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Hello, Everybody!

Anastasia+22010-06-07 13:12:59I could have written  your post......  28 years ago.

Thank you for your reply.  Wow, 5 kids! The doctor is still running some test, so, I am not sure how severe my condition is. Hope it is not bad.

Wish you the best as well! Hello Anastasia, I am a 35 year old mother of 3. I was diagnosed 8 years ago during my last pregnancy. The pain and swelling started in my wrists, then moved to my feet and got so bad I couldnt walk by the time the evening rolled around. I was lucky to get a quick diagnosis, but because I was preganant at the time I was only given prednisone to begin with also. Prednisone helps almost immediately, but it does not help keep the RA from progressing. Your dr should start discussing with you the different types of drugs that are available to you, and you can decide where you want to start. It is important to start aggresively in the beginnging with hopes of going into remission at some point, and also to keep any damage from occuring. It may take awhile to find the right medicines to work for you, it took years for me to find my balance with the meds. Many failures before a combination of methotrexate and weekly humira injections finally got things under control. I have heard that many drs try to get you off prednisone as soon as possible, but I have been unable to come off prednisone since my diagnosis, I am now on a 10mg per day dose and can not seem to get any lower without provoking bad flares. Good luck to you, you will beable to do all you need to do to take care of your babies, there will be hard days but we are moms and somehow we always find a way to make it work! Angel

Thank you, Angel! Well if you can take care of 3, I guess I should be able to take care of 2. I am going back to the doctor on the 17th and will see what he says. I didn't know tha prednisone doesn't keep RA from progressing. But as soon as I took it, I felt normal again. What a feeling! Thank you for listening, you made me feel so much better!

Prednisone has been described as a wonder drug and in my case I thought it was the holly grail at first.
After five or so weeks of crippling pain this drug had me feeling almost normal, and off to work I went.
I only lasted about three hours, loss of balance, shakes and a few other things.
At that point in time I was on 75mg a day.

Pred is only a mask for this disease and as stated, does not do anything to halt the progression of erosion that works underneath the hood.

My current meds are 5mg of Pred (D), 25mg MTX (W), and Humira shot every fortnight.

Unfortunately if you have RA you are going to be on medications for the rest of your life unless you are one of the lucky ones.
Thank you for your reply, Stephen... I also thought that prednisone is a wonder drug because it made me feel so much better right away! But after reading some side effects and how hard it is to get off of it, I am not so exited any more. But at least I feel better right now, and I can take care of my kids. We will see what the doctor will tell me at my next appointment, on the 17th. Just wanted say hi and welcome, I don't have much time to post right now but wanted to let you know that I am 32 and a mother of 3 boys (6, 4, and 9 1/2 months).  I am on no meds now except for the occassional tyelnol or ibuprofen (which I am sure you know does nothing) because I am still nursing.  I will try to get on after the kids go to bed to post more.  Sorry you have to be here but welcome!!!!  :) reegie2010-06-07 17:02:37Thank you, Reegie! My girls are my life, they are great! I have no idea how you do it, 3 kids and only tylenol??? Anyway, thank you for letting me know that there are other moms out there and they are able to do things for their kids. Makes me feel so much better! Hi was diagnosed 4 years ago when my youngest was 10( he was diagnosed 2 years ago with JRA(JIA) and I see him hurt almost everyday. Its not easy taking care of kids especially when they are you even without RA. Just know I am thinking about you and do what you can!Chrise, Sorry to hear about your son. I know it is hard to watch your kids suffer. Wishing you the best! Anastasia,

My story is very similar to yours as well and my heart goes out to you that you have to be here with the rest of us. You are very fortunate in one respect in that there are so many new powerful treatments for the disease now. I have had RA for about 15 years now and palindromic arthritis before that. Today I am on Enbrel and feel great. I have two teenagers and workout regularly. I look and feel better than most people 10 years younger. So hang in there. It's a roller coaster ride but not the end of the world.

Hessalina, it makes me feel a lot better. You can even workout!! Wow! Well, I guess RA is bad, but not too bad. We can get it under control!!

Anastasia,
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