Hey,
I am a new member and have been fighting with ra for a little over a year now. I was a cop for 15 years but the ra has taken me off the streets for now. My problem is about two weeks ago I went to the beach for a week and after two days I started to have a flare. But this time I am having pain in the middle part of my back on both sides and in my chest. My doctor put me on predisone and antibiotics for a chest infection. I am stilling having the flare and I also have the chest and back problems.
Does anyone else have this type of pain with their ra and what do you do for it? The flare is still with me so I don't know if the beach or the weather or what caused it but it has been a dozy.
Hi...welcome. Are you seeing a rheumatologist...if not you need to go. You need to start a treatment plan that includes meds that will slow down the disease...not just relieve the symptoms. Flares can be pretty random..often there is no real trigger, and they can persist a long time. The location of the pain can also be pretty random.
Alan
Welcome to the board. Sorry you are not feeling so well right now. What a bummer...flaring on vacation. Stupid RA.
What meds are you on for the RA? Is that part of the reason for the chest infection?
An RA flare can be very painful. It is not unusual to have a lot of pain with a flare. Most of here are on some type of pain control or another.
Hope you feel better soon!
Hi , I agree with the previous posts, you need an RA doctor. We can't take our meds if we have any infection. The chest pain could be plursey or something like that and you can still have pain from the RA. Most meds don't help with RA except those specifically intended to stop the joint damage, etc. Lots of luck sorting out what is and isn't RA. We have RA pain and also other pains unrelated. Sometimes it is hard to tell which is which. LyndaI don't know if this is helpful but I'm on antibiotics as well as other RA meds and when I raise my dose of antibiotics I always get about half a day of the back pain you describe. Since you didn't have any med changes before your pain that's probably not related. You should really get it checked out as others have said. I just wanted to throw in it may be the RA causing the chest and back pain. I appreciate all of your comments. I have been in treatment for a year now. I am currently on methotrexate, arava, mobic and rituxen. I have been through humira and orencia. Please forgive any misspelling on my part. I have read that ra affects a lot of different organs but this flare is the first time it has really hit my chest. It is a little scary when it first happened and I am on the prednisone until I go back to see my rheumatologist next week. I am also on pain meds which I hate. Thanks again and I really like this site with all of the info and stories. It gives a place to communicate with people that have a lot of the same problems and concerns. I had what you describe three times in 18 months. I missed so much workHello Itabor & welcome to AI.
I'm sorry to hear about your flare, especially during vacation. I hope you're feeling better. I don't have much to offer here but Michele posted in another thread earlier about Costochondritis which might make for interesting reading.
Peace & Love...Neasy
welcome itabor,
Did your doc draw blood or do x-rays to confirm an infection. Were you running a fever? It's possible you may have costo. but I am not all that familiar with it. There are many kind and knowledgeable people here who might be able to add to this.
I too was a police officer. I figured once my chilren were in school full-time I would go back on the streets, then I decided to wait until they graduated, and now these darn diseases. Oh well, I look at it as one of those curveballs life throws... At this point i just want to get the pain under control enough to enjoy my family.