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Kimberly
Kimberly's Story
kjkak@gateway.net
Hi! My name is Kimberly and I am 30 years old. I was diagnosed with RA
when I was 25. I first began symptoms in High School. My left knee
would swell and become stiff and sore and I would have severe nausea to
the point where I couldn't sleep at night. I was told by the family doctor that it was all in my head and that it was for attention.
Symptoms went away so I believed them, maybe it was all in my head. Everything was normal for many years except for some stiffness in my
fingers but I paid no attention to it. In January of 94 I started to have severe pain and stiffness in my legs and feet. My husband was in
college and we had moved 4 hours from my family and my doctor so via phone she put me on
ibuprofen and said not to worry. It helped some but in April I became pregnant with my second child and I had to stop the
meds. When I told the OB about my symptoms she also brushed it off and
told me I had miscalculated when my symptoms had started and that it was just part of my pregnancy. When I was about 3 months pregnant my
symptoms again went away so I again assumed I was crazy and the doctors were right! All was well except for preterm labor and bed rest from 27 weeks on. I was taking brethene to stop labor for the remainder of my
pregnancy. My son was born on December 30, 1994 , 5 weeks premature. He was fine though. My symptoms returned with a
vengeance when he was about 4 months old. I could barely walk. My husband didn't think it could be that bad until one morning I had to crawl to the bathroom and I lay on the floor and cried. My husband heard me and came in and found me there and
apologized for doubting the seriousness of my condition. Anyway finally I was referred to My RA who is an angel of mercy!!! I knew what I had by this point and she confirmed it. She started me on
sulfasalazine and I was allergic to that then a few other NSAIDS which never worked so went right to methotrexate and prednisone for about 1 1/2 years then gold shots for about 2 years with methotrexate. Tried plaquenil but got sick.
Discontinued gold about a year ago when it stopped working , back on prednisone for 2 years and 3 months now and
started Arava 6 months ago, but it's not working either. 3 weeks ago I had surgery to repair a ruptured tendon in my thumb, tendon transfer is
what they called it and they also removed some flap of tissue from my wrist to prevent the rest of them from rupturing. Recovery has been
painful and I still have another 5 weeks to go.
Anyway sorry this was so long but it's nice to tell this to people who can
truly understand.
Thanks for listening.................
Kimberly
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