hello, i’m new! | Arthritis Information

Hi, I'm Isabel. I'm 17 and I was diagnosed with AS a year ago. I know this
is the RA area, but the AS boards are dead! No one seems to be talking ...
but anyway, I hope you all don't mind!

It's nice to find a website like this. It feels really good to finally find a
place that understands all of the bullsh*t that comes with AS and RA. I
take Enbrel (25mg 2xweek). It's actually really helped (although it
definitely has made me gain weight...). I have a lot of pain in my wrists,
fingers, and elbows and I don't really know what to do for it. I work out
and I follow a very strict diet. Does anyone have any suggestions for pain
management? I've tried celebrex (didn't work) and naproxen(made me
sick), as well as advil and what not. I don't know what else to do!
Thanks :)

- IsabelWelcome to the board. Sorry you are in pain. I wish i knew what to tell you. I guess you could call the doctor and get a stronger pain medicine. Are you flaring or is it a fibro type pain? It is probably best to let your doctor know.Hello and welcome! I contact my PCP for pain meds, not my rhuematologist. I have several different types depending on what the problem is. I hope you find some relief soon! thanks for the responses!

i think i'm in the middle of a bad flare up. but it just sucks that i cant do
anything about it while it's going on. i've called the doctor before and she
hasn't really done much. i'll have to ask her again.

your PCP? .... like drugs? or is that some type of doctor? i'm sorry, i'm new at
this haha...

thank you both :)

welcome Isaaaaaa,

your PCP is your primary doctor or your family doctor. I do get my pain meds from my RD=rhumetoid doctor. When Ibruphrofen didn't help for the pain my doctor put me on Vicodin 5 mg every 4-6 hours( i can take 2 if i need to) Sometimes that doesn't help either but it takes the edge off. she said I am in this for the long haul and the longer I can stay on a lower dose of pain relief the better because I want to be able to move up the scale when and if my disease progresses. Good luck , we all deserve to be pain free and just because a stigma comes with pain meds don't be afraid to ask!!!

Let us know how you make out!

Welcome Isabel! I love your name.

I find that when my wrists are flaring, splinting them at night helps some. So does icing them. I've yet to find anything that significantly lowers the pain level during a flare other than prednisone. I told my RD at my last visit that it was like a miracle wrapped in a little white pill!

So, you don't take any anti-inflammatories? Some people have really good results using fish oil. You might give that a try.

Hello Isabel ,

After many years of thinking I had RA, I was just diagnosed with AS a couple of weeks ago. It too am on 50mg of Enbrel, I also take Celebrex in the mornings. I understand the pain and it is awful. Over the course of many years, I started out on over the counter stuff and then tylenol -3, to daravocet, now I take percoet twice a day and it takes the edge off to make it through the day. You may need see your RD or PCP to see if they can get you something to help with the constant pain or flare-ups. I’m fairly young and understand your position, young or old, we all need a better quality of life and a low end perception pain med might be the answer until you find the right meds to bring the AS under control, your RD and PCP should understand. Good Luck, Jason.

kweenb - thanks:) i like my name too :P splinting them, huh? well i'll have to
try that. and prednisone? okay. i'll ask my doctor about that. thank you!

Jason - you really feel that the celebrex works for you? lucky you! i've tried
tramadol before but it didnt feel very helpful. i'll look into percocet then.
arthritis sucks when you're young, doesnt it? how old were you when you
were diagnosed (with RA), if you don't mind me asking?

