RD appointment today | Arthritis Information

My rheumy gave me 2 new scripts today. Amitriptylin 25 mg to use as a muscle relaxer to help me get some good sleep at night. The doctor asked me if I have been getting enought sleep becasue he thought I looked really tired- that made me feel real good. And he also gave me Meloxicam 7.5 mg two time a day for joint pain. Still won't give me an official diagnosis. He mentioned that my joints didn't look red or swollen to him-( but my rings are all too tight to wear, so they must be swollen) so I guess that means he won't call it RA. Now if he could've seen my joints last week he might think otherwise, but oh well.

I mentioned the cold fingers and we got off the subject and I didn't really get any answer for that.

So has anyone had these meds before? And did they help?

Grrr....It's annoying that doctors sometimes don't listen or give credence to what their patients are saying. No one knows your own body better than you.
Next time you have any swelling take a picture to show the doctor.
Or maybe consider a new doctor.
I don't know anything about those meds, so sorry I can't be more helpful.Sorry Hayley, I havent heard of those either. You will have to let us know if it works:-) Keep complaining to the Dr, dont give up. If he dont listen change Dr's. I had one that asked me if my mother had large knuckles! Never went back. New Dr found all kinds of things in my labs to prove I wasnt imagining things.

Linda

Hayley, meloxicam is Mobic, which is an NSAID. I've taken it before and it was somewhat helpful, but not as much as some of the other anti-inflammatories have been for me (I'm currently on nabumetone/Relafen). Amitryptaline is also known as Elavil, and is a tricyclic anti-depressant, but is also used to treat fibromyalgia and other fatigue disorders. I haven't taken that (or if I did, it was briefly 20 years ago and it didn't help me with my depression), instead I take Skelaxin (metaxalone) which is a muscle relaxant.

I agree about taking pictures of the swelling. My rheumy could see the swelling when he examined me, but photos showed him how much worse it got between visits.

But more importantly, did he get bloodwork done? The exam is important and so is taking info from the patient, but looking at inflammation markers, the RF and other markers is also important. Sorry if I missed all that in a previous post.

Welcome, Hayley. I'm only slightly familiar with the amitriptyline, but I've been taking meloxicam for over a year. It is an anti-inflammatory (NSAID). It is the generic for Mobic. I had been taking 15 mg until just recently. But I was having very bad edema in my legs and feet and even my water pills (Lasix) that I take every day, weren't helping like they usually do. I double the Lasix for a week, when I have a bad spell of edema, then go back to regular dose. But this time nothing helped. I would gain 6-8 lbs. during the course of one day!

My PCP told me that meloxicam, or any NSAID for that matter, could cause fluid retention (edema), so I stopped it for 3 days. I lost 9 lbs, but the pain was terrible. Even with my narcotic pain meds, that one little pill made a big difference. So I started it again. And swelled up again.

My rheumy recommended that I take 1/2 a meloxicam and see if it helped. It was amazing. Very little swelling now.

Just want you to know that if you experience an edema problem, it could very possibly be the meloxicam. But we do need inflammatories, of course, as inflammation causes a lot of our pain, as RA patients. I'm sure your RD can adjust your meds if that happens.

I hope the new meds give you a lot of relief.

I think Joonie takes amitriptyline, or used to. Maybe she can give you some info on it.

Hope you get a diagnosis soon and that your meds help,

Hugs. Nini