Hey everybody. This is my first time here. I am 30 years old and was diagnosed with JRA at the age of 6. No, I never outgrew JRA but I learned to live with it. As a child, I was treated very aggressively and I know that aggressive treatment is important when the child is young due to the rapid growth a child undergoes. I've had lots of meds throughout my life, Tolectin, Gold Injections, Naprosyn, Prendisone, Methotrexate, corticostreoid shots, and most recently Enbrel. I was on Methotrexate the most and I must say that the side effect of being a bit nauseated was not fun but worth it in the whole scheme of things. To this day, mornings and nights are my worst times. I have learned to live with JRA. I did develop an underactive thyroid which I will take medicine for forever. Some dictors believe that JRA and thyroid disease are related. My JRA actually went into remisssion for some time after trying the natural approach referred to in a book called Eat Right For Your Blood Type. As a teeenager, I was interested in the homeopathic approach but was always told by the doctors that it held no relevance. It wasn't until I was off on my own that I tried it. It was a huge life change going the natural route. The most important things that I avoided were Tomatoes and Potatoes and I ate alot of fish. Sure enough, I found that these vegetables (even in the smallest form such as ketchup or french fries) really do cause inflammation. As a child and teenager, I never took gym class but now I could actually take an aerobics class every day and run! Of course some days were better than others and I still had to use anti-inflammtories but it wasn't too bad. I have managed to live a fairly normal life style. I am an elementary teacher, wife, and mother. About 2 1/2 years ago I got pregnant with a beautiful baby boy, Ethan. During the pregnancy I stopped my natural approach as I wanted the baby to get as much nourishment as possible during the pregnancy and nursing. I actually had a small amount of pain during the pregnancy and was greatful for that. My son was born 6 weeks early and was 3lbs., 7oz. due to preclampsia which the doctors believe may have been due to the JRA. Although he was small, he was healthy. I found the arthritis came back with a vegeance about 7 months after my son Ethan was born. So, I reluctantly went back to meds, starting some anti-inflammatories along with enbrel shots. I must say that the enbrel worked quite well. In a few weeks, I was back to my old self, taking aerobics again, and this time I wasn't going the natural route, as I wanted to get pregnant again. I went off my meds for a month and got pregnant again. At about 15 weeks, I lost the baby. We found out later that we may have lost the baby because they weren't monitering my thyroid levels and adjusting my meds during the pregnancy. About 3 months later, we tried again to concieve and did! My family and I were thrilled. I am still pregnant now and it has been a good pregnancy so far. I am due in February. But, one of the biggest reasons why I am on this site is due to the tragic news we learned just 3 months ago. My son, Ethan who is almost 2 1/2 had a severe limp that at first only existed in the morning, after naps, and at night. You know right away what I thought, JRA. After several months of doctors probing my little boy, we have found that he too suffers from JRA. The doctors tell me this is very rare. I mean, believe me, before I ever thought about concieving I was told that the chances of my child developing JRA were so very low. You can imagine how horrible I feel to not only see my child suffer and limp around but also how sickened I feel to know that I am the cause for his pain. The pain I feel in my heart is immense. I know that he will be okay as I am okay. I made it. But, still it hurts so much to see him in pain. Now I know how my mom must have felt watching me suffer through the years. After crying so very much I have decided to get strong and develop a game plan. I am actually taking my son to a hospital 2 hours away designed just for kids. It is the same doctors that treated me and I know they are the best, so it's worth the trip. We will be headed there next week for steroid shots to both of his knees since the anti-inflammatories we are using (naprosyn and indomethacin) aren't giving us the results we like. So far, we are only seeing the JRA in his knees but it seems to impact everything and causes him to have trouble walking. So, we are praying that the injections may help. They will be fully sedating him for the shots since he is so little and will move around too much. We will also visit the pediatric opthamologist for the first time for him to check for uveitis or swelling/inflammation behind the eyes. We will also start physical therapy 2 times a week with 50% aquatic exercise. My game plan is to be as aggressive as possible because I've seen the children with JRA who have gotten no treatment at all and it's not good. I know that taking all those drugs and treatments as a child was never easy for me but I also know that it helped me to grow and lead a fairly normal life. If anyone has any comments, questions, or suggestions please comment back or email me at sidolem@verizon.net .
Sidolem hi