New and having a flare

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. Just joined the group and thought I would introduce myself.

I am a 33yo mother of 4. I was diagnosed a bit over a year ago. It took about 9

months for my rheum and I to find the right combination of meds to make a

difference to my symptoms. I had four excellent months once we fine tuned all my

medication. Then about 2 weeks ago, I started getting pain and stiffness in my

hands again. It has just escalated from there. Now joints that were either

unaffected or very mildly affected are ridiculously inflamed.

This first big flare has left me feeling pretty despondent. My rheum has started

me back on pred to try and bring it back under control. That was five days ago,

it hasn't really helped yet. If anything I am getting worse. I have had to start

using pain relief again.

I feel so sad and overwhelmed by this latest development. I'm worried that I'll

never be anything close to functional again. It just feels so out of my control.

For those of you who have had a long standing diagnosis, how do you deal with a

flare like this? Is it normal to feel completely flattened? I guess I was

unrealistic. I really thought that once I found some meds that worked I would

get better and that would be it.

Do people have experiences about how long pred might take to work in a situation

like this. I know there are no guarantees but I'd love to hear other people's

experiences.

Thanks

Ali