Take care,

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I know EXACTLY what you're saying! It is soooo weird! Sometimes I feared

others were thinking I was lying about what I was going through, because it was

like " magic " ..now you feel it, and phoof, it was gone, and then make a sudden

appearance elsewhere. And what else is strange, is how it seems to mirror

itself, but not always hurting at the same time, just as you've mentioned. It

does seem to have enough of a reminder in some way, that you can't quite feel

like your old self again, even when you find yourself in those rare moments of

" no pain " .

, I'm not glad that you have these pains, but like you say, at least it

may be more predictable now, and perhaps a little easier to stay on top of it to

some degree. So far, I haven't gotten my test results back yet...it will be

about 3 -1/2 wks. before I know what shows up. It's pretty noticeable in at

least some of my joints that it might be RA, as they are deformed a little,

though not inflamed. Right now it seems to have eased off, but my ankles have

been feeling it for a few days, and I'm a little on the tired side. My collar

bone was going through a bit of the discomfort the other day too, but it was so

brief. I rubbed some Icy Hot and Blue Emu on it, just in case.

Well , I think I'm going to stop for now, because my back just ain't what

it used to be! Take care, here's to wishing you a great weekend!

Jefersea

[ ] Hi Everyone from Another Newcomer

>

>

> I've been reading the posts for several weeks now. I'm starting

to

> feel like a " peeping Tom " from learning so much about some of you

> while not sharing anything about me, so I thought it was time to

> introduce myself.

>

> My name is , I'm 49, live in Texas with my husband and two

> kids. My journey with this wonderful disease began very suddenly

in

> April 2003 when I woke up with a swollen, throbbing right hand.

I

> honestly thought I had somehow broken a bone without knowing it.

The

> hand seemed to heal after two or three days, to be followed by a

four-

> day bout of excruciating pain in my right shoulder, followed by

> another three days of swelling in my left wrist, and so on and so

> on. I know this sounds stupid - even to me - but I honestly

thought

> I was somehow hurting myself without realizing it. Finally

figured

> out something wasn't quite right (duh). I was originally

diagnosed

> with palindromic rheumatism, even though I did test seropositive

RA.

> (I don't know if you're familiar with PR, but it's another

> inflammatory arthritis that visits a joint for two or three days,

> causes immense pain, and then randomly moves on to another

joint.

> You get it in flares, like RA, but it supposedly rarely causes

joint

> erosion. Still hurts like hell, though.) Finally in April of

this

> year, it started falling into a more " rheumatoid type "

pattern.more

> consistent pain, especially in my knees, feet, and hands,

> morning " stiffness " (and isn't that an understatement?), yada,

yada,

> yada. Fortunately, my internist had sent me to a great

> rheumatologist at the end of last year, so I was already taking

> Celebrex and had started Plaquinel for the PR. Now I'm also

taking

> fairly small doses of Prednisone (5mg) and Methotrexate (7.5). I

> consider myself VERY fortunate because so far I'm responding well

to

> a fairly small dose of meds -- Minimum side effects and a pretty

big

> reduction in pain. (Yes, I know this can change very quickly,

but

> I'm trying to look on the bright side and be thankful for where I

am

> today!) I'm really just having a few aches and pains right now,

and

> I'm much, much better in the mornings. Actually, one of my

biggest

> challenges right now is the loss of energy, especially since I

> started the methotrexate. Given the option, I could probably

take

> about four naps a day.

>

> I think I'll stop here.Otherwise, I'll tell you everything I know

and

> never have anything to post again. Like I said, I just wanted to

> introduce myself while I'm in a fairly " good place " so that maybe

> when the bad times come, I'll have a few more friends (and you

can

> never have enough, can you?) You seem like a really great bunch

of

> people and I look forward to being a part of this group.

>

> Take care,

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

You know, it used to be really important to me to believe that I had

some other form of inflamatory arthritis, like the palindromic

rheumatism, and NOT RA. I thought that because supposedly the PR

has a greater chance of going into spontaneous remission. But since

then, I've met someone who has had palindromic rheumatism for 20+

year, she had to take disability from work for a couple of years to

get it under control, AND she's taken every arthritic medication in

the book (currently on Enbrel). So I've decided it doesn't really

matter too much...if it hurts, it hurts!

