Have you ever had "remission"? | Arthritis Information

 

How long did it last? Were you completely symptom free? Were you able to stop taking meds?

[QUOTE=abbyrhoades] I've not been lucky enough to find remission, yet.  I'm working toward that goal!!

I had about 13 good years before my JRA showed it's ugly face again.  In 2001 I had a minor flare that only lasted a few months then settled down again.  I wasn't symptom free but felt pretty good from about July 2001 until last May when the mother of all flares hit.  Since then it's been a real rollercoaster ride.  Nothing seems to work except massive doses of prednisone which is not good.  I didn't really fail Humira so much as my PCP talked me into having the RD switch it back to Enbrel after ending up with shingles on humira.  He said it was just way to potent.  I don't know why I agreed with him but I did what he asked.  Now I'm afraid if I try Humira again it won't work because I've been exposed to it, however briefly, and may now have antibodies against it. 

Well he wont MAKE me go into remission but he wants to see me in remission before he takes me off of the drugs. When I went to see him I was untreated for like 5-6 months because I cant take NSAIDs (I have a minor kidney disease) so I was a pretty pathetic case when I went in. He put me on meds (MTX) for the first time in Sept... but then they stopped working by end of Nov and so then I had to get authorized through my insurance company to get on Humira which I started in Feb (which seems to be working good) and ideally I wanted to try to get pregnant in March-June but since he was still trying to get my arthritis under control he wanted me to wait since we had JUST started treatment and I was finally seeing results.

...and by remission he means symptom free...

Wow Abby, how frustrating this must be for you! My youngest child is 3, but I was lucky enough to be diagnosed after my hysterectomy, which of course means no chance for more pregnancies. I know how badly I wanted my babies and I also know how much RA sucks. I am so sorry that you have to deal with both.
I would also like to know what exactly remission means, so I am interested in what other people post. Does it mean no symptoms whatsoever, or just a reduction of symptoms?
I hope you reach remission quickly Abby. (you share a name with one of my daughters. Such a great name ) I thought if you have RA it means drugs for the rest of your life.
I had what my doctor called a medicine induced remission for just under a year. All my blood tests were in normal range. I did still have fatigue and was not completely pain free but he called it remission.
When I had to go off MTX for an infection I lost it and have not been able to get back since. This has been since December 2008.

OOPS- I did not see you were just trying to go off MTX temporarily- to get pregnant. Best of luck to you!
wanttobeRAfree2009-03-29 05:35:46I was diagnosed as a teen and never achieved remission.  I went off mtx. 3 months before trying to get pregnant.  Dr. never tried for remession for pregnancy.  I don't think a dr. should use that as criteria-for many, it just won't happen.  It depends on your definition of remission. Like a lot of people, I had a very sudden and severe onset to my RA. Within a couple of months after onset, I could barely function. My RD started me on plaquenil, and within 6 months, my symptoms were virtually gone, and all my blood tests (including SED rate and CRP) were normal. I stayed in "remission" for nearly 8 years, while continuing to take plaquenil. Then, suddenly, my symptoms returned full force virtually overnight. My RD put me on MTX for a year, but it barely worked at all. Then he put me on Humira, which relieved my symptoms almost immediately. However, the inflammation markers in my blood continued to test high. After about 18 months, my blood tests finally returned to normal, and I've been in "remission" ever since. I continue to take plaquenil and MTX (10mg), along with the Humira, and doubt if I'll ever be able to quit taking them. However, I'm just happy to be symtom free ... for now.
[QUOTE=abbyrhoades]How long did it last? Were you completely symptom free? Were you able to stop taking meds? [/QUOTE] a thought: I'm in clinical remission and have been for over 14 months.  It took me over 4 years to reach CR.  Clinical remission means:  No visible swelling on examination, less than 15 minutes of stiffness in the morning on arising, no inflammation of the synovium - shown by xray or MRI and normal lab work.  This is the criteria used to identify clinical remission.  All of components of this criteria need to be met before clinical remission is diagnosed.  Usually you can't stop medications that were used to achieve CR; you might be able to reduce your medication, but once you completely stop, then RA slowly becomes active.  There is the odd case that remains in remission but that's not the usual.  LinB2009-03-29 10:12:34I'm in remission right now, and have been for about a year.  I have to go get some x-rays of hands and feet just to make sure everything is still A-OK, but bloodwork, pain/stiffness (or lack thereof!) and general well-being all say remission.

I did have a bit of a flare a couple months back, but it was short-lived (perhaps a week or so).  I was also suffering from almost back-to-back illnesses: stomach bug, upper respiratory infection, ear infection... I don't think there was a single cell in my body that wasn't waving the white flag!

I have never had a remission in the 7 years I've had RA. Some years were a whole lot worse than others so new meds were started, but even in the not so bad years, I've never been symptom free nor fit the CR criteria listed above.

I did finally achieve clinical remission for my awful ulcerative colitis... another autoimmune disease that plagued me for over 20yrs, but it sort of morphed into severe IBS-diarrhea which is a functional disorder but still life alterating. It never ends..parden the pun.

I am very lucky that RA didn't hit me until after my hysterectomy. I had enough troubles with becoming pregnant with that UC and bad endrometriosis.

[QUOTE=abbyrhoades]How long did it last? Were you completely symptom free? Were you able to stop taking meds? [/QUOTE]