Hello, Everyone!

[Guest guest]

Just wanted to take a few minutes to introduce myself.

After a few years of feeling extremely exhausted to the point of

passing out, I did a search on the symptoms I was having (on

of all places!). Then I did some skeptical reading and brought up

my symptoms to my PCP. He went " hmmm....uh-huh " and sent me out for

the first in a whole raft of blood tests.

To make a long story really short, I was recently diagnosed with

early RA and was put on Plaquenil, low-dose pred and Voltaren after

2 years of trying to understand the way I was feeling. I felt an

immediate improvement in my hands and feet due to the pred and the

Voltaren and Plaquenil have been in my system for about 3 weeks as

well. They should start working eventually, too.

My crusade right now is telling people not to wait. If it's

bothering you, don't be afraid to tell your doctor about your

symptoms. The worst that he or she can tell you is that you are

imagining things or making them up and then you are right back where

you started. The best thing that you can do for yourself is take an

agressive stance for your health.

I'm glad I found this place. Being sick and being the mother of a

nine-month-old (AJ, the apple of his mama's eye) is tough, but I do

it because I can. If you need to, feel free to e-mail me. I listen

really well.

=)Looking forward to hearing from you!=)

Cait Tanner