thanks again.Hi Isabel
I am here for my 14 year old daughter who has been on a 9 month roller coaster ...
in the end they thought she had JRA but now they think she may have Undifferentiated juvenile spondyloarthropathie. I think they say undifferentiated because it is a new diagnosis and they are still looking at her symptoms ... she also ..KNOCK ON WOOD has no pain in her back which I guess is more common with younger people.
It started in her ankles really bad ..but recently has progressed to her elbows, wrists and Knees .She has been on feldene for about a month in a half .. I dont think too many people here are on that( but I believe she is on that because of he age and it is non steroidal?)It has helped a lot with the swelling and in turn the pain... but I think that they may also start her on Sulfasalazine after the first of the year.
she has found that ,baths, heat wraps and tiger balm has helped her with pain and swelling .
hope you feel better.
Tell your daughter that I totally understand that pain. It started in my ankles
too! They were so swollen. thats what first brought me to the doctors. the
pain is now primarily in my elbows, wrists, and fingers too. i found that
young people more often experience elbow pain, and not back. (as you
mentioned - so we're lucky!) i tried sulfasalazine for 8 months but stopped
as i found that it didn't really work. i'm on enbrel now and it has done
absolutely wonders. i've never used tiger balm before - i'll look into that.
thanks and tell your daughter that i hope she feels better!Thats interesting that it started in your ankles too... I guess were really not alone .. but because she is an athlete they looked for structural stuff for so long .. and finally after 8 months thought arthritis.
she missed a lot of stuff because of the pain ..she had to give up a spot on an all star team .. an invitation to a elite tournament.
at least two weeks of school and just normal stuff too .
anyway the tiger balm is kind of like an icy hot thing but she says it works allot better .. we got it at a GNC store .. but she likes it and uses it all the time ..stinks though
Im hoping that the sulfasalazine works for her as the feldene seems to have stopped .. but I will say she went from barely being able to walk at all to now playing ice hockey again..
so were happy right now ..
hang in there and let us know how it goes for you
True
i empathize, i've been on the varsity tennis team for three years. i had just
been diagnosed as the season was starting, so i missed out on most of it. i
was also pulled out of school for the last month because they had a mixup
with the the enbrel injections and i had been giving myself too much ... long
story short, i was out sick for a while.

my parents always thought i was just overreacting when i would complain
about pain in my ankles or knees haha, but when my ankles became that
swollen it was clear something was up. it was misdiagnosed at first though. i
had been working on film sets, and i had been getting knocked around with
the heavy equipment, so it was hard to tell if it was that or something else.

i hope the sulfasalazine works and good luck!hi
Do you still play tennis?
I think skating is easier on her ankles than a running sport because there is no pounding . But now that she is diagnosed(sort of ) She is starting to wonder if she will be able to play lacrosse in the spring ?
We are not sure what to expect .. its hard because you have to make a decision before the season due to try outs ..
I told her this year (spring coming up) that I think she should try Crew (rowing ) it would be easier on her ankles ...
was it the doctor who decided to take you off sulfasalazine? how long did you wait till you decided to go off it ?
do you play any other sports ? at this point?
just picking your brain ...

Answer to you Q--- I was diagnosed with general arthritis when I was 23, around the time I had my left hip replaced. I'm now 35 and it's good to finally have a diagnoses of AS. I do feel that since starting Enbrel, the Celebrex helps a little, wouldn't have said that before the Enbrel. Hope you find something that helps.

Welcome to the board, I'm sorry that you have to be here. My fingers wrists and elbows do hurt, which I assume is from the RA. I also have fibromyalgia. I take Enbrel 50mg. twice a week. I do know that my sed rate has come down somewhat, but I'm not pain free. You can post me here if you want to talk! Take care, and let me know how you're doing!

Dotti51

Hi and Welcome Isabel!! I love your name too!! I wanted to name my daughter that but hubby said no

Isa: hi and I hope you find the right stuff to help you feel better soon. I have found that a heating pad helps me. I have two and rotate them all around. My ra started in my feet, but has progressed all over. I started enbrel a month ago and felt so much better two days after my injection. I had to go off last week. I developed an ear infection and had to go on antibiotics. I can't wait to finish them up and get back on the enbrel. I sure can tell the difference without it especially the swelling and energy.

Take care and I hope you feel good really soon!

Thanks so much for all of the suggestions. I can't tell you how much I
appreciate it. I just took an injection of enbrel and I guess my hand slipped
or something but I totally messed it up. Well, not messed it up, but it could
have gone a lot better. ugh i hate that so much. i get so frustrated with all of
this sometimes. im in the middle of applying to college and all of this bull is
just tagging along. asdkjdgf. grr. sorry venting.

anyway! thank you all again. your suggestions are really helpful :)Hi Isabel and welcome aboard.

Hi, Isabel! I think I've responded to a couple of your posts, but I wanted to make an official welcome to ya.

Hope you have a superfantastic and extra comfortable day!