Guest guest Posted August 31, 2004 Report Share Posted August 31, 2004 Hello everyone, I am still fairly new here and was diagnosed in June of this year, but my symptoms started almost a year before that. (Symptoms started at the same time I started going to a chiropractor for a mis-aligned shoulder). I had become quite disabled because of the RA, and the blood test confirmed that I have the RA factor, and my sediment level was and has been high for quite some time. Other than that, there is nothing else wrong with me, except I am carrying a lot of weight. BTW, I am 37 years old. The doctor put me on 15 mg Prednisone right away and I had never felt so good, and 95% of my symptoms disappeared. I was able to resume my previous activities. I started MTX 2 months ago and I really can't tell if it works or not, as I was told to keep taking 10 mg of Prednisone - for now. I may be allergic to the Naproxen Sodium as I have been having hives at a higher dose. If I am allergic to Naproxen, that would leave me with absolutely nothing left for me to take, as I am allergic to most pain meds (and antibiotics). Right now I am in a precarious situation and have been taking life one day and one week at a time. I have no idea what's going to happen in the future with this illness and the MTX and Prednisone. I am concerned about the drug success rate and if there are folks with RA who are leading fairly normal lives. Being on this list makes me think that I only have disability and trying new drugs with strange side effects to look forward to. My doctor had told me that I can't stay on Prednisone and that the MTX wouldn't work as well as Prednisone. It seems like I still know so little about this illness. What's funny is, it took me a while to get into see the Rheumy, but before that, I would wind up at the emergency room with a flare in my left hand and nobody could figure out what was causing it, but they had a lot of guesses!! Any insight or advice would be helpful. Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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