okay...so i have been reading this board a lot. And it seems to me that lots of ppl are on some drugs/combos of drugs.
However, it also appears that despite being on drugs, lots of ppl still have pain/swelling/immflamation. So does that mean that the drug regimen they are on is ineffective? effective? or is this pain/swelling/immflamation just part of daily life even when the drugs are "working"
And if you are on a combo drug....how do u know which one of the drugs is/are working? I mean....you could be taking 3 drugs....but in reality only one of the drugs is working and the other two are just unnecessary extras for which you face side-effects but get no benefit from. Any opinions on this?
Good questions. I can only speak for myself, my general knowledge isn't as vast as some of the others.
I started takin methotrexate first. It helped, but not nearly enough. I was still living with a lot of pain and inflammation. Then the Rd added enbrel and the difference was huge, and overnight.
Even still, I do have some pain and have a few flares. Sorry, that probably doesn't help you much, huh?
Linda
Most of us started off on 1 or 2 drugs and had others added depending on how well the first drugs were doing. Maybe it only helped with 25% of the inflammation and pain and then another drug was added to either boost the other drug/s or to hopefully take care of 75% of inflammation and pain. Sometimes a 3rd drug is added because the other 2 are working but not at 100%. Other times you're taken off the drugs and another is started. The whole process starts over.
There are all kinds of combos of drugs and it depends on the severity of your particular disease, which of the arthritic diseases you have, the damage that's been done, and complications of the arthritic diseases. As you can see there is no pat answer for your questions. It's usually a very complex journey. I wish it were as simple and easy as just taking one drug. Lindy
A combination of fish oil and naproxen has worked pretty well for me, though lately it seems somewhat less effective. If I stop taking either one for a few days, the pain and stiffness starts increasing. So for me, I guess the combo "works", though it is not fully effective. I will be exploring other options when I see the rheumatologist next month. Hey Bro, how is your sister doing?Bro, thanks for the question, because it's been in the back of my mind too - lots of drugs, lots of sick people with lots of side effects.[QUOTE=JasmineRain]A combination of fish oil and naproxen has worked pretty well for me, [/QUOTE]
Jasmine, Just curious what does the fish oil do? Is it something you can buy?
I have to agree with Linda. I too started on the plaquenil/methotrexate mix with prednisone (I call that one my dirty little secret). But it only gave me some relief but still alot of swelling and pain. Doctor added the Arava and knock on wood I now have mostly good days. But I still get minor pains/mini flares but they are so infrequent and minor that I don't mind. The thing that I noticed when I started the new combo is "the lifting of the fog" !!!! It was like I woke up from a dream and found energy again.
I have no idea how long this cocktail will work for me....but I will truly try to make the best of what is working for today!!
Connie
[QUOTE=cah1418][QUOTE=JasmineRain]A combination of fish oil and naproxen has worked pretty well for me, [/QUOTE]
Jasmine, Just curious what does the fish oil do? Is it something you can buy?
[/QUOTE]Pip
[QUOTE=Linncn]Hey Bro, how is your sister doing?[/QUOTE]
my sister has been taking 400 mg of plaquenil for about 3 weeks now and has been taking 10 mg of predinose + 4 fish-oil tablets for the last 2 weeks. She feels almost normal with the above combo with very minimal swelling if any. But she had tried to just do 5 mg of predinose earlier for about 1 week(before she switched to 10 mg 2 wks ago), but she was still feeling stiff in the morning and was still midly swollen.
So....i am not sure if she only feels good b/c of the predinose or if the plaquenil has kicked in yet. I suspect its only b/c of the predinose. I will tell her to cut down to 7.5 mg of predinose next week (by cutting a 5 mg pill in half) and slowly taper it off to see if we can determine whether the plaquenil is working or if its just the predinose. At the same time, to offset the lowering of predinose...i will have her increase the number of fish-oil pills by 2 to a total of 6 fish-oils a day.
hehe...i kinda feel like a doctor. She is set for another appointment with her rheumy on Nov. 3rd (about 5 wks since initially starting on her plaquenil). Is that enough time to determine whether the plaq is working? I know its supposed to be about 6-8 wks wait to see. But shouldn't there be some indication by at least wk 5? I assume that if the plaq is not effective enuf (w/o predinose), the rheumy will add MTX to the combo.