RA Progression? | Arthritis Information

Hi, I have another question
for everyone. I was just diagnosed about 3 months
ago. The RD told me I had a very high sed rate,
anemia, and a positive CCP marker (I guess -per my
RD-indicates recent onset, active/aggressive type of
RA??)

I am takiing prednisone (weaning off), mtx and
remicade. Most problems have been in my hands
and wrists and swelling is down quite a bit.

I'm curious as to what I should be expecting in the
future.... does it progressively get worse? (my RD
just told me not to worry-I will be OK)

I have not progressed nearly as far as many of you,
and I really admire all your strength and courage.
I'm just a little confused in general and
wondering ...are the meds supposed to stop the
progression of RA, or is it inevitable that it slowly
gets worse? I had two aunts who were severly
disabled by RA, so I guess it is part hereditary too??

Just new at all this and seeking more info.

Thanks for your patience!!

Tara,

Meds won't stop the progression, but they do slow it down. They will keep the damage to a minimum, hopefully, when you find the right combo.

My grandmother was pretty crippled up, and eventually died due to complications from the RA, but that was back when not much was known about it, and I think her coarse of treatment was pretty much limited to aspirin. I feel hopeful with my RA, since so much more is known about it now, and there are so many different forms of treatment.

Don't feel bad about being confused. I'm still confused about it all, and I was dx 6 years ago!

Cris

There is no real answer for you....everyone is different. Hopefully having caught it early and getting started on some heavy hitters you will be able to avoid the damage that others may have. The meds are hopefully to stop the progression and if they work you may never have damage...hope that is the case for you. You have done what you need to and can now just hope that you will be one of the lucky ones who never has major problems. good luck

ginger

Tara; yes, it's inevitable that it's going to progress.

You are lucky though. You are getting aggressive treatment early. They haven't always used this coarse of treatment. Years ago when your Aunts were going through this there were no treatments to SLOW the progression. The treatments you are on...like so many of the rest of us here are aiming toward slowing the progression there for delaying and maybe even preventing joint damage that causes the disability.

When I was diagnosed a little over 11 years ago I started out on Predisone, Sulfersalazine, and an assortment of NSAIDS which took them several years to admit were not enough. They SLOWLY worked you up to more agggressive treatments as they discovered you weren't responding. Now they have discovered it's best to skip all of that and go straight to the more aggressive treatments like MTX, Humira and Enbrel. This is good news for yourself, and other Newbies.

It can be controled with proper medication; but it does progress.

I'm certainly not a doctor, and there may be some here that will dispute what I'm saying...but this is what I've discovered studying it all these years...and my first hand expereince with my own progression.

Lovie

Yes it does progress, but it depends on the meds and you. What type of job do you have? Do you do things reptitively with your hands, type, work on a computer for hours, etc. It depends. My job right now I use my hands alot and have to wear thumb splints because the soft tissue around the base of my thumbs is inflammed with ra right now. My hands are affected too, I do embroidery, and other crafts and have flowerbeds and roses I tend too. I try to rest my hands when I can and make sure to take my meds. Right now you could put a piece of chocolate in my hands and it would be melting pretty bad. lololololThanks for all the information.
It's really filled in a lot of the 'blanks' for me and
I think I understand a lot more.   I work as an
administrative assistant and do heavy computer and
project work . When my hands first became swollen
& numb I was sent for workers comp and then was
off work for 2 weeks...this really helped. (they
decided that I had a repetitive stress injury which
caused the ra to flare up).         I wore hand splints
for a long time and still do at night sometimes.

right now I still have swollen wrists and a few stiff
/sore fingers and some weird painful bumps in my
palm.

I'm going to see how things go and then talk with my
RA when I go back in 2 months for my 4th remicade
treatment.

Thanks again everyone!

TaraTara check this site out it might help with understanding hand pain and the problems. meme http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/hw100.htm meme38519.7267939815awesome site meme thanks :)

Meme

I hope you will post this site on the resource listing. Its very clear and the diagrams are excellent. I used a couple of diagrams to explain my recent hand surgery to my family. I highly recommend this site for people with hand problems.

Barb

Hi Meme,

Thanks for the link to the site about hands. It is
really good! I am one who always wants to know the
'why' and 'how' of things and the diagrams and
desctiptions listed are great.

Thanks again,
Tara L
Tara L38521.4123726852

I am glad you liked the site, when I started the problems with my thumbs i did some research and found this site. I thought they did a very good job putting the explainations etc. into layman's terms.

meme

ps I put it under the useful links forum too.