Good tips to cope with RA | Arthritis Information

Hi! This is my first post. I am suffering from RA for last 3 years. I ave been on methotrexate & doing well.

There was a time when I had such sever joint pain & swelling that I could not even get up from the bed. Touch wood!! I am much better now.

Got a good collection of tips while surfing the web. Good resource as to how the kitchen should be to minimise the joint pain in RA. http://www.arthritissupportboard.com/ra%20kitchen.htm

The same site also gives a good way of planning house cleaning jobs. Something I always end up messing up, I start with the job & end up with joint pain flare. http://www.arthritissupportboard.com/planning%20a%20cleaning %20job.htm

Please keep in mind, although we can reduce the discomfort that without the proper meds we are damaging our joints with inactivity! Get some real RA meds to help you and you won't have to think up ways to 'cope'!! Sarah Lynda

Ummm I am on real meds and I still have to think of ways to cope and I still have to plan out my housework daily so that I do not over do it. I have my kitchen set up to minimize making extra work for myself. We always have to figure out how to cope with RA in one way or another. I had to start taking something for fatigue that I could no longer cope with.

Please also keep in mind that treatment for RA is individual. Last time I checked, methotrexate is a real RA med.

Anyways, who wouldn't want to make housework easier?

I'm a little bit irritated that there are posts but no one has welcomed ringit yet.

Welcome to the board ringit and thank you for sharing the links. We can always use help making things a little easier. Heck...healthy people could use help making things easier! I think it's great that all you take is MTX and are doing so well. I'm sure a lot of us wish we were that fortunate. Are you really writing to us all the way from India? I adore the culture, people and especially the FOOD.

I have to agree with grammaskittles on planning things out as to not over do it. I've pushed myself several times because I'm such a hard head and I've paid dearly.

grammaskittles....what are you taking for fatigue? How is it working? I'm very interested. Please post or feel free to PM.

Ringit...again, welcome! Hope to see more from you.

Peace & Love....Neasy

Neasy39242.3082060185

Welcome Ringit!!!! Fatigue is something we all struggle with everyday. Please keep posting good hints, I love to hear them.

Grammie, I, too and interested in what you are taking for fatigue. I'm overwhelmed with it and it seems to be my biggest problem right now. Please pm me, or post it. I really need some help in this department

Thanks,

Phats

Hi Ringit and welcome to the board. Thanks for the two websites. We are about to redo our bathroom, so the one on faucets was helpful. I have had RA for 3 years too. I'm doing better than I was when I first got diagnosed. I'm on prednisone, plaquanil, and enbrel. I was on methetrexate but stopped. Now I am in the process of reducing my prednisone. The early meds do seem to make a difference. Oooops! Welcome Ringit!! Did my post and forgot to welcome you.....Sorry, Sarah Lynda

Hi Ringit! Welcome.

You've found a great board. I belong to several but I think this one is the best!

Thanks for the hyperlinks. I think I need to pay more attention to this one:

Plan well in advance. Use a Sunday to plan for the coming week. If you don't plan, you will end up doing too many things on a single day & tax your joints.

You know how it is? You feel terrible for a couple of weeks, then when you feel better, you look around and realize your house is a mess and you just have to get it clean before you feel bad again. Then, you feel bad because you worked too hard getting it clean while you felt better. Vicious circle!

Sorry for the delay in answering everyone's questions about what I am taking for fatigue. We were supposed to go camping all weekend but had major storms come thru Thursday night and into the wee hours of Friday morning so camping was out because of the wet and muddy factor lol. I took a day off from all the boards and kicked it with the family lol. Cleaning, shopping, horsing around, etc. lol.

I am taking Provigil for the fatigue. It works pretty well. Make sure you take it when you first wake up if your doc prescribes it for you. I run on a 2nd shift schedule since Danny works 2nd shift. I got up one day about 11 am and took it and was up until about 3 am lol. It is very expensive tho. There is no generic for it and my co-pay for it with my insurance is 50 bucks. I have samples my rheumy gave me and saving them for when we go camping or just not want to be fatigued that day if we are all going out to do something. Provigil is given to people who have narcolepsy. I take 100mgs. That is on the low end. According to my insurance web site it comes in 100-300mg doses. Trust me...all you need is 100mg lol.

Hi all, I agree that provigil is great, but unless you have a diagnosis of Narcolepsy, MS, or work shift work, it is hard to get an insurance company pay for it. I was on it for a while until my insurance company decided it was too expensive.

I take 20mg of adderal now. It is the medicine they give to kids with ADD. It works ok, but I get jittery on it sometimes. I can sure feel it when the drug starts to wear off.

I wouldn't be able to work at all if I didn't take something for the fatigue. I was napping between classes and that isn't good.

Mary B I have just begun using something for fatigue and that is Taurine. Google taurine rheumatoid and you will see it also has potential to help with RA damage. Never knew that until today.

But since I have been taking it I feel far more energized and alert. I actually began taking it a bit over a month back, when I happened to being working on my deck. I noticed I had more energy when I was working on the deck which I figured was due to simply being more active. But I happened to stop taking it a week ago and noticed a drop in my energy levels as alertness. Since resuming it the past couple days I feel significantly better. Plus it is NOT a stimulant. I am still formulating an opinion but so far I like this addition to my regimen...

right now I am taking 2g (as in 2000mg) 3x/daily. Plus it's cheap via the place I get it online.

Welcome to the board and thank you for the helpful sites. We all need help to get things done, whether it's a special tool or just another hint on how to pace ourselves.

I have to pace myself. I only have so much energy in the day and I have to make sure I use it wisely or frustration will set in. That leads to stress and we all know where that leads.

Breck, am going to do some research on Taurine. I'd like to take something for energy but I don't want anything that's a stimulant.

Once again welcome. Lindy

[QUOTE=hurts]Please keep in mind, although we can reduce the discomfort that without the proper meds we are damaging our joints with inactivity! Get some real RA meds to help you and you won't have to think up ways to 'cope'!! Sarah Lynda[/QUOTE]

Hi Ringit,welcome,and thanks for your input, I wish you well and it seems to me like all the guys have given you good info.

Sarah, please also keep in mind that some of us have tried the real RA meds and can't stay on them long enough due to allergies or intolerances, and even though I am currently taking a real RA med (MTX) and coping so far, I still have to pace myself due to incredible fatigue and of course fibromyalgic pain and spinal pain. Regards Janie.

Thanks all for the kind words.

Just wanted to share with you ....One good thing my Rheumatologist told me on day one was 'dont cope with your RA, rather conquer it'.