Re: Picture of Rheumatoid Foot - //ette

[Guest guest]

Yes. That is pretty much what my mom's feet look like. The big toe

doesn't go under the second toe, but they are bent sideways like

that with the one part of the inner foot bone sticking out. Thanks

for finding that - you're the best!

ette - This is what I fear more than side effects. -

show this to your husband, it's what you get if you don't have the

right/best drugs to treat your RA.

You get feet looking like that, and you walk like a duck. And you

have problems getting shoes you can wear. And you can't walk any

sort of distance, barely even once around a Target. And its very

very very very very very very very very very VERY painful.

Jennie

> Curtin Health Science

> Department of Podiatry

>

> " Rheumatoid Arthritis " :

>

>

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/Rheumatoid Arthritis/

>

>

>

>

> I'll tell you where to go!

>

> Mayo Clinic in Rochester

> http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

>

> s Hopkins Medicine

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

[Guest guest]

ette,

I know you are not just letting the RA run it's course without

appropriate treatment. Certainly people with RA will have different

results, with or without treatment. And no one treatment works for

all. Some people end up with hip relplacements, while my mom never

had any problems with her hips. Who know's who's feet will end up

like my mom's but she is obviously not the only one that problem.

Here is the link again:

http://www.podiatry.curtin.edu.au/encyclopedia/Rheumatoid Arthritis/

When my mom started on Enbrel, her stiffness went away. Only now

that she has been on it for years, she does have some swelling and

stiffness return. I think that is common.

I'm on Humira, not Enbrel. I was diagnosed about a year ago, and

that is when I was put on MTX. I was on the MTX, folic acid,

prednisone combo until last December that was clearly not cutting

it. I was a mess. My knuckles were swollen and my feet were

swollen, hips and knees giving me problems, morning stiffness that

lasted more than 3 hours, etc. I have no choice, I have to work. I

was going to work from home the week between christmas and new years

but I ended up just laying on the couch the whole time. My rheumy

prescribed Humira at that time, but it took a few weeks to get it

approved through insurance (they actually gave me a choice between

Remicade and Humira, the nurse talked me into Humira and I'm so glad

she did, it's very easy). My rheumy said it could take a couple

months to be effective, but a small percentage do see immediate

results, and a larger percentage see no results at all. Well, I felt

a ton better after the first shot. Within a week my swelling went

away and so did the morning stiffness. It was amazing to wake up and

NOT feel like I was in a car accident over night.

Now I have occasionally swelling and sometimes morning stiffness,

usually just in my feet - not everywhere - and it's nothing like I

had before Humira. Most days I have no swelling and no stiffness.

The fatigue has not subsided much, but I've seen a few posts that say

MTX can cause fatigue, so maybe it's from that. Once I get off the

prednisone, my rheumy said we can decrease the MTX dose, and I'm

fully in support of that.

The problem with RA is that a lot of joint damage can occur in the

first months and years of the disesase. My rheumy and I have a low

tolerance to swelling and stiffness, in an effort to avoid joint

damage. If I was having 1/2 hour of stiffness in the morning it

would probably not concern him much. A couple hours every morning

and evidence of swollen joints, and he'd be doing something to change

my medication I am sure.

Jennie

--- In , " Warren Portnoy " <wport@c...>

wrote:

> Jennie,

>

> I don't know if this happens to everyone with RA. I was unable to

get the

> photos up. Can you send them again? I am taking antibiotics, not

just

> leaving things on their own. I still don't know what I will do if

I start

> feeling worse. I guess I will have to make a decision about enbrel

then.

>

> The antibiotics were working well for many years. It is just now

that I saw

> a joint pop out on my thumb. I always have some stiffness which

goes away

> as the day goes on. Do you have stiffness when on enbrel?

>

> Thanks,

> ette

[Guest guest]

,

It's interesting and I think difficult to understand. I don't know

the exact timeline, but for my mom it was approximately this: 5 or so

years of aspirin and various ineffective attempts at treatment,

followed by 10 years of MTX, then the last 7 or so on Enbrel. Most

of her joint damage occured in the first 5 years she had the disease,

but she didn't looked disfigured then. It's only the last several

years that she became disabled. We know it's the early treatment

that could have prevented her situation, but the drugs we have today

were not available then. And it's only now that the damage sustained

years ago is clearly evident.

Jennie

> No, ette, not everyone with RA, treated or untreated, will

progress

> to that level of deformity.

>

> The problem is that we cannot predict exactly who will. Certain

markers

> (high RF, extraarticular signs like nodules, and many swollen joints

> from the start, for example) are associated with a higher risk of

> developing erosions and/or deformities.

>

> Another disturbing finding is that, even in what looks like periods

of

> remission, bone changes can occur. Please check out an article I'll

send

> to the group entitled, " Progression continues even during RA

remission. "

>

> I'm assuming that you have periodically had imaging studies done and

> that your bones are OK.

>

>

>

>

> I'll tell you where to go!

>

> Mayo Clinic in Rochester

> http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

>

> s Hopkins Medicine

> http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org

>

>

> Re: [ ] Re: Picture of Rheumatoid Foot -

> //ette

>

>

> > Jennie,

> >

> > I don't know if this happens to everyone with RA. I was unable

to get

> the

> > photos up. Can you send them again? I am taking antibiotics, not

> just

> > leaving things on their own. I still don't know what I will do

if I

> start

> > feeling worse. I guess I will have to make a decision about

enbrel

> then.

> >

> > The antibiotics were working well for many years. It is just now

that

> I saw

> > a joint pop out on my thumb. I always have some stiffness which

goes

> away

> > as the day goes on. Do you have stiffness when on enbrel?

> >

> > Thanks,

> > ette