Struggling

merri

I'm struggling at the moment in a big way. I have recently been diagnosed as having RA following a car accident, nearly 2 years ago when I was 28 (not my fault, not that it makes any difference. We were parked at the side of the road and had been for a short while when a young driver hit us at about 40mph)

The pain and stiffness started immediately after the accident and it took 18 months through seeing 2 separate Rheumatology departments and a number of specialists to get the diagnosis, most of the time they dismissed it as whiplash and said that I couldn't possibly be in as much pain as I was.

The stiffness and pain etc affects my upper and lower back, neck, shoulders, knees, hips, hands and has just started to spread to my feet. I have severe fatigue, and despite everything I've managed to go from being housebound to holding down a job.

I've recently been prescribed Methotrexate, in addition to the diclofenac, cocodamol, tramadol max doses, amitriptyline, citalopram and a stomach liner drug. The Methotrexate though is causing me to catch bug after bug, and I just feel so sick and tired of this. I've been ill now for the past 6 weeks and every time I catch something, the pain ramps up. It's hard enough to manage the pain as it is but when it worsens I just can't see forwards if that makes sense?

dreamdaisy

Oh merri, you poor thing. Meth does reduce the immune system which does leave one more vulnerable to catching infections. Are you taking any folic acid and if so how much and how often? What dose meth too - if it's tablets could you split the dose? Quite a few on here do and that helps with the side effects. It can take a while for the body to adjust to meth but please persevere as it can be a very effective medication. DD

suzygirl

Hi, sorry to hear you are struggling so much. You have had a very difficult time but are obviously doing really well to be working. I have inflammatory arthritis and OA. My OA is in my neck and I am sure a car accident I had has accelerated the damage although I injured my neck whilst a child. I understand the pain, it is horrible.

Hopefully you have just a rough spot, constant infections are wearing and exhausting, I hope you feel better soon.

merri

Thank you both for the reply, it's very kind of you I've been told to up my folic acid to help with the constant infections, I'm just feeling low today

dreamdaisy

I am fortunate in that I don't get too many infections: I use hand gel a great deal - and get others to use it too, I wash my hands far more often than I ever used eg when I get in from shopping, then unpack and put away and wash them again. I dunno if that sort of thing is helping but it can't do any harm. I hope things ease for you soon. DD

Mat48

Oh poor you I think that sounds really rough. I've got what I suspect to be RA and it's hard enough getting a diagnosis for me at the ripe age of 48 with family history of autoimmune diseases let alone what it must be like having been crashed into - which would have been traumatic enough I imagine? Have they put you on steroids while the Metho takes effect and have you had the flu vaccine? I don't know enough about it myself yet as still untreated but I just started on Prednisolone and it's making me feel a million dollars - like I've escaped from pain jail briefly (2 weeks at 20mgs per day).

When I read a story like yours I wonder why more research isn't being done into the triggers for these diseases because if I were a medical scientist i would find it so interesting?

I mean I wonder if the RA was already sitting there in you and the crash acted to spark it or if something so sudden could actually cause RA in itself?

Whatever the answer you have my huge sympathies and if I were you I'd hang in there with the metho and do as DD says ie using antiseptic gel, avoiding people who seem run down or coldy or just letting people know that you are very vulnerable so they show some common sense? Methotrexate is used in much higher quantities for people undergoing cancer treatment and we all know that exposure to bugs is potentially dangerous for them so you could try explaining to colleagues, friends and family that you are on a cancer drug and need to be handled with care re germs?

I think that's what I'll do when and if I'm finally diagnosed and put on DMARDs. Big hug meanwhile.
Mat x

merri

Mat 48 - the consultant thinks that either I had the condition and it was latent, or that the trauma caused the arthritis, either way the bugger seems determined to stay! I've had a steroid injection but it did very little unfortunately so it's just wait and see with the Methotrexate. It doesn't help that the weather's become bitterly cold ovenight. I can't talk to work about it as I'm a teacher and I come into contact with most bugs anyway

DD - I do have some anti-bac stuff but tbh I should use it more often. Thank you for mentioning it I shall go and dig it out

Beatrix

Hi Merri, sorry you are going through such alot. My brother has RA, sorry I can't remember the name of his meds (will ask him next time we talk), but he has to inject himself every couple of weeks. Right now he has a chesty cough but doesn't want to take antibiotic as he'd have to stop his injectable meds so he's hoping its not going to affect him too much.

Good luck with using the anti-bac stuff, hope you get less bugs. Jackie x

salamander

Hi Merri, I sympathize with you as I am constantly ill too. It really does drag you down and I am changing drugs because of it. I'm afraid hand gel hasn't done much for me, though like DD, I use it all the time and wash my hands religiously after shopping etc. but it's worth trying.

Mat48

Hi Merri- it's half way through a long night and middle of three teen sons woke me coming in a three am after a dance - and I think I'd already started my steroid induced insomnia so might as well reply now before a busy Sunday unfolds!

Have to admit after 36 hours virtually pain free I now have a sore stiff and extremely swollen left middle finger joint andmy right wrist is back into playing at being fractured - its in splint now. But my friend who is a GP is staying the night and told me I'd been taking prednisilone all wrong as I thought like other anti inflams I was meant to leave a space between each pill so she says I've got to have 5 this morning with breakfast - maybe 3 yesterday with four hour gaps is the reason my hands have gone back to flare. :???:

I was chatting to the friend about rheumy matters last night and cited your experience re the crash as trigger or cause of RA and she said same as your doctor but told me (I'm aware that between taking steroids wrong way and being crap amateur scientist I'm not looking too bright now!) that no research could really get to the bottom of a case like yours where something sudden takes place with unexpected and devastating consequences because until then you were healthy young teacher and probably were never tested for rheum factor etc?

Sorry I'm rambling away in mid of the night (I think - but clocks have changed of course). Yes I can see being a teacher makes much things harder in terms of exposure to germs. I know someone else with RA who has been on prolonged maternity leave and returns to teaching next week. She is on anti TNf though and I'm not sure if she will be as vulnerable to germs as those on Methotexate? Nothing to suggest there as others have far more experience but it's making me quite nervous of probably being put on it myself eventually. Do you also get sick and is it helping pain and joints - what's your disease score been like since you started or is it too soon to tell? Maybe things will settle down once your body acclimatises to it or maybe it's just the wrong drug for you?
End of lateral ramble- I'm starving - maybe ill go and have some food and my steroids now and then get back to sleep. Good luck! Mat x

suzygirl

Merri, I remember reading that there are more germs on a supermarket trolley handle than a toilet. :shock: I reguarly wash my hands and carry antibacterial gel everywhere with me. I do think it makes a difference. DD had a good point!!