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Hello all my name is jenny i am 37 years of age with 3 children. I am from wisconsin. I been lurking this website for a long time now and decided it was time to make some new friends.
I dont have many friends here in the state other then my family. I have Ra arthritis and it makes me feel very sad i am depressed due to the pain i have in almost all joint areas. They say i have negative ra but i wonder if i have something more going on. It all started at work one day when i was cleaning the pain was under neath my feet and it was so bad i had to take baby steps to the car. I shortly after that had test after test done but no one ever did a cat scan or nothing. They said i have elevated crp level which my highest one is now 10 and now its a 4 and my esr is a 35 . I use to be on methrotrexate and folic acid but the medicine i had to stop cause it was makeing my immune system week. I loved being on it i actually was cured from it the pain went completely away for 1 year i was medicine free then it all came back and now its ten times worse. I also have new symptoms. I have noduels in my neck that swell up and go down at times sometimes i get chest pains. I to also have a slightly enlarged thymus gland but these noduels are so small that no one rechecked them. My dr says the only option now is for me to take shots but i am scared to death of shots so i use over the counter medicines for now. I get sick off and on due to the pain i have. I feel old and i am so young. I worry if i take the shots i will have severe side affects like i did with methrotrexate. I can still walk and all but i have to walk like a snail at times. My hands swell up badly . I am also going to an alergist to see what foods i might be alergic to. To see if this will help my arthritis in any way. I also had low level vitamin d but i am now takeing 4000 iu a day to help bring the level up .
Well this is just a short intro on my condition i could go on and on but i am here to make friends and learn different ways to cope with this horrible pain . SOmetimes i think i have a tumor or something that they mist and that is the cause of pain but i no its not since i have had this since the age of 28 . Well hope to get to no more of u out there with ra jenny Hi Jenny...welcome!Hello !!!
Sorry you need to be here.. Hope you can find support and help!
Jenny,
Welcome!
I agree with Snow. You need some "disease modifying" medications to halt the progression of RA. The over-the-counter pills will only treat your symptoms. I too am curious why your doctor said you could only have shots now. There are other medications you can take that aren't shots, such as Sulfasalazine, Arava, Plaquenil, and Minocin. Sometimes people respond well when taking more than one at a time.
I hope you get some relief soon.
Hello every one thanks for the welcome i am glad to be here. Well my dr says the reason i cant be on medicine is because i tried methrotrexate and it messed up my liver when i was on it and i was at risk of being sick more. I also tried the salasulphazine and that one made me sick. He said that one takes months for it to work and i was breaking out with a rash from it. He is worried i cant take no other medicine other then them 500 dollar ones like enbreal or humara. he thinks i wont handle other ones well if i cant handle the ones he tried. Kinda makes me mad he says this cause i to no there is other choices besides the big expensive ones.
When i take the vitamin d3 i take it cause my level was a 25 and they want u to be around 80 to 100 is what his nurse told me. So i am takeing 4000 iu a day and i am doing fine with that amount. My rhumy is fine with takeing this amount to. Sometimes i skip days and dont take it but usually a few times a week i will take it.
I dont have many choices for other drs here since there is only 2 rhumys where i live and i dont want to travel for a second opinion. But i no i will have to be on something soon cause other wise i will end up in a wheel chair before age 60 which i dont want. I was wondering what u all take for your RA . I wanted to try enbrel but its like a 50 /50 chance there is some good about it and some bad . Guess i am confused as of what to do .
Snow i am actually from green bay wisconsin so thats cool u use to live in wisconsin .
jenny
I put off trying Enbrel for a long time because I was afraid my insurance wouldn't approve it. I'm glad I listened to my RD. I had a rather quick response to it and have been on it for several years with no side effects. I really like it. Before I got it filled, I signed up for Enbrel's Quick Assist program. They paid my entire copay for the first year. Now, I only pay a month. If you decide to try Enbrel, make sure you sign up for this program. It makes it very affordable.Hi, Jenny,
Sorry you have to be here, but this is the best place to be when you have this disease. Lots of good input and experience here.
You really need to get on rheumtologist-prescribed drugs and I hope your next visit will convince you of that. Don't be afraid your insurance won't approve it - I think most of the insurance companies recognize that it's a solid method of treatment. And if they don't approve it or the co-pay is too great, read kweenb's message above about signing up for the "Quick Assist" program.
Not doing anything is only giving your joints permission to get worse. And they will if you don't get on a proven method of treatment.
I wish you luck.
Hey Jenny good to see you here. There's a lot to be positive about in your words there- you're being proactive with your maladies. I would listen to your Dr and give the shots a try. I was on Humira for a while and it worked well, I might be going back on it again soon. Giving myself a shot for the first time was weird but it gets easier.
Even on the meds I am having trouble at least so far, and I have some trouble with depression. Thinking positive is very helpful, and acceptance can work wonders. Sounds to me like you're on the right road, but it's a tough one.
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