PS: Hope your back's feeling better. Take care of yourself.

> > Hi ,

> >

> > Welcome ! Wow, your journey sounds just like mine! I didn't

know

> WHAT to make of my joints. I thought I had banged my shoulder

> against something too, but then the shoulder on the other side

would

> start doing the same thing. A few days later, another joint

would

> start to feel strange. I just went for assessment a while back,

> still waiting for the results. Meanwhile, I began to take a

> increased amount of Calcium and Tylenol prescribed by the

specialist

> until they know for sure what I have, and I'm rubbing in some

Icy Hot

> and a blue creamy stuff called " Blue Emu " . To some degree, my

> joints seem to be responding to this mixture of stuff.

> >

> > I too get fatigue easily. Sometimes I end up sleeping 12

hrs.

> Something I never did before. My sleeping schedule is really

wacky

> to say the least!

> >

> > I'm really amazed as to the varied types of Arthritis. A few

> months ago, I only knew about Osteoporosis, and very little at

that.

> Now I'm learning about all this other stuff. , you've

found a

> very informative group to join in with I think! I'm really glad

I

> found this group too. They're great folks!

> >

> > Take care, huh?

> > Jefersea

> > [ ] Hi Everyone from Another Newcomer

> >

> >

> > I've been reading the posts for several weeks now. I'm

starting

> to

> > feel like a " peeping Tom " from learning so much about some

of you

> > while not sharing anything about me, so I thought it was

time to

> > introduce myself.

> >

> > My name is , I'm 49, live in Texas with my husband and

two

> > kids. My journey with this wonderful disease began very

suddenly

> in

> > April 2003 when I woke up with a swollen, throbbing right

hand.

> I

> > honestly thought I had somehow broken a bone without knowing

it.

> The

> > hand seemed to heal after two or three days, to be followed

by a

> four-

> > day bout of excruciating pain in my right shoulder, followed

by

> > another three days of swelling in my left wrist, and so on

and so

> > on. I know this sounds stupid - even to me - but I honestly

> thought

> > I was somehow hurting myself without realizing it. Finally

> figured

> > out something wasn't quite right (duh). I was originally

> diagnosed

> > with palindromic rheumatism, even though I did test

seropositive

> RA.

> > (I don't know if you're familiar with PR, but it's another

> > inflammatory arthritis that visits a joint for two or three

days,

> > causes immense pain, and then randomly moves on to another

> joint.

> > You get it in flares, like RA, but it supposedly rarely

causes

> joint

> > erosion. Still hurts like hell, though.) Finally in April

of

> this

> > year, it started falling into a more " rheumatoid type "

> pattern.more

> > consistent pain, especially in my knees, feet, and hands,

> > morning " stiffness " (and isn't that an understatement?),

yada,

> yada,

> > yada. Fortunately, my internist had sent me to a great

> > rheumatologist at the end of last year, so I was already

taking

> > Celebrex and had started Plaquinel for the PR. Now I'm also

> taking

> > fairly small doses of Prednisone (5mg) and Methotrexate

(7.5). I

> > consider myself VERY fortunate because so far I'm responding

well

> to

> > a fairly small dose of meds -- Minimum side effects and a

pretty

> big

> > reduction in pain. (Yes, I know this can change very

quickly,

> but

> > I'm trying to look on the bright side and be thankful for

where I

> am

> > today!) I'm really just having a few aches and pains right

now,

> and

> > I'm much, much better in the mornings. Actually, one of my

> biggest

> > challenges right now is the loss of energy, especially since

I

> > started the methotrexate. Given the option, I could

probably

> take

> > about four naps a day.

> >

> > I think I'll stop here.Otherwise, I'll tell you everything I

know

> and

> > never have anything to post again. Like I said, I just

wanted to

> > introduce myself while I'm in a fairly " good place " so that

maybe

> > when the bad times come, I'll have a few more friends (and

you

> can

> > never have enough, can you?) You seem like a really great

bunch

> of

> > people and I look forward to being a part of this group.

> >

> > Take care,

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >