The Management of Difficult RA | Arthritis Information

Site mail me with what you want to know and I'll give it a shot thanks for that Lynn!! very interesting.......

I wonder how many were DX'd biophosphonates? I wasn't and I'm a woman in menopause

This video was surely worth the watch. I learned quite a bit. Especially about the progression of the disease, dosing and med combinations. However, I too would be interested to better understand some of the testing markers mentioned there. Lyn , What I think is that we need a central bank for information where all this stuff can be stored for easy reading and a simple link can be supplied.
Any info or writing need to be from a layman's point of view so the average Joe can at least get a handle on things.

I'll have to some research and see if any layman's understanding exists on the net, all in one place.

Have you thought of a blog devoted to RA where this info could be assembled.
The forum is great for general chit chat but lacks the bones to go any further.
Notice how many times he mentioned depression as one of the patients normal disease symptoms?

Any time she was not good and not coping, he included the depression symptom.

I think there is a LOT of shame associated with depression. Especially for us RAer's, it's is a difficult and touchy subject still for most of us. The traditional clinical depression has a lot of stigma associated with it. I believe what RA patients get is environmental depression not clinical.

His mention of it so many times in relation to her state of physical unwellness simply confirmed to me what I have believed for a long time. That when our pain and crippling is high we naturally get depressed. This isn't clinical rather environmental. You can see this by how the patient's depression dissipated when her RA was better controlled. Time and time again, I have experienced the same thing.

And as RA patients we usually experience anxiety also, because when you are in so much pain and doing your Daily Living Activities becomes difficult, naturally we feel overwhelmed by the simplest thing. This can often lead to panic also.

I think both the environmental depression and anxiety that accompanies RA, we need to talk about more openly together. Even just for the reason that doing so would help anyone new to RA and feeling down some insight into the normality this has in our world.
Well Cords, I can suffer from all three (depression, anxiety and panic) and I can't say that I am In a lot of pain.
I simply struggle to cope with what others consider normal.
One problem at a time is ok, maybe two, but if it gets to more, I start going into melt down.

I know the response might be that this is understandable as I am a bloke, but these sorts of things were water off a ducks back a few years ago.
Thank you Lynn, excellent. Funny guy too.Wow- I came away understanding a lot more why my doctor has been telling me my RA severe when I don't feel like I am. There is so much more to it then not feeling severe pain. I don't know how he has put up with me for the past year being so stubborn about starting a TNF.
It's late- I'm going to watch this again another time and compare myself to the charts they showed of the patient he was following.

Thanks Lynn- where do you find these things?????

Oh I so agree SnowOwl...

When I was having issues with dry mouth the responses I got here and on the AF board were very helpful. I read all the info I could but I wanted to know other people's experiences too

In my opinion, a combination of medical information and personal experiences is a good thing

[QUOTE=SnowOwl]Lynn I deleted my post because I didn't wish to appear to be hijacking your good medical thread with a tangential discussion. I always appreciate your articles and information. [/QUOTE]

You didn't have to do that...I liked your post

Thanks for telling me you deleted it, for a moment there I thought I was seeing things I wish this guy was my doctor. He sounds like he knows his stuff.

By the way...WTB your inbox is full

Bob

[QUOTE=Bodak]Well Cords, I can suffer from all three (depression, anxiety and panic) and I can't say that I am In a lot of pain.
I simply struggle to cope with what others consider normal.
One problem at a time is ok, maybe two, but if it gets to more, I start going into melt down.

I know the response might be that this is understandable as I am a bloke, but these sorts of things were water off a ducks back a few years ago.
[/QUOTE]

RA is an extremely overwhelming disease, Stephen. That combo of three - depression, anxiety and panic, I believe are a very disease related.

And the depression isn't always purely pain related although it can increase or decrease with pain levels. The depression can just be disease related in that when you aren't able to do what you did prior to RA, you can feel hopeless, dissolutioned and without purpose. As human beings, whether male or female we all need something we love that gives us purpose and meaning in out lives. The depression can just come through not being able to manage our DLA - Daily Living Activities and nothing more.
[QUOTE=Bodak]Lyn , What I think is that we need a central bank for information where all this stuff can be stored for easy reading and a simple link can be supplied.
Any info or writing need to be from a layman's point of view so the average Joe can at least get a handle on things.

I'll have to some research and see if any layman's understanding exists on the net, all in one place.

Have you thought of a blog devoted to RA where this info could be assembled.
The forum is great for general chit chat but lacks the bones to go any further.
[/QUOTE]

I think this is a great idea! I keep bookmarking and copy and past to word but it is all about as disorganized as the rest of my life!
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