HA! Did the subject line get your attention?
I want to know which meds have worked the best the fastest for all of you. Meaning everything from a Tylenol to Prednisone to Remicade. What was it and how quick did you feel a difference? Dag..what a tease!! LOL Unfortunately, I must be no good at quickies :(..I haven't found anything that works fast yet! Boy I must be a pervert.....I looked....LOL!!!
Anyways, the dreaded prednisone works fast for me! Ibuprofen was good also, now cant take it cause of the MTX, but dont need it (because of the pred.!) DC The dreaded prednisone. Works SO fast. Love it. Hate it gotta have it.
I have vowed to always have some on hand... no matter what. I NEVER want to go thru what I did a month ago again. I thought I was dying! woobie
Haven't found any specifice drug or combination that has put me into remission. Pred. has been a quick fix, usually within 3 days I notice a change. Pred. doesn't put you in remission only fixes the inflammation. The disease is still there and damaging your joints. Pred. is a very misleading drug. Am still looking for that magic combo of drugs. On MTX and Enbrel but 7 weeks later there is only a very mild change in symptoms. Will start Remicaid end of month. My RD is pretty agressive and doesn't believe the Enbrel/Mtx will work for me. I know that it has worked for others. Prednisone junky for sure. My doctor hates it more than me. I'm really bad at trying to cut down. Magic meds: vicodine, but not too much. Mtx works, just not well enough. Add plaquenil and am a bit better. Add Enbrel, okay, a bit better. But still can't get down on the prednisone. My doctor is going to kill me. Best magic--a good, long, uninterrupted nap and people who love me. Physical therapist suggested I should look into winning the lottery. Gee, he has a lot of hope for me. Oh, how quick a quickie? Hmm! They started me on 60 mg prednisone because they thought I had temporal arteritis which is inflammation of the blood vessels in the head and can blind you. You're only supposed to get that if you over 70. (See what a freak I am.) That worked fast! Gave me killer migraines and crying constantly. I think Remicade was the best to actually make me feel normal. The day after my first infusion, my friends all said that they could see an immediate difference and I could feel it. Oh, I miss my Remicade. Prednisone is what helps me. Ive only been back on the MTX for 2 1/2 weeks. I take 10 mg. of the Prednisone but I think I may need more as I feel like crap & my knee is so swollen. I just don't know. Hey Deanna. It is a shame that you had to stop the Remicade. So you like it better then the MTX. Maybe I might ask my Dr. about it because I think I should have something that starts working fast, as my hands are getting more deformed & hurt.Boy, this stuff is terrible. But like I told my kids, it could be something a lot worse. trishasea, MTX is the second thing they try after prednisone because it's been around forever. They can add Plaquenil, which is what my doc did next. Then, when that was not working well enough, they added the Remicade. But if your hands are showing deformity, then get your Rheumy on the ball or change doctors. The whole point is to stop the damage because it is permanent. Surgery is the only way to correct it and hands are not very responsive to surgery. In the past, doctors started out with the minimum of medications. But now, most of them, have changed their opinion and are being very aggressive with treating patients sooner with stronger medicines. They can always take you down on your meds later after you start to show some response. Primary care doctors don't know very much about this disease. My Rheumy has three people that he just pays for just researching all the latest developments. I go online and read a lot. That way I know if my doc is up-to-date or not. Remicade, Humira and Enbrel are all relative new treatments. Two years ago, they were not being offered that much. So, some docs may be slower to offer them. Push to get some help. They cannot leave you in this condition. You may have to fight insurance. But it can be done. All of the biologics claim to help stop the damage. I think this is incredible and is the first real hope in stopping this disease. Mtx is a good, solid medicine and I still take it. So, right now, I have MTX, prednisone, Plaquenil and Enbrel. I'm still having more problems than I feel I should. But I am doing so much better than three years ago. Let me know what your doc says. Until then, do try the parafin baths. This is very inexpensive. You can buy one of those cute units at your local Walmart for about . You put wax in them and it melts it. Then you put plastic bags on your hands and put in that nice warm wax. It goes really deep. I did it twice a day for months and credit that as one reason I got the use of my hands back. The other thing that the doctor did is have me wear wrist braces at night. These are the heavier ones you can get at your drug store. This keeps me from sleeping on my hands the wrong way and gives my wrists a break. The third thing I do for work is wear the little compression gloves (also available in the drug store) that have holes for your fingers. I cannot type at work without them. They really make a difference. Hope this helps. It does make your skin soft, so very soft. It's one of the nice bonuses. You feel like you're spoiling yourself and are actually making things better. Read some of your other posts. You are hilarious this morning!
Relafen- still do not know to this day if it was doing anything at all.
MTX- yes it really worked.
Enbrel- amazing drug. Had to go back onto MTX with it, but am finally on Enbrel just by itself now and I feel the same.
Cortizone shot- works very fast. Good for specific joints that you are having problems with. Completely healed my right elbow and knees. I have had these shots directly into the joints, and also just in the bottom. :)
Tylenol Arthritis- all I can take out of this type of drug (no aspirin, ibuprofin)maybe things have changed now that I am off MTX.... but I haven't asked. I am not sure how well this actually works, but I took it quite a bit when I was bad. It was all I could take, so at least I felt like I was doing all I could.
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