Hi, I am new to the forum and relatively new to rheumatoid arthritis. I am a 39 year old Australian living in Austria (not fluent in German) so any advice is welcome. I started experiencing stiffness and swelling in my right foot (especially one toe), both knees and my left thumb in late July 2010. I had awful trouble/stiffness in the night and in the morning, it got a bit better in the afternoons. After my GP only found infection in my blood tests which didn't respond to antibiotics, he sent me to a rheumatologist. They did complete blood tests, x-rays and told me I have (seronegative) rheumatoid arthritis. I was started on 25mg Aprednislon, then 12.5, then 5 and now 2.5 I was also given calcium to take daily and an anti-inflammatory (Deflamat) to take twice a day. After a quick improvement the symptoms are now constant, I still have swelling and not so flexible knees. The doctor now calls it oligoarthritis as it hasn't spread to any other joints.
On my last visit the rheumatologist decided to put me on Ebetrexat (MTX) 10 mg to start with (once a week). They hope to get it up to 25 mg, and then I can stop taking the cortisone. I have to have a blood test every 2 weeks for the next 3 months to check my liver and other things for reactions to the Ebetrexat. I also have folic acid to take twice a week, 3-4 days after the Ebetrexat.
Does anyone else have similar experiences? It is really frustrating for me, a formerly very active person (I ran the Vienna half marathon last April - now I can't run even a few metres).
Many thanks. Janine
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