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I’m a 54 year old male and was in pretty good shape until
six weeks ago. I was diagnosed with scleritis six weeks ago and told it was
a by product of something else going on in my body. I had scleritis bouts
for about a year and didn't know what it was...being a typical male, I ignored
it. The scleritis appeared about once a month, but over the last few
months, bouts were every two weeks and became more painful. After a few weeks
of treating the scleritis I started having joint pain in my toes, ankles and
knees. Within several days the pain had spread
to my fingers, wrist, elbows and shoulders.
My Opthamologist referred me to an Internist while my family
doctor ran blood test. The pain’s
terrible and I have hard knots on my ankles, wrist and elbows. I’ve had a hard time sleeping because I can’t
get comfortable and the pain is worse while I’m lying down. My recliner has become my new bed. I met with the Internist yesterday; he ran new blood work
and took x-rays of my fingers, wrist and feet.
He told me the limited blood work my family doctor provided, what he saw
on the x-rays and the physical exam that I had RA and he felt the additional
blood work confirm his prognosis. They
set me up with a Rheumatologist, but first appointment for two months. The Internist put me on prednisone. The prescription is for 30mg for the first 3
days, 20mg for three more days and then 10mg until I meet with him again on
October 8th. Being an avid blogger, I looked for the best site I could
find for answers and support. I hope others here will be able to help through
this confusing time in my life. Welcome. You will find a lot of good info and compassionate folks here. You can see from my post count that I don't get here often, but that's merely due to time constraints. Any time I need info I come back and they are always willing to listen and advise. Bodak has some great advice above. The Prednisone will definitely relieve the pain, but it's not the long term answer. It may take some time to find the right mix of meds and lifestyle changes to give you relief. Just educate yourself along the way and work with your doc and you'll get there. On the other hand, don't let the disease consume you either. Learn to incorporate a healthy respect for it into your life. You can find ways to change how you do things, eliminate others, and add others. As a matter of fact, you just might find a way to stop and smell the roses as you work through this. Thank you, Lovie. The surgeries were all sports related;
I played two years of semi-pro football and a lot of baseball into my mid
thirties. The eight knee surgeries started when I was 24 and the last one
was 5 years ago. I've also had both rotator-cuff surgeries...one in each
shoulder.
Be well
I see your first line of defense was to just ignore what was happening untill things got that bad you just had to seek help.
This is a typical male response.
I know because I did the same thing.
Welcome to the board.
You should find that the Pred will have you feeling better and it may even enter your mind that you are fixed.
I felt that way untill I realized that this thing they call RA is a little more serious than us males want to admit to.
If you have stress in your life I would start right now to lessen that level of stress.
I have found the stress factor to be a big one.
Once again welcome and I hope the meds get to work on you so you can have a comfortable life.
Welcome. You have found a great site here, with lots of helpful advice from the experienced ones here. I'm still kinda new to RA (I was dx in March) and I'm still on the road to finding the right combo of meds to help me.
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