Is the medication working or is it the steroids?

alarkra

Morning.

I've been quietly ignoring my body starting to hurt more from RA. This morning my right hand really does hurt and all the joints feel really thick and swollen, and my right ankle is definitely feeling tight and sore. I've been on Methotrexate, Sulfasalazine, Hydracloraquine (sp?) and Meloxicam for 10 weeks now. I have had 2 steroid shots in this time and have found that the first worked after about a week and then 3 weeks later started to wear off. I have my last jab a month ago... I have a fear that it's just the steroids that are working and that these other drugs are doing nothing. I am at a point that I should be starting to the feel the positive affects from these drugs and I don't know if I am. Anyone else on similar treatment and found that it takes a long while for the drugs to work? I know that Methotrexate can take 12 weeks, but surely I should be feeling the positive affects by now?

I'm seeing the consultant again in a couple of weeks. I was hoping to be a bit better in comparison to the last time he saw me, but I fear I'm sliding back to how I was. :?

I feel low today. Just glad I'm working from home.

bailey27

Hi
I have been on sulpha as only DMARD for a year and have felt know improvements whatsoever, the only thing that works for me is the prednisalone. You are obvously taking more drugs than me as i take meloxicam too with prednisalone and sulpha but i ma sure you should be getting some relief as you are taking quite a lot.

barbara12

Hi alarkra
Sorry I cant answer your question, has I have OA, I hope you try to take it easy till you see your consultant.
Good Luck with the appointment, and I hope its it all goes well for you.
Love
Barbara x

dreamdaisy

I am on humira, meth, sulpha and naproxen. The pain rarely lessens, flares still occur (tho in fairnes to the meds they are not as bad as they used to be), I still have to use crutches when walking and I feel rough on a daily basis. The oral steroids help me cope. Injected steroids, in the times I had them, were effective for about three days, tops. I watch the other meth users at the hospital, strolling in and out of their stabbings, and wonder why I bother. DD

alarkra

I may just give up now then...! Such is life... *sigh*.

No, that is not the right attitude. I'm going to put it down to having a bad day and hope that I feel a little brighter tomorrow if I just take it easy today. Sitting in a depressive attitude isn't going to help me. I'm going to be grumpy, but kick-**** positive too! Man it's exhausting!! :P

tillytop

Hi Alarkra

So sorry you are feeling so down today but very impressed by your more positive post at the bottom of the thread!

It is so difficult to know with these drugs but they do take a while to work. It does depend on the doses you are taking as well because if, say, you have been building up the Meth and Sulpha slowly, you may not yet have or only just have reached an effective dose. So it could be that you need 12 weeks on the full dose of meth, for example, to see an effect. I have a book which lists commonly used RA drugs and it says that Hydroxy can take 3 – 6 months to work and that improvement can then continue for up to a year, so it sounds as if Hydroxy is much slower acting.

I am glad you are seeing the consultant again in a couple of weeks, because he will be able to assess what is happening and adjust the doses or adjust the meds if need be. There are lots of possible combinations of drugs out there Alarkra and it is a bit of a roller coaster ride trying to find the right combination.

In the meantime, keep up the “kick ****” fighting spirit as much as you can – and we are here to listen and support you.

Thinking of you,

Love Tilly x

salamander

hi Alarka, I know exactly how you feel! I never really felt the Mtx was working for me and was heavily reliant on steroid shots and oral pred. My consultant stressed AT LEAST 12 weeks. Interestingly, since I've been off the Mtx for a couple of months things are getting very bad again so maybe it was working a bit.
It's really hard to be patient but hang on in there.
xx

marion1952

Hi Alarkra

What dose of methotrexate are you on?

Do you take it by tablet or injection?

Marion x

dreamdaisy

These meds are tricky devils. You just do not know how they are going to work for you. Sometimes the improvement is so small it is un-noticeable. Meth, sulpha and an anti-inflammatory seem to be the opening salvos of what might be a long battle - one just doesn't know. Fourteen years in I am still waiting to feel better - I could tell lies and say that all the meds are doing their thing and that life is fab, but they ain't and it isn't. I do wonder why I bother with the meth, but I am an obedient girl, they tell me it supports the humira so support that I will.

