I guess being fairly new to RA, I have a lot to learn. One thing that is mentioned a lot in this forum is the flare up. I THINK I am at a stage where I am still getting the disease under control. In hindsite, I see that my best months have happened after a cortizone shot. (I've had two, both before I started Arava) My pain is at it's worst right now. Now I'm wondering if I'm having a flare up and maybe the Arava is working. Do flare ups occur for a few days (weeks, months?) when for the most part, the disease is under control?
Jodi
I think we are always going to have a flare here and a flare there...
Flares are so hard to define and understand...Some people go into remission and never flare again, for quite some time. Then there are those like me, who's medications are helping to keep the deformities down but not the inflammation, fatigue and the flares, even though low on the pain scale but still having them with some frequency.
When having a flare, sometimes we may not be aware of it, unless they are of such magnitude, that we can't help but know we are flaring...We may only feel slightly worse than a week or two ago and then they are gone again for some time. Flaring can be as short as few days or longer than a few weeks.
RA has no rhyme or reasoning...That's the part that is so hard to deal with.
Cortisone shots and Prednisone, will most all the time, make you feel like a new person but effects of it will wear off after awhile. When I am on Prednisone, I feel like a youngster. Take me off, then I feel older than what my real age is.
Now the best meds that I have every used was Vioxx.. but, like I said before, there is always another but in the picture...LOL. It's been taken off the market...so it's back to the drawing board for me...and millions of other people whom realized the best relief ever, with it.
It's good that you are asking questions. That is how you will get the best outcome for your RA...through the use of knowledge.
Keep asking those questions and everyone here will be more than happy to answer them with the best information they have....
Have a great evening Jodie.
Toni
Thanks Toni for your incite. I appreciate what I learn from you and others who are here to share experiences.
My rheumy thinks my RA is "ramping up" instead of flaring up. We have agreed to try Remicade after TB test and to also lower my dose of Arava to hopefully help with hair loss.
I hope you can find a drug as good as vioxx soon.
Jodi
i am new to all this also sorry about the typing i am icing my other hand . i am curious what is a flare cause i think i am in a flare since july and quite often it attacks single large joints like a knee or shoulder or hip or ankle and it blows it right up and the pain even on pain killers is unbearable and it is like climbing a mountain slowly building till you get to the peek and then slowly getting better usaly lasting 3 days per joint on friday it was in my left ankle then on sunday it was in shoulder then my thumb knucle rt hand last night in the middle of the night it was moving to my rt knee i woke up and limped and took some pain killers and when they started i fell asleep this morning i feel better i still have pain everywhere but i can handle it with 1/2 the pain meds so touch wood i hope it does not move for awhile it is real hard on me and my family.i even went to the store today with my 6 yr old ythe teachers are on strike here so i call the big joint can not stand it pain a flare and all the other days and if just a finger gets like that that is everyday chronic pain to think 6 mnths ago i worked full time as a hairdresser and went to the gyn 6 days a week i should never take anything for granted i appreciate a day even more if i can just get up i better stop i am rambling i always have so much to say cause there is so much going through my head being a newbie and all........teresaMy internal med dr was involved in the testing of mobic. People were taking 75 mg when testing. The tests showed lots of people with tummy trouble. So the dose was lowered to 7.5 and 15 mg, - much less tummy trouble. But most people got little or no pain relief although some help with stiffness.
I'm thinking you need a different nsaid to help control pain better.
Mobic didn't work for me at all!
Marion,
That is very interesting information. I didn't even think of blaming the mobic! Maybe I should try naproxen again. I haven't tried it since I've been on Arava. What has helped you?
Jodi
naproxen is good - you can get it over the counter - Aleve
There is a ton of them - it is so personal - trial and error. I'm looking for a new one too.
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Hi Jodie,
Just like you, I am learning too. There is so much to learn.
It would be easier if this was one disease and with certain symptoms but it seems to overlap into so many other diseases and syndromes.
Like you mentioned in another post, "it seems to go on and on" Yepper, It sure does...LOL.
Ramping Up? Sounds like it means "to be getting worse." Would that be correct? Mine is always RAMPING UP...I wish it would stop...
God, I sure do miss my miracle drug (Vioxx). You know, I am not sure it helped the RA but it sure made the OA...GONE...I am thinking about trying to buy it from Canada, If I could.
