I've heard that remission is possible. But does anyone know of someone who actually entered remission?
Hi Deanna,
My husbands Boss is in Remission and has had no pain for 6 years, before that he had trouble doing day to day activities, He takes no Medication and does not eat red meat. He is on a special diet and says it has made all the difference.
I think I will stick to my medication for now.
Was he ever on medications? Do you think the diet really makes a difference? Or do you suspect that he just went into remission as mysteriously as this disease appears?
I can understand staying away from red meat. I'm not off it entirely, but rarely eat it any more. But that's just a normal healthy thing.
Curious. I wonder what others will come up with.
See if you can get him to share his eating habbits, any help would be wonderful :)WEll I was just at the RD and after my blood work results are in I may just be in remission; at this point he says I am. Since my initial dx in 1991 after having RA all my life I am at a manageble point without meds.
I tried them all cept for Kineret and Remicade. The Enbrel helped me the most, at least that is the way it appears. Somehow I had managed to have no swelling and can do more things but do have extensive damage to my joints and the osteo is still with me.
I still get fatigued, still have some pain but have more stamina. Keep in mind I was a very severe case and a tremendous amout of damage incurred. ( mostly cause I was one of those patients that got absolutely sick of the meds and side effects so I would go off of them for awhile a big NO - NO!) . Keep in mind, I could form cysts again, hopefully not, but I will enjoy the time I have.
For my back and neck pain I go to a chiropractor, he realigns my spine. Some days I go in there and it is really bad and I do have neck excersizes to do to protect the bones and strengthen my neck muscles.
Truthfully, I never thought I would ever get to remission and hope that my blood work comes back satisfactory. I still have the scan to go though for bone density and will be on the nose spray for the Osteo ( pred induced). I have lost most of the fillngs in my teeth so those need replaced and I remain to have hip pain and ankle pain, well frankly all my body aches, but then again I am almost 50.
SO remission number wise can occur. I naturally eat mostly veggies but do enjoy baked chicken and beef sometimes so there may be a diet correlation, I just dunno. My eyes have gotten worse I do know that.
I have always believed that this is just what I have, this is what has happened to me and my family so you just take it a day at a time and try to live your life to the fullest as you are able. After watching my father be in pain on a daily basis due to an accident that left him paralyzed from the waist down, and then died right before my daughter came along, I just count my lucky stars each day for what I do have.
This does not mean that I do not cry or become sad or become frustrated and even angry, it just means that I do the best I know how and I wasn't one of those "lucky" people that have a perfect little cacooned life and perfect health. It does mean though I worked hard and aggressively along with the best RD in the world as far as I am concerned toward a main goal and that was to treat the RA. There are no guarantees, some relief, a lot of damage but my soul is still intact and my head is screwed on straight ( somehow, probably thanks mostly to the chiropractor who works diligently and most cautiously on my neck).
It was a long road for me with too many mountains to climb.It was a childhood filled with pain, tears, missed days at school and people who thought I was faking the pain.It was a life filled with tests, test results,medical bills, and medications that tore deep holes in my stomach. It was MY way of life.My existence here on earth.
The good thing is, I am here and able to help out and share what I can so it didn't turn out all that bad.
jode
I went into remission after 4 years of RA. It was when I was first put on Methx. My Dr. slowly weaned me of it completelty. It lasted a little over one wonderful year. It came back with a vengence.
We've tried a few other times to wean off the meds. but it always failed.
So the dream of remission is possible! I'd love to be able to duplicate it again.
Jode,
Glad to hear you might be in remission.
I would just like to know what it's like to go a week without a flare. I can no longer imagine life without the pain and fatigue and that doesn't seem right.
I hope to hear of more people that have reached it, but then they probably aren't coming here any more.
dbmy3, I'm glad you got that year. Your experience is what I've heard more about. Temporary remission and then bang, hard again.
ms_reed,Quite frankly, I do not know that I ever left a flare, to me my body hurts all the time and that is just the way life is with me. To be totally without pain, I have never experienced that, something always hurts. I had 5 surgeries to my hands within 2 years, have lost most the feeling and range of motion in my right hand. Then I broke that wrist, my bones are like driftwood so they could not do surgery; my wrist hurts most of the time. My hands get burned and scratched quite a bit because I have lost so much feeling in them but can still write most days but drop things all the time! lol.....but the worst has subsided for now.
For me, I just got accustomed to the pain, adjusted my pain level numbers and go on with my life. I am not in a nursing home all mangled and I can do most of the things I would like to do, and if I am having a huge day come up , I just rest up for it.
The worst part of it lifestyle wise, I could never sustain my career. But that is an entirely different topic.
jode
Deanna, I to dream of remission. From 2000 to 2005 I was in remission with no meds but Celebrex and then the mother of all flares hit. One of the first things my RD did was to take xrays of my hands, wrist, ankles, knees, and feet. He compared them to my films from 2000, and guess what I wasn't in remission. I had no pain for those 5 years but the sneakly little RA was doing major damage. On top of it I was diagnosed with PA. Due to my experiences, I don't think I'll ever go into remission. I can only hope that the meds slow the process. Like you I dream and hopefully we'll always dream. I don't ever want to get to the point that I don't dream and give up.