Hi. I am 33 and have been diagnosed with RA for a yr now. I have been reading posts on this site for awhile now. My rd has me on Methotrexate subq, recently switchted from prednisone to Methylprednisone, also switched from Napoxen to Meloxicam, folic acid and vitamin d and calcium. They also have me in a study group where I get Enbrel or placebo and sulfazine/plaquinill or placebo and have not found alot of relief on any of these. The pain will not go away!!! I have had cortizone shots in Both wrists they are still swollen every day and painfull. It has recently moved to my ankles to the point I can no longer even wear tennis shoes. For the longest time I thought I was going crazy and finally sought help for depession and anxiety. I filed for disability recently even though i know they are probally going to deny me. Does this disease ever get any better? I'm trying to hang in there.
To be honest with you the clinical study isn't helping you gain control of RA. You may be in the placebo group and your RA damage is progressing, pain and inflammation increasing. If you're in the Enbrel group then Enbrel may not be the right drug for you. Either way you're losing ground. It sounds like you need to talk to your doctor about adding a biologic, maybe adjusting MXT, adding Sulfasalzine and dropping out of the study. Let us know about your progress. Lindy