Visit to the doc today

[Guest guest]

Good news I thought I'd share...

I went to the rheumatologist today, and my liver values are FINALLY

back to normal again after the Arava! So I can increase my Mtx back

to 20mg, and use the Voltaren again when I need it.

We also decided it's time to try tapering the prednisone yet again,

(I REALLY want to get off of that stuff!!!) so I'm supposed to go

down to 12.5mg daily for the next 2 weeks, followed by 10mg daily

for 2 more. She said if I have any trouble, I should extend each

drop to 1 month. Then after that, I'll drop down 1mg at a time.

She does want me to have another bone density test in Sept. since

I've had to be on the prednisone for so long.

The other test she wants me to have this fall is a stress test. She

said that since people with RA are more prone to cardiac and

arterial problems, she likes to do stress tests on all her RA

patients from time to time to time. She said she thought it was

even more important with womem, who often don't have noticeable

symptoms of heart problems until it's too late. Something else to

worry about, but I'm glad that she really seems to stay on top of

things.

I talked to her about the fact that although the Enbrel is clearly

helping a lot, it doesn't seem to last a full week. (actually, it

lasts about 4 days) We decided that we'll give the 50mg/weekly

another month, since sometimes it does take more than a month to

reach its full effectiveness, and at that point decide whether to

try the 25mg 2x weekly. She said that actally, they only went to

the 1x weekly/50mg in answer to Humira, which only has to be taken

every other week. She said that what a lot of docs were finding was

that the Humira DIDN'T really last for 2 weeks for a lot of people,

so they ended up taking it more often than that.

So, all in all, it was a good visit, I got my shoulder injected too

(it really needed it) so I'm sitting here typing this with a bag of

ice on my shoulder, but I'm sure that will feel a LOT better in a

couple of days. I feel like FINALLY we might be getting a handle on

this.

I also have to say that every time I read some of the awful

experiences some of you have with your rheumatologists, I thank my

lucky stars that I ended up with mine on the first try. She has

been really wonderful. She seems to stay right on top of new

research and treatments, she is very caring, easy to talk to, and

easy to get in touch with if there is a problem. She has offered

pain meds at times without me even having to ask. She even called

_me_ on a Sunday once, just to see how I was feeling! There are

some really good docs out there too.

Well, that was a lot to say, but since it seems that I haven't done

much but complain for the last 7 months, I thought I should post the

good news too!<g>