RA out of control

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

I hope this is a pain free day for everyone.

My question is whether anyone has had difficulty getting their RA

under control after a recent diagnosis. I've been on MTX for 3 months

now and taking Relafin for anti-inflamitory purposes.

To date, my C-reactive protein is way out of norm. IT's very high.

The doctor says that I've had a flare during this process as well, but

that she hasn't been able to stabilize me yet.

What are your thoughts on this? Do I need to give it more time? Do I

need to find out if the MTX isn't doing the job? What should I expect

and what should I do?

Thanks for listening.

Les in Georgia

[Guest guest]

Les:

I was diagnosed over a year ago and I still do not feel that my RA is " under

control " . I started with NSAIDs and then switched to plaquenil and, most

recently methotrexate. The methotrexate pills made me very sick (nausea, severe

headaches, extreme fatigue). I switched to injections more than 5 mos. ago to

avoid the nasty side effects.

I don't have any pain free days. I have days that are better than others.

Every day, I wake up with stiff joints, especially in my hands. I have to soak

my body in a tub of hot water just to get moving. About half of the time now, I

have to use ice packs and OTC pain meds (Tylenol or Advil) to ease the

inflammation & pain enough so that I can go to sleep. I am ALWAYS TIRED.

My rheumy told me that being " pain free " is the goal. Well, she's been

treating me for over a year now, and I'm not there yet. I'm not even pain free

for one day, much less pain free for any extended period of time. I did read in

a good book on RA from s Hopkins that the worst pain is in the 1st two

years. I hope that's true, but based on all the posts I've read here, it sure

does not sound true. It sounds to me like it just gets progressively worse.

Anyway, the book said that there are 3 kinds of RA patients. Ones that suffer

an initial flare period and then go into permanent remission (wish that was

me!), ones that have intermittent flares followed by periods of remission or

dormancy and then the unlucky folks who have " progressive " RA, which means it

just progressively gets worse without any real break in symptoms.

Bottom line....you cannot give up and you have to keep trying to find the

right combination of medications, physical exercise, rest, etc. that works for

you. Each of us is different, which is why it is very important to keep working

with your dr. to find what works best for you.

in Texas

<leslielick777@...> wrote:

Hi everyone,

I hope this is a pain free day for everyone.

My question is whether anyone has had difficulty getting their RA

under control after a recent diagnosis. I've been on MTX for 3 months

now and taking Relafin for anti-inflamitory purposes.

To date, my C-reactive protein is way out of norm. IT's very high.

The doctor says that I've had a flare during this process as well, but

that she hasn't been able to stabilize me yet.

What are your thoughts on this? Do I need to give it more time? Do I

need to find out if the MTX isn't doing the job? What should I expect

and what should I do?

Thanks for listening.

Les in Georgia

[Guest guest]

I sure wish it was easy... I had my first symptoms a year ago last

Sept., and was dx'd in Jan. (that wasn't the fault of the docs... I

didn't realize that there was something major going on until things

started to get quite bad. I was dx'd within a few weeks of first

going to my PCP)

I can't say I'm really " stabilized " yet. At least I HOPE it's going

to get better than this.<g> (and the rheumatologist still claims it

will) I've been on Mtx & prednisone since the beginning, and have

been on and off Plaquenil, Arava and Embrel. Now I'm on Humira,

which is better than anything else so far, but it's still a long way

from perfect. I'm also still trying to slowly wean off the

prednisone, which causes its own set of problems.

I just keep hoping, since the doc doesn't seem to have given up hope

yet. But it is a long, long process of trial and error to find the

right meds!

--- In , " " <leslielick777@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> I hope this is a pain free day for everyone.

>

> My question is whether anyone has had difficulty getting their RA

> under control after a recent diagnosis. I've been on MTX for 3

months

> now and taking Relafin for anti-inflamitory purposes.

>

> To date, my C-reactive protein is way out of norm. IT's very

high.

> The doctor says that I've had a flare during this process as well,

but

> that she hasn't been able to stabilize me yet.

>

> What are your thoughts on this? Do I need to give it more time?

Do I

> need to find out if the MTX isn't doing the job? What should I

expect

> and what should I do?

>

> Thanks for listening.

>

> Les in Georgia

>