Flare ups

mstake

Hi,

Second posting - its so great to have other people to ask ! I'm so grateful for this site !
I am having a flare up with joints in my hand. Its been going on for about a month now. How long do flare ups last ? How long should I cope with it before asking about changes to my medication ? Just moved up to 20mg methotrexate three weeks ago as part of a programme over several months. How long does the methotrexate take to have an effect with an increase in dose ? Should I just wait and see how it goes ? :roll:

I'd be really grateful for any advice. ( I have sero ngative arth. )

Thanks !

snowball

Hi mstake sorry to hear you are having flare ups in your hands for long periods. I have r/a and physio told me to put my hands in cold water or put ice packs wrapped in a tea towel onto my hands to try and get the swelling down, if you haven't got any ice packs you could use a bag of frozen peas.
If its been going on for a long time ring your rheumy nurse and she might be able to do something for you. Once my hands flared up that much and wouldn't go down they gave me a steriod injection which did help while the mtx kicked in, hope this helps.
Take care Julie

louiserichard

The methotrexate will help to control the flares but it does take about 3 months for new doses to kick in.

In the time being if its really painful don't suffer in silence and ask to see your rheumy to see if he can give you something to help while the higher dose of methotrexate gets to work.

When I have flares in my hands i'm given steriod injections straight into the joint which helps after a few days.
I also take anti inflams and pain killers each day which help so maybe if you arent already taking these your rheumy could add them in to help with the flare?
Hope you feel better soon. I know the other post suggested cold packs, I suffer from RA and find the opposite of hot packs helps me instead everyone is different so try both to see what works best for you. x

mstake

snowball wrote:

Hi mstake sorry to hear you are having flare ups in your hands for long periods. I have r/a and physio told me to put my hands in cold water or put ice packs wrapped in a tea towel onto my hands to try and get the swelling down, if you haven't got any ice packs you could use a bag of frozen peas.
If its been going on for a long time ring your rheumy nurse and she might be able to do something for you. Once my hands flared up that much and wouldn't go down they gave me a steriod injection which did help while the mtx kicked in, hope this helps.
Take care Julie

Thanks very much for the advice - its been very helpful.
Great to know others have been there before.

Best wishes,
Alison

mstake

louiserichard wrote:

The methotrexate will help to control the flares but it does take about 3 months for new doses to kick in.

In the time being if its really painful don't suffer in silence and ask to see your rheumy to see if he can give you something to help while the higher dose of methotrexate gets to work.

When I have flares in my hands i'm given steriod injections straight into the joint which helps after a few days.
I also take anti inflams and pain killers each day which help so maybe if you arent already taking these your rheumy could add them in to help with the flare?
Hope you feel better soon. I know the other post suggested cold packs, I suffer from RA and find the opposite of hot packs helps me instead everyone is different so try both to see what works best for you. x

Thanks. I will feel that I can ask for a steroid injection if the flare up doesnt settle down soon. Thanks also for advice about methorex and lead in time. Really helpful.

Best wishes,
Alison