New Member Here | Arthritis Information

Hello,

I have had RA for 20 years now. I first got it when I was 32 and it started in my hands. Exercise back then put it in remission for 6 years. When it came back it was far worse and it came back in my feet. I was on a cane for 2 years until I tried MSM for the first time and that with exercise and diet change put it in remission for another 6 years and then a semi remission for another 4 years. Well it has been back now about 3 years and nothing I try seems to help. It started up again when I moved to a state where there's humidity in the summer and cold in the winter. Nothing seems to be working at this point. My knees, feet, elbows and hands are affected now.

Western medicine does not work well for me. It doesn't help my pain or symptons and makes my stomach upset and my nerves a mess. I'm just at my wits end these days. It isn't so much the pain as the stiffness and not being able to walk and do things I use to do is so depressing for me. I was so happy to find this forum and read that (unfortunately) I am not alone in this terrible disease.

I saw this infomerical about this stuff called Flex-Protex and was wondering if any of you have tried it and if it works. The maker said it is suppose to work really well for RA. I ordered a bottle but have not received it yet.

Anyway hello to everyone and thank you for being here for me.

Welcome Aleva, I wish you the best of luck. I have no knowledge of Flex-Protex. Take care ~~ CathyHi Aleva, sorry you are in so much pain! hope you will find something to help. Methotreate has really helped me. I live in Va too, and you're not kidding about humidity! welcome to the board. good luck.......Thank you guys so much. I was on methotreate but I got so sick I had to go off of it. Were you sick at first or have you always been able to tolerate it? Right now I would do anything to be productive again. I am also having problems maintaining my weight as it is hard to stand and cook meals.

Hi and welcome. Did you try MTX by injection? Many people tolerate that better than the pills and it's also more effective that way. Others (including myself) take fish oil capsules to help with inflammation. I'm not sure if it's helping or not since I didn't have visible inflammation anyway, but I know I have it internally and I hope the fish oil is helping there. Others swear by it.

Welcome Aleva. Are you being seen by an RD? There are MANY medicines out there to try. Best of luck to you!No, not since I moved to VA and came out of remission. We just got healthcare again so I am going to have to make an appointment. Jesse I haven't tried MTX and maybe I will tolerate it better than the pills. I have heard some good things about fish oil.I know that reading here helps, at least most of the time.......oh and just ignore the fighting and bashing ! lolWelcome Aleva!Hi Aleva -

There are a lot of people that report great success with diet and supplements. I was a bit too far gone for that so I chose antibiotics to conrol this monster. Also, you might run a search here for 'probiotics' and see what you think. A lot of non-APers report a lessoning of symptoms.

Hugs,

Pip

Hi Aleva,

I'm fairly new to this board having been dx'd with RA in February. I live in PA and the humidity kills me. Good luck in your search for relief and I just wanted to welcome you here. Hiking_gal

Hi Aleva and welcome! I just moved to North Carolina and the humidity is killing me! Going from MN to NC with 101 temps and high humidity... ahhh!! Diet change helps so much. I pretty much know that if I eat ice cream, beef, pork (especially bacon) I am in pain the next day so I eliminated them from my diet and feel better. I use to see a chiropractor and you're right it does help. Thanks for reminding me of this and I will find one here. I wish I had a pool.

One thing that helps at night. I wear light cotton socks and cotton gloves to bed to keep the airconditioning from causing more pain and it seems to help.