recently been diagnosed with RA at 28

angelito

Hi im angie and im new to this. i was recently diagnosed with RA in my hands and feet. Ive started out on methotraxate, amtitripline, naproxen and steroid injections.

Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated especially on how to manage the tiredness. Lol

pinkbritishstars

Welcome to the forum Angie. Have you had an ultrasound of your hands and feet as that can help diagnose arthritis??

Regarding the tiredness rest as much as you can not easy when you are working I understand!!

Pink x

angelito

Yes i got an ultrasound thats wat confirmed the condition for me. I was originally misdiagnosed with fibromyalgia for 3 years until a blood test showed my esr crp very high. Just relieved now i have a correct diagnosis and can get settled on the correct meds.

stickywicket

Hello angelito and welcome from me too. You sound to be on quite a standard bunch of meds and I hope the soon work for you and maybe help to ease the fatigue somewhat. As delboy has said it is, unfortunately, often part and parcel of RA but you should feel a bit better once everything starts working. I do hope so.

julie47

Hello and welcome to the forum

I hope that the medication starts to work soon.

Take care
Love juliepf x

jillyb1

Welcome from me too , I was 25