Re: Re: Fw: brief intro please?? Laurie

[Guest guest]

Hi Laurie:

It's wonderful that you have come here to help your

husband. Yes, RA can literally turn your life upside

down within weeks, and it won't ever be quite the same

again, but there is life after RA - take heart. With

the right meds/combo of meds the RA can be brought

under control, and your husband will be able to get

through this. I'm not saying that it will happen

overnight, you need to give the meds more time to

work, but hang in there.

I was on Plaquenil when I was first dx 8 years ago,

and it worked really well for me for about 2-1/2 years

before I had to switch to a stronger med. Make sure

your husband gets his eye exams on a regular basis -

there is a small possibility of retinal damage. Yes,

dizziness can be a side effect of the Plaq, but let

his doctor know about it anyway. I had no problems

with the med at all - I wish it would have continued

working for me. I've been on several other meds, but

now am on Enbrel, Mtx, Mobic and Ultracet for my RA

and it is under pretty good control with these meds.

Mobic is an anti-inflammatory, and I take it daily,

and have been on it now for about a year. You need to

take it steadily to get the benefit you need to

control the inflammation.

Again, Laurie, I want to stress that there is indeed

great hope with the current medications and treatments

available for RA - it is a very frightening and

frustrating disease, and you and your husband are in

for a roller coaster of emotions and experiences, but

hang on, it will get better. Best of luck to the both

of you - have your husband join in on the group too -

there are men here who he might feel more comfortable

talking things over with - but we all have RA and are

here for him, and you too. You are in my prayers -

Kathe in CA

--- Laurie <lamillerrn@...> wrote:

>

> My name is Laurie and I've just joined this website

> tonight. My husband

> is 32 and has just been diagnosed with RA. He began

> having symptoms

> after Christmas and in three days went from mild

> right ankle pain to

> full body immobilizing pain. We're pretty floored.

> We have 2

> preschoolers, so you can imagine the stress.

> Thankfully 's

> inflammation and pain went into remission right away

> with prednisone and

> Mobic. We think he's having a flareup and he's

> begun taking the Mobic

> again. He is also on plaquenil, but only for a

> couple weeks now, so I

> don't think it's really kicking in yet. He has been

> having some

> dizziness with this med. Is that common? Does it

> go away as your body

> adjusts to the med? This is all so new to us--we

> are pretty clueless.

>

> Does anyone know of any support groups for

> patients/spouses in the

> northwest Arkansas area?

>

> Laurie

>

> >

>

>

Kathe

" To ride a horse is to borrow freedom. "

__________________________________________________