I am glad that the Rheumy is trying to work with you and not make you wait so long between using the Dmards and the Big Guns, so to speak. I truly think that, part of how you handle RA is how quick they can get it under control. Lowering the Arava, could possibly help out the hair loss for you. I sure hope so...
Good luck Jodi, Looks like you are on the right path to living with RA.
OH, I almost forgot. GOOD LUCK on you TB test...
Take care of yourself.
Toni
Vioxx is gonew in canada too sorry .TERESA
Really...Darn it...I thought they where going to keep it on the market only with a very high caution placed on the label? Are they stopping it because of how the law suits over here are going or did they find more problems with it?
I could just cry
Thanks so much for letting me know about that.
Toni
OI don't really have anything to add about the flaring. I think the second poster said it all. I don't know if I've ever truly had a remission in the 4-1/2 years I've had this. But I definitely have better times than others. Sometimes it is quite bearable and I can almost forget that I have it, even. Sometimes it's all I can think about! LOL
One thing that someone said (maybe the original poster?) that really popped off the page at me was how different joints hurt at different times. I think what amazes me the most (or at least quite a bit) about the RA is how I can have a joint hurt so horribly, horribly much one day, and then the next day it is fine. I'll have a knee that is just killing me and I'll think- "Oh great! I'll have to see the Dr. about that", and then the next day or a few days later it's just mysteriously gone. So weird.
I've even had teeth that have been killing me, and I have it looked at (my husband is a dentist) and there's nothing visibly wrong with the tooth to the eye or on an X-ray. The last time it happened we decided that maybe the tooth was cracked (sometimes cracks show up on X-rays, but usually they won't). My husband said that if I can stand it, I might want to wait a few days in case it was just inflammation under the tooth. Sure enough! It went away and hasn't come back. But I have that from time to time.
Oh well! Just think of the pain tolerance we've developed. I know my pain tolerance is incredibly better than it used to be.
Lois
Hi Toni,
The vioxx thing is troubling. It seems they would make it available as a last resort for some people.
my TB test was normal. Don't we all get vaccinated for that as children? Anyway that's one hurdle out of the way. Thanks for your thoughts. It is because of this forum that I feel comfortable with Remicade. I was afraid of it before! Now I am looking forward to (hopefully) feeling better!
Jodi
Hi Jodie,
Like you I am new to RA. I was diagnosed in July of 05 with a "mild ' stage onset. Yes I have had flares. That is a situation in which the pain in a joint quickly accelerates. It may last a few hours or as some have told you days. I have been fortuante in that with mine the severe pain lasts a few hours then begins to ease off. The affected joint is often back to normal within twelve to twenty four hours. The pain meds I have do not help much, only ease the discomfort a little. I have tried heat and icing neither seem to do much. I wish there was a pain med that would stop the agony of flare up quickly. You may have warning that a flare is coming on or you may not. Last Sunday afternoon I went to bed feeling fine and awakened three hours later with pain in my right knee. In a matter of thirty minutes I was at a pain scale of 8 and barely able to walk. Six hours later I was able to walk with little difficulty and with minimal pain. Flares are wierd things. No predicting them.
Hope you are feeling better soon,
Tmir - Barbara
Vioxx is gone worldwide, it was a real uproar getting refunds organised at
Well then, I guess I am going to have to have a Memorial Service for Vioxx, when I take my last remaining pill. I sure am going to mourn the loss of them little darlins...
Toni
HELLOOO Jodi_girl
So glad your PPD test came back normal...What a problem you would have had if it didn't. That is why I have to take the darn INH and Vit B6. for 3 months before they will let me start the Enbrel.
We don't get vaccinated in the US for TB. I was wondering if when I was young an out of the country, if I may have but the doctors said that if I was out of the country and my father was in the military, then I didn't as they didn't authorize the use of them back in those days...So I can't say it was because of that, that I had a reaction to the test. All my other TB test showed me as having no TB anywhere in my body but still have to take the INH anyway.
Good for you Jodi, so glad you are ready for the Remicaide and are not having anymore problems with taking it. To be honest I too am ready for the Enbrel. Time to get this mess under control and move on.
Thank you for your concern, greatly appreciated.
Now on with the Remicade and a new life...
Take care of yourself Jodi.
Toni