Hey everyone,
I am 24 years old. I was diagnosed with JRA at 10. I was on meds for a year or 2 and stopped taking them. I wasn't in a severe ammount of pain. Just recently things have been flaring up again. It is something I can live with. I take motrins and usually the pain goes away. I know I am very lucky. I think since I have had JRA most of my life I am used to the pain. But my question is how much is enough? I am very afraid to go on meds. My doctor wants me to go on Humira. I am so afraid to do it. Is it worth it for someone like me? Is there another med that doesn't have so many risky side effects?
I would really appreciate any info.
Christina
Hi Christina..welcome!
What meds were you on before? Did you find that they worked? If so, why not give them a try again?
Maybe try something like plaquenil..sulfasalazine.. or methotrexate before trying Humira? Would that be a better option for you?
Kelstev -
Fraky avatar. I kept swiping at the screen!
Christina -
If you want the traditional route, the meds just listed are usually the first defense. Has anybody taken any X-rays recently? If you want, check out the antibiotic approach. www.roadback.org.
Hugs,
Pip
[QUOTE=Pip!]Kelstev -
Fraky avatar. I kept swiping at the screen!
[/QUOTE]
Not to hijack the thread, but I thought our bananas sat too long and gave us fruit flies again!
Good luck, Christina. I don't know what you were on when you were younger, but Motrin straight to Humira does seems like a big jump. I hope your doctor will be answer some of your questions.Enbrel works great for me with no side effects.
Meds are such a personal thing, and that is a good jump.
The things to ask yourself....
1. Is the joint pain and fatigue taking over?
2. Am I developing damage, b/c I am not taking something to prevent it?
3. If I do incure damage...what then???
I was on naproxen when I was younger and seemed to do ok with that. I want to prevent further damage I don't hurt that bad, but I am tired all the time. Not sure if it is a normal tired.
I need to ask my doctor if Naproxen will prevent damage i guess. Thank you for all of your help so far!
Welcome Christina!!!! So glad you found us!!!
It sounds like a huge jump to go to humira. I would ask to try methotrexate or something similar first.
Let us know how it all works out.
We are all pulling for you.The naproxen will only help reduce pain, it will not prevent damage. I agree, if you have not had x-rays recently, I would ask for them to see how uch damage is being done.
dear Christina, you are a lucky woman. I would be worried about joint damage. (I put off taking the meds for 5 years and my hands and now my left foot has been damaged) Please, consider one of the preventitive medications. Lynda
Kel, that is such a cute bug! , I thought it was inside of my screne 'oh, no!' I yelled to my husband. Ya got me! never a dull moment on this forum
If you've done well on IUB alone you'd be a great candidate for something like sulfersalizine. It would be helpful in at least slowing joint damage in the long term and fairly mild at this point for you. You could always move up in the future.
It's nice to see you here. Hope to see you more often.
Thank you so much for all of your replies. I think I know what I am going to do.
I will see how my blood work and x rays came back. If it is not too bad then I am going to try a ligher drug, not the humira.
Thanks again!
[QUOTE=cah1418]Thank you so much for all of your replies. I think I know what I am going to do.
I will see how my blood work and x rays came back. If it is not too bad then I am going to try a ligher drug, not the humira.
Thanks again!
[/QUOTE]OH I didn't know that. I don't plan on it for another 5 years or so. I do know a friend of mine had a baby and her RA got WAY worse during and after the pregnancy. I don't know if that is very common or not.
I am not sure about all of these abriviations and what they mean. I do need to do something though. My knee is getting worse and I can barely walk up our stairs. 3 flights!
I wouldn't put of Meds for that reason. Talk to your doctor about it. If you are having a hard time going up and down stairs it's very likely you need to get your RA under control now. Worry about having a baby in the future. Don't let that stop you from making sure things don't get too far out of control.
It's easier to control things before it's too bad. If you wait too long it might be harder to get control of.
Jasmine -
Is there a link or something about which meds have long term birth defects? I know Minocin has some but there are other antibiotics people can use. I know nothing about the biologics or any of the other DMARDS.
Cah - look back about 3 or 4 pages - there was a post on abbreviations!
Pip