Guest guest Posted October 12, 2004 Report Share Posted October 12, 2004 oh no donna! im sorry to hear about your sore back. but it must be some relief to know what has caused the pain. i hope that it is feeling better very quickly. today was a scheduled rest day for me. i was out all day with the kids, going to the dentist, grocery shopping, errands, etc. im actually still feeling sore from some of my workouts with gilad! my butt, legs and abs hurt today. i could use another good stretching session -- i think that i will do that after i watch sex and the city tonight -carolyn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 14, 2004 Report Share Posted December 14, 2004 Hi All, I wish you all a better today than yesterday. I am new here so please forgive me if it's not correct for me to say I will keep you all in my prayers. This was a rougher than normal weekend for me also. I finally broke down after 2 years of seeing my doctor and a gastro for my anemia that I went to a rheumy on Thursday. He prescribed Plaquenil and Bextra (in place of Celebrex) and offered the prednisone until Plaquenil kicked in. With visions of my face so puffy that I would float away, I said no thanks to the prednisone - only to call yesterday and say yes...I am so exhausted and achy. So I will pick up my prescription this morning. Does anyone have any recommendations? So far I'm on Bextra, Lexapro, Protonix, I will start Prednisone and Plaquenil today. I have to tell you, I am scared to death. My symptoms of achy painful hands (no swelling) and anemia and general malaise have been occuring for over 2 years while I kept my head in the sand. Right now it's just " diffuse connective tissue disease " but they're treating it like RA/Lupus. I'm only 45 and otherwise feel healthy. I'm praying for others on this list and I hope you get some relief. Joyce in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Welcome to the board. Your message says Tuesday and is dated Tuesday but it did not show up in my inbox till today (Friday). I'm also a firm believer in prayer and would leave this board if sentiments like that were not permitted. We have people of different faiths and all are welcome and express their beliefs differently but I think we all worship the same God but just by different names. I'm glad your Rheumatologist is treating you with a DMARD (Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug) but Plaquenil is one of the mildest of the DMARDs. Also it usually takes several weeks to a few months to become effective while Prednisone usually helps the symptoms quite rapidly. I share your aversion to Prednisone but I was started at 40 mg daily so I could hobble to the bathroom. We also started with Arava (a stronger DMARD than Plaquenil) and after about four months with little success my doctor added Methotrexate and I took myself off Arava (probably a mistake). After another four months with little success we added Remicade and kept Methotrexate. When we slowly increased Remicade from 3 mg/kg to 6 mg/kg I finally got relief and was able to get off Prednisone except for special needs. Overall it was about a year and a half from the onset of RA till I got off Prednisone. I'm telling you this to let you know it is likely to be a slow process and you are likely to have to try several medicines till you get one or a combination that works for you. I will remember you in my prayers. God bless. ----- Original Message ----- From: joyce Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 5:21 AM Subject: Tuesday Morning Hi All,I wish you all a better today than yesterday. I am new here so please forgive meif it's not correct for me to say I will keep you all in my prayers.This was a rougher than normal weekend for me also. I finally broke down after2 years of seeing my doctor and a gastro for my anemia that I went to a rheumyon Thursday. He prescribed Plaquenil and Bextra (in place of Celebrex) and offeredthe prednisone until Plaquenil kicked in. With visions of my face so puffy thatI would float away, I said no thanks to the prednisone - only to call yesterday andsay yes...I am so exhausted and achy. So I will pick up my prescription this morning.Does anyone have any recommendations? So far I'm on Bextra, Lexapro, Protonix,I will start Prednisone and Plaquenil today. I have to tell you, I am scared to death.My symptoms of achy painful hands (no swelling) and anemia and general malaise havebeen occuring for over 2 years while I kept my head in the sand. Right now it's just"diffuse connective tissue disease" but they're treating it like RA/Lupus.I'm only 45 and otherwise feel healthy. I'm praying for others on this list and I hopeyou get some relief.Joyce in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Joyce, I will pray for you too! I am also 45 and I live in PA. I have RA and Lupus. Hang in there! Watch the Bextra, because they are studying that now too! ~joyce <robins49@...> wrote: Hi All,I wish you all a better today than yesterday. I am new here so please forgive meif it's not correct for me to say I will keep you all in my prayers.This was a rougher than normal weekend for me also. I finally broke down after2 years of seeing my doctor and a gastro for my anemia that I went to a rheumyon Thursday. He prescribed Plaquenil and Bextra (in place of Celebrex) and offeredthe prednisone until Plaquenil kicked in. With visions of my face so puffy thatI would float away, I said no thanks to the prednisone - only to call yesterday andsay yes...I am so exhausted and achy. So I will pick up my prescription this morning.Does anyone have any recommendations? So far I'm on Bextra, Lexapro, Protonix,I will start Prednisone and Plaquenil today. I have to tell you, I am scared to death.My symptoms of achy painful hands (no swelling) and anemia and general malaise havebeen occuring for over 2 years while I kept my head in the sand. Right now it's just"diffuse connective tissue disease" but they're treating it like RA/Lupus.I'm only 45 and otherwise feel healthy. I'm praying for others on this list and I hopeyou get some relief.Joyce in MI __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 17, 2004 Report Share Posted December 17, 2004 Joyce, I was very anemic (5.6) when I was first diagnosed with RA. As the doc got the RA under control the anemia corrected itself. It took about 6 months with gradual improvement. My hemoglobin is now 14.5 and I have not been anemic since. The drugs you are on are commonly used in treating RA. Scarey at first but when you start to feel relief and are not having side effects you will become less afraid Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: joyce Rheumatoid Arthritis Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2004 8:21 AM Subject: Tuesday Morning Hi All,I wish you all a better today than yesterday. I am new here so please forgive meif it's not correct for me to say I will keep you all in my prayers.This was a rougher than normal weekend for me also. I finally broke down after2 years of seeing my doctor and a gastro for my anemia that I went to a rheumyon Thursday. He prescribed Plaquenil and Bextra (in place of Celebrex) and offeredthe prednisone until Plaquenil kicked in. With visions of my face so puffy thatI would float away, I said no thanks to the prednisone - only to call yesterday andsay yes...I am so exhausted and achy. So I will pick up my prescription this morning.Does anyone have any recommendations? So far I'm on Bextra, Lexapro, Protonix,I will start Prednisone and Plaquenil today. I have to tell you, I am scared to death.My symptoms of achy painful hands (no swelling) and anemia and general malaise havebeen occuring for over 2 years while I kept my head in the sand. Right now it's just"diffuse connective tissue disease" but they're treating it like RA/Lupus.I'm only 45 and otherwise feel healthy. I'm praying for others on this list and I hopeyou get some relief.Joyce in MI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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