Well...I finally got my diagnosis today. I have Sero-negative RA. He said my bloodwork was good but the bone and joint scan showed a very active arthitis in my neck, shoulders, spine, elbows, hips, knees and ankles. I told him about my forearm swelling and the knot that came up he said its probably tendonitis which is not uncommon in this conditon. He is starting me on Alsulfazine... Can yall tell me a lil about that stuff.... Im on a bit of a roller coster w/ my emotions today.. I thought i would be relived to get my results but im not. I feel like bawling... Anyways... I think i just need a nap didnt sleep good last night... I will check back later and thank yall for all the support that yall gave me b4 my appt. it really did help w/ the questions I had for him.
LINDA
((((hugs))) I am sorry I know nothing about the treatment your rhuemy has put you on. I just wanted to give you a nice gentle hug. It is so rough emotionally after diagnosis. But we are here for you and we will support you thru all of this.
Hi Jo,
Not sure, but I think maybe the drug you mentioned is sulfasalazine...but not really sure. If it is, then I've been on it for a couple of years now. Not really sure on it's own that it'll do much. I take it with mtx and plaquenil. When I first started sulfasalazine, I got some pretty bad headaches. But I started drinking more water (which is advised while taking this) and the headaches stopped.
Maybe someone else will know if this is the same as sulfasalazine.
Hope you're feeling better soon,
Kelly
Hi Linda,
I just wanted to let you know you are among friends. This is a hard time and I am so sorry. We will be here for you when you need us.
HI , I agree with everyone here it just isn't easy finding out you have this dumb disease, and that you will need to take these 'super drugs' and you will have to sort out all the stuff that goes along with it. It causes fatigue just thinking about it. No one feels good when they find out they have it. I put it off for 5 years, got inserts for my shoes and all sorts of things. Then I took plaquenil, then mtx, now the soup below. It is a long process. Sarah LyndaLinda,
It takes some getting used to the idea that we have a chronic condition. I simply didn't believe it for a while. Go have a good cry if you want, it won't do any harm and maybe you'll feel better. You will get lots of good support here so take advantage of that. I don't knw anything about the med you are on, sorry.
Hope you feel better soon.
Laker
Thank Yall... You are all so sweet... I will tell ya, I was EXTREMELY relieved that my rheumy told me that I dont carry the gene... So that was a relief to my mama too who was feelin like I got it from her... shes silly... but I was really worried bout my kids specially since my oldest daughter has complained with growin pains alot lately. He said he believed that mine was brought by the weight I gained during my pregnancies.. I had really bad preeclampsia/toxima.. I was soooo swollen... My norm. weight is 130 and when I delivered my youngest I weighed 233 so he said he believes its motor and weight caused... Has anyone else heard anything like that before?The generic name of the drug you're on is sulfasalazine. I've been on it for nearly 6 months and had no problems. I got some good advice about drinking lots of water as the med can make it easier to get dehydrated and I always take it with food. For the first few months you ahve to have blood tests about every 3 weeks then, if they have been good, you have to be tested every 3 months. Hope that helps!
Thanks! I will make sure to drink plenty of water... Dont want a headache...Im so glad I came here!