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Hello everyone, my name is Joyce.

This group was recommended to me by Joy. I have been lurking the past two

weeks to get up my nerve to write this letter.

I have been diagnosed with RA for about 30 years. Just after the birth of my

second child the symptoms started to show. The nightmare of having a 3 yr. old

and a 2 month old and suddenly losing the use of an arm due to the intense pain

in my shoulder or to suddenly have that pain go away and have it manifest in my

knee, etc. I've had it in my sternum, the balls of my feet, and even my jaw.

My arms are bent at the elbow. So I can relate to the confusion, uncertainty,

and worry that many people first face with RA. I have tried almost every med.

I had the gold shots for a while. A few months after I stopped the gold I ended

up in the hospital with my liver functions off the wall (This was about 25 years

ago). As a result they are very careful with my meds. My doctor wouldn't let

me use Methotrixate(?) because of my liver.

I just had a total knee replacement(TKR) done Oct. 4. I had just started

Orencia and had to go off of that and compensate with a prednisone. Both my

knees are bone on bone. My left knee was so bad (Valgas deformity or knock

kneed) that the surgeon said at the time of the surgery the part of my leg below

the knee instead of being in a straight line with the upper part of my leg was

at a 45 degree angle to the rest of my leg. The surgeon did a great job and

now my leg is straight and my left knee works great. Now it's just a case of

how long I can go before I have to have the TKR of my right knee.

Now I have to start weaning myself off of the 20mg a day of prednisone. I am

down to 10mg. I also take 200mg of celebrex, 400mg plaquenil, 1000mg of

azulfadine plus the Orencia. For my blood pressure I take monopril and I also

have restless legs syndrome (RLS) and so far tramadol and neurontin in

combination work for the RLS. I also have a rapid heart beat. My pulse is

usually about 120. The doctor just gave me metoprolol about 2 weeks ago and

when I went for the orencia today my pulse was down to about 100.

Two weeks from now I hope to be able to go back to work. Since I have

osteoporous I am taking calcium tablets. Currently my biggest problem is that I

have scoliosis of the spine. So if I stand or walk for longer than 5 minutes

the pain in my lower back becomes intolerable. Thankfully I work as a

receptionist in the mortgage department of a bank, so I can do a large

percentage of my job sitting down.

My current insurance co. has a program where for chronic diseases such as

diabetes you can get a 3 mo. supply of meds but only pay for 2. Yet for

celebrex and other RA meds they wouldn't do it. So I called and asked why -

their answer was - RA IS NOT A CHRONIC DISEASE. HELLO, I've had it for over 30

years everyday and that's not chronic?

Thanks for listening to me babble. Take care, Joyce