Re: Shirley/resigned to taking DMARDS

[Guest guest]

Leonie,

I started MTX, folic acid (1mg) and prednisone (10mg) in June 2007.

The MTX started at 12.5mg (5, 2.5mg pills) once a week and increased

up to 17.5mg once a week. Because of my liver levels going up, we

backed down to 10mg and it has been fine there. I have also

increased the f.a. to 2mg daily and the prednisone is down to 5mg

daily. I have also tried Arava, in the mix, but had an elevated BP.

It isn't enough to do the job for me. The MTX does help though. When

I was off of it for various reasons (surgery, etc.) and it was

completely out of my body, I felt how much it had helped with the

pain.

I have had slight deformaties with it, but I believe the disease has

been slowed down. Looking back I know that I had RA long before I

was dx'd.

I am on Enbrel now and have had four shots. Once weekly of 50mg. I

can not tell a difference yet. It does take some patients up to

3mos. to get results, so the jury is still out.

I can still function. Some actions are more painful than others and

like all of us, there are things I just simply do not try anymore. I

take one day at a time. I am very thankful that there are drugs for

RA now, unlike in the past, when so much they tried caused more harm

than good.

What does your rheummy suggest? If you have any questions on the

meds there are people here with a vast knowledge and personal

experiences.

Hang on, Sweetie. Try to think positive about the future. I know it

must be very difficult for you to accept the meds at all. I didn't

have the same fears as you. I looked at it from the perspective of

what meds have accomplised for AIDS. Not that long ago it was a

death sentence. Now people are having productive lives with

treatment and it is an auto immune disease, maybe they learned about

treating RA in their research and trials.

Good luck and please let us know how you are doing.

Shirley

--- In , " leonie cent " <leoniecent@...>

wrote:

>

> Hi Shirley,

> Thanks for your encouragement, i really need it now and appreciate

it. I think you're right that some ppl get mis-diagnosed with RA.

Whatever it is they do have, can be fixed more easily than if they

had the full blown version. What meds are you currently taking for

your condition ?

> best,

> Leonie

[Guest guest]

Hi Shirley,

Thanks for your update on the meds you take. It's helps to find out

what others take and how they cope.

I took metho initially when diagnosed in 2000. I didn't take it

consistently though, since i was afraid of it. After a while i gave

up because i found i could control the pain with natural remedies.

Even tho i was in bad shape, it still probably means my condition

wasn't near as bad as some get it... otherwise i would have taken

just about anything to make the pain go away. Either that or i found

a flippin good supplement!! Well, about 8 years later i'm still

plodding along with no meds except celebrex daily. Trouble is i've

had no life all this time and major joint damage. I guess it's like

when you're young and ppl tell you you're gonna get old and wrinkly

someday... you say " yeah yeah yeah " . Same with the docs saying i

would become crippled. I didn't believe it but it's true.

You're right that it's best to view the meds positively and see them

as a way to freedom rather than being scary. It's not like there's

much choice anyway. We may not die from RA like ppl die from cancer

or diabetes damage, but having RA out of control is like a living

death. You get to a point where you've got to either end it all, or

be brave and choose life.

I hope the Enbrel kicks in for you !

all the best,

Leonie

>

> Leonie,

> I started MTX, folic acid (1mg) and prednisone (10mg) in June 2007.

> The MTX started at 12.5mg (5, 2.5mg pills) once a week and

increased

>