RA & Pregnancy: Answer to how long it takes to reappear.

jenzie06

5 Weeks!

More than the 2 weeks my consultant said and less than the 6wks the gynae consultant said. Harry is now 5 weeks old and my RA has decided to turn up. Had a steroid inj in my ankle last week which has taken the edge off but my other joints are struggling.

I've also got funny stuff going on with my left thumb, think I've damaged the ligament again. I'm off to see the plastic surgeon in a couple of weeks. I'm not sure to have any damage fixed now or when Harry is a bit older if it can wait (it hurts me but its bearable at the mo).

Areas that are problematic are my neck - it gives me a terrible headache everyday and by the end of the day the base of my neck is visibly swollen. Its caused by me holding Harry but its not something I can avoid and don't want to avoid it!
My hands are troublesome and my wrists are very painful. My feet and ankles are swollen and painful and when I rock with the baby I can feel and hear the fluid move back and forth under the balls of my feet (slightly disgusting and v painful).

My plan was to wait until my RA was really bad before going back to see doc as I plan to have an MOT and so he can determine what it is that I've got (I don't fit into the RA 'box') before putting me on some god-awful meds. But I don't want to wait until I'm so bad I can't look after myself let alone Harry.

Harry is doing really well and sleeps usually for up to 5-6hrs a night in one go which helps massively. I keep catching my hubbie having a talk with Harry about how they have to look after mummy. Bless him. Harry tends not to cry a lot and is easily soothed when he does cry. He's also been smiling for a week or so which is fantastic to see.

Jen

marion1952

Hi Jen

How wonderful to hear that Harry is doing well! I wondered how you were getting on..

Sorry to hear that you only had about 4 weeks before your RA reared its ugly head again.. Neck and shoulder problems because of holding a new baby carefully, overwhelming physical tiredness, back problems caused by bending to change nappies - oooh I remember it all so well (even though my daughter is 23 now) and I didn't even have RA at that time...

I do hope the rheumy can get your symptoms under some kind of control again very soon..

Best wishes

Marion

skezier

Hi Jen,

I am so glad harry is dong so well but sad that you only got the 4-5 weeks restbite. Its not fair and as Marion said its hard enough when its all new and tiredness is 'normal', add in your RA making you fatigued and well I think you maybe should go see about some help from the awful meds now. It might be there is enough to sort out a name for the bone stuff via the symptoms.

Jen you hang in there and hopefully your rumo will be able to hep you. I was wondering would holding Harry in a baby sling help with the holding? You would have more evenly placed weight using one of those? I wish I could really think of how to help but glad he is doing well and hope you will soon feel so much better. ((((( ))))) Cris xx

page35

Awww Jen sorry its back
5 weeks aint long enough. i think you should get and see the doc or rheumy asap get help now, what drugs were you on before you were preg?

Glad to hear Harry is doing well and sleeping 5-6 hours, fantasic what a little superstar
when holding Harry(when sitting down say for feeding) put a cushion under your arm so your not realy holding his weight just cuddling him, i found it helped me to do this.

take care
Sharon

tkachev

Catch it at the first sign and dont wait. It can then get a grip.Unfortunately i suffered terribly after my son was born and it was a year before I was able to go to the GP for diagnosis. And I had another massive flare after my daughter was born which I took over 3 months to go to rheummy about.I think I suffered needlessly but with hindsight that is easy to say. I would advise any new mum to have everything prepared ready for the first pain return. I only had 2 weeks after her birth before it set in.
Glad you are enjoying being a new mum despite the obvious difficulties.
Regards
Elizabeth

lindalegs

Hi Jen,

I can understand you not wanting to start your meds again if you're breast feeding. I had to stop because of the drugs but my little one did have a six-week start. Another thing to consider is that if you're not feeling well then your milk might not be brill ....though if he's sleeping for all those hours that contradicts that theory :roll:

If you're already bottle feeding I would say you'd be best to nip the arthritis in the bud before it takes hold and interferes with your enjoyment of little Harry.

It's wonderful when they smile at you, I remember it well, you'll be bowled over when you hear him chuckle.

Take care.

Luv Auntie Legs

lindalegs

page35 wrote:

Awww Jen sorry its back
5 weeks aint long enough. i think you should get and see the doc or rheumy asap get help now, what drugs were you on before you were preg?

Glad to hear Harry is doing well and sleeping 5-6 hours, fantasic what a little superstar
when holding Harry(when sitting down say for feeding) put a cushion under your arm so your not realy holding his weight just cuddling him, i found it helped me to do this.

take care
Sharon

Hi Sharon,

Nice to see you around again. Hope you're well

Luv Legs XX

cthornley

Jen

Sorry to hear you are suffering
I went through the same thing when I had my son 2 years ago
One thing that really helped with holding my son was getting a sling ....not one of the baby carriers as I found this held him in a position which was painful (an expensive mistake to make) , the difference with the sling was it distributed the weight really well so I didn’t have pain, was easy to put on (no clips, buckles, buttons), held him really close to me in a snugly cuddle (which also helps with the weight thing) and gave my arms a rest , once I got the hang of it, it was really easy to get him in and out of too only downside was i looked a bit earthmotherish but I’m kinda used of making compromises with my appearance thanks to RA, I mean how stylish are those wrist supports really?.
The sling I got was called ‘close baby carrier’ you can get them directly from close (google website) or from other baby supply places like mothercare, if you can get one demonstrated to you all the better as you can try it out and see if it suits you.
I used mine until he was over 6mths but actually it was best when he was tiny and wanted cuddles all the time, but it was also great when he was going through a cuddly phase as it gave me my arms back so I could do stuff, my son is a great big lump (95th percentile) so he was really hard going on my joints, I honestly don’t know what I would have done without it.
Hope that helps
Chrissie