All About Me...

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone!

My name is and I live in Washington State. I'm 31 years old

and I have a partner and two beautiful, wonderful children 11 and 5.

I was diagnosed with RA in 2006 after I had an injury while doing the

G Komen 3-Day 60 mile breast cancer walk.

After my initial diagnosis I spent the next 18 months on heavy doses

of Prednisone and Methotrexate.

I was convinced that the Dr. was wrong and that it was simply because

I was overweight. Even though I could barely walk, I couldn't even

wash my own hair, and I stayed in bed approx. 18 hours of the day due

to being so sick and exhausted all of the time.

I eventually got better to the point of being able to do more, but I

was never able to go into a medicine induced remission which was very,

very depressing for me.

I cut sugar out of my diet and in turn ended up losing 70! lbs. I felt

better and was POSITIVE that I cured my RA because I felt zero pain.

When I went back to my Rheumatologist he was of course impressed and

happy for me, but when he told me that my blood work was even worse

than when I was first diagnosed I hit an all time low and fell into a

deep depression.

He took me off the Methotrexate and I went on Arava. I slowly started

to come to grips with things, but struggled a lot with not being able

to do certain things and being so tired that I would rely on naps to

get me through the day.

Arava worked out beautifully for me, but we also added Enbrel. I was

amazed at how quickly I felt better after the injections. I thought it

was in my head, but I have read/heard that everyone has a different

experience and although the literature states that it may take awhile

to feel results, some people do in fact feel better after less than a

month.

My insurance has been wonky about my medications, but the Arava

combined with Enbrel is definitely what works best for me.

I'm currently on prednisone and I rely heavily on Hydrocodone to get

me through my days when I'm having the pain.

Yesterday, I had an amazing visit with a new Rheumatologist. I moved

and was SO excited to find not one, but many amazing options

regarding my care. Where I used to live there were two options and

they were both so busy that appts. were always a long way out. In

addition, my particular Dr. had an incredible high turn over rate and

I am not sure why, but as a patient it was difficult for me to deal

with that as I felt like I had to tell my story to each new person.

The new Dr. I visited with yesterday was simply amazing. She was warm

and made eye contact the entire time. She involved my partner in my

care plan and was willing to really listen and address all of my

questions and concerns.

I told her that I am still struggling with the diagnosis and told her

that sometimes I wonder if I really have RA. I don't exactly know why

even with the blood work, the symptoms, and the drastic life changes

that I've had because of the illness I still wonder. Does anyone else

ever experience this?

I'm so so grateful for this new Dr. I am so impressed and happy that I

met someone that really cares about my health and wants to help me get

some of my life back.

I never felt that with my old Dr. In fact, I felt like a number and

that is probably why I HATED going to those appointments!

Thanks for reading! I have enjoyed reading the list so far and am

happy that I found all of you