By roll my feet, I mean when walking I put my heel down first and then roll the foot forward and push off with the toes and ball of my foot. I can't believe it!
I have been walking for over 4 months using my feet as stumps. You know, plop the foot down as if it was a dangling block of wood attached to the leg.
So it has been much better for the last few days, what a great feeling to be able to walk with a bit of spring in the step. So I've been on the medicine for about 5 weeks now, 2 Actemra infusions, and MTX (oral, first 4 weeks @ 7.5 mg per week, now at 15 mg per week). Again, I am not sure if either of these is a placebo or not, but there is a 75% chance that they are giving Actemra, and 75% chance of real MTX. Still taking Celebrex twice a day for pain / inflammation. I don't notice any side effects from the medicines, it all seems pretty vanilla, so I can't use side effects to try and figure out which medicines are real vs placebo. The Actemra I get is clear, if anyone knows of a different color then please let me know as that might give me a hint if I am getting Actemra or placebo.
A couple of weeks ago I could walk normal, for a day, and then it was back to plopping. But now for about 4 days I can walk in the real way (knock on wood -- I hope I am not being overly optimistic by writing about the good news!). There is still some mild pain in the toes and ankles, but not like before, and sometimes for a few occasional hours no pain at all. Also, standing up from a chair / couch is now less traumatic for the past few days. It used to be: get mentally ready, reposition for the move to standing, grit teeth and push up, balance for a few seconds, and then painfully start moving. The last few days I can stand from a chair in a normal way (without having people ask "are you alright?" which is a really annoying question).
So maybe these treatments are working. These are really big improvements to how I have been living.
Roland
Sounds promising! I'm so glad you're getting some relief. I will be starting Actemra soon (I'm driving to the doctor's to sign the Genentech release now!) and will let you know if it's clear. good new Roland, hope this continues for you
Sounds very promising Roland, I hope it continues forever.
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