I am sure that if my arthritis had been spotted a few years earlier by someone, things could be better. It began in April 97 - if I had started this drugs experimentation in 1999, for example, rather than 2002, then things might be different now. It takes time to find the right combination for you, there are quite a few options out there, one just has to keep plugging away. That is one of the most frustrating things about the whole business. Meth does get a bad press however, well that is what I think. For some it is the thing they need and it works very well - williamlargs is a good example of that! It does take time to build in the body, none of these drugs give overnight success. One has to keep trying with different doses and sometimes adding one or two extras. I wish you well. DD

alarkra

Ugg, I know that one has to wait for the drugs to actually kick in, but I definitely am feeling worse each day - my hands and joints and literally starting to balloon slowly and my ankles are sending searing pain up my legs again which makes walking so very difficult... I had been feeling a bit better, but one never realises how good they actually feel until it's taken away from them.

I'm currently at my max dosage of Methotrexate of 20mg which I take in tablets. At least I have my job 4 days a week to take my mind off it, but it's not enough... :roll:

Love to you all, I don't know what I'd do without you right now. xx

dreamdaisy

It is a matter of time and experimentation: you have to find the dosage that suits and the combination of meds that helps. Everyone associates swallowing pills with getting better - that does not necessarily apply with us. We swallow pills to alleviate and relieve, if one is very fortunate then pain levels drop too - I am still waiting for that one! Just remember we are all different - you will find the ones for you, we just don't know when. Thinking of you. DD

salamander

if things are that bad why not ring your rheumy and see if a steroid shot would calm things down for a bit? that's what I would do (and have done several times!)
xx

dreamdaisy

Morning alarkra, I hope things are a little better today. DD

tillytop

Hi alarkra (and morning DD)

I too am just checking in to say "hello" and to see how are are doing today.

Thinking of you.

Love Tilly xxx

williamlargs

Hi hope you are feeling better.

As DD says I am one of the lucky sods that meth, along with diclofenic and paracetomol, seems to be working for. I can more or less function as normal.

I was diagnosed fairly quickly 7 years ago and had several years on sulpha which also did the job and my RA went into remission until recently.

I will probably never know whether I could be classed as someone who is lucky and reacts well to meds or just have mild RA in comparison to others.

Anyway enough about me. I would suggest giving the meth another few months. Keep positive if you can.

Good luck

alarkra

williamlargs wrote:

Hi hope you are feeling better.

As DD says I am one of the lucky sods that meth, along with diclofenic and paracetomol, seems to be working for. I can more or less function as normal.

I was diagnosed fairly quickly 7 years ago and had several years on sulpha which also did the job and my RA went into remission until recently.

I will probably never know whether I could be classed as someone who is lucky and reacts well to meds or just have mild RA in comparison to others.

Anyway enough about me. I would suggest giving the meth another few months. Keep positive if you can.

Good luck

Hi Williamlargs,

It does sound like you have been very fortunate with your drugs, and even though I'm sure you are envyed by many, I know that deep down they are pleased for you. It certainly gives me hope that as I've been caught early so hopefully we will find something that works well for me and push the damn RA into remission again. I have big plans for my life and this is a rather big inconvience!! :roll: My life before formally being diagnosed, involved me working ridiculously long hours, 6 days a week, in an industry that was exciting and worth all the hard work. I still work in it, but have taken a back seat in the slow lane which is so frustrating! BUT, I'm convinced that in a year I'll hopefully have my life back. And to celebrate I'm going to travel for a month to somewhere totally awesome in the world and have an exciting journey being adventurous and making the most of being mobile again and not having to worry about anything... and if that turns out to be just a fantasy, then I'll just have to think of something else. I'm angry about my RA a lot of the time, and even though this may seem unhealthy, I'm trying to use it to my advantage and fight it head on. RA WILL NOT WIN, I WILL NOT LET IT DEFEAT ME.

Although, I must say it's kinda nice doing a 09:30-6pm job 4 days a week... my long weekends are a plus... and I'm actually slowly getting a social life back for the weekends when I do feel brighter... so all is not lost and I know in that respect I am very, very lucky. :P

Have a lovely weekend everyone. xx