Inflammation Question | Arthritis Information

ra/jra cause joint damage..when the damage has worked its way through the cartildge it starts wearing on the bones. Plus you have been on pred on and off for a very long time and that causes osteoporsis..

Thanks for the replies!

Ok.. was not sure if the inflammation was what was doing it or not. I just remember reading some people get joint damage even without visible swelling. My swelling is visable and a lot of it. I never really know how much swelling I have, until like now when my swelling is down because of the pred flare taper.

No, I can see visible joint damage in my knuckles no need for x-rays. I can feel it. My middle finger on my right hand... the knuckle that is closest to the hand is completely flat on the right side. My same finger on my left hand has roundness to it no both sides of my knuckle.

I probably would not be so bad off if I can just keep the inflammation gone.

I just cannot believe I have THAT much inflammation in my joints & body. How can I have so much if I am on meds that is suppose to reduce the inflammation? I guess another question for the ole RD.

I have not had x-rays since 2005. And that was with my last RD and he only done a few joints, none of my hands though. Knees, neck, elbows and hips.

Jonie, I have imflamation to. Joint pain, can barely walk. My feet my hands are curled under, my hips hurt and my back and knees. I stay swelled all the time. I am sorry you are having trouble. God Bless you dear! Hope you feel better soon.

I am doing ok, for right now, am on a prednisone flare taper... so right now I have cravings for sugar and cannot sleep, but other than that... my joints are doing well!

Much hugs to you... sorry to hear of your pain. I hope it goes away soon.

Are you craving cake again? I just finished off a bag of m&m's. Melts in your mouth not in your hands. LOL

No, no cake this time. Actually I am craving just pure plain sugar. Yep.. that does it I cannot hold out any longer... sugar sandwich it is! I have butter to go on it tonight... WHOOOHOOO!!!!A SUGAR SANDWICH???? You got it bad! LOL Never heard of it. I like to make cinnamon/sugar toast. That's good stuff!Joonie!! A sugar sandwich - yummy... When my sister and I were kids we would often have a sugar sandwich as a snack. We passed this little quirk to our children and of course our grandchildren eat sugar sandwiches, too.
However, until I read your post I had never heard of anyone else who enjoyed or had heard of a "sugar sandwich." Have seen many looks of disbelief and eyes roll though. You rock girl.

Check out those bones now. Prednisone is indeed a double-edged sword. *Gentle Hugs*
Thanks WatchingWolf! When I went and seen my mom last night, I told her I ate a sugar sandwich the night before. First thing she said was... Did you put butter on it? I said nope was all out of butter, but when we leave here we will be swinging by wal-mart for some butter! I made a wee little sugar mess in my lap when I ate my first one.

I would go make one now, but I am refeerering the kids, and the cat is all up in my way. And I am replying to emails and then I come back here to see what is going on.

Onward with the sugar sandwich!

Joonie the problem is once the cartilege is damaged you know have secondary osteroarthritis and that can continue without inflammation. You need x'rays to asses the damage...looking at them does not measure the extent of things. You need the assessments recorded in your medical recordsWhat happens after they take the x-rays? Do they give you a medication to make it stop?medication can't rebuild cartilidge. But correct splints can be provided, physcial therapy can be initiated, surgery etc. They also provide a baseline so you can tell if the treatment is helping the destruction or not and to allow for tracking disease progress

I will see if my RD will do xrays on my right knee, since it is the one that had little to no cartliage in it back in 1999 or 2000. Plus, it is the one that swells the biggest. I guess that would be extra swelling from the OA added to the RA swelling?

Oh and I will see if RD will do the MRI of my hands she has been talking about, but has not sent me for. I know my hands are bad, because every Dr I have seen this year or started seeing notice my hands are bad off and they is just by looking at me while talking to me.

I just want to get rid of this inflammation and keep it gone. I know it is what is contributing to my problems. I am just "lucky" and have chronic inflammation.

Since I am down to 20mg of pred now... my knees start to swell a little bit before my next dose of pred. I am splitting it up in halves take half before bed and the other half when I wake up. So... that right there tells me when I get down to 15mg my swelling will return, and I will not get much extra time of non-swelling like I was hoping. But I am happy with what relief it did provide. It has made my attitude better and my mental state is more composed now, since I can actually not think about my problems and being in pain and aggravated and all that I go thru when it all starts wearing me down mentally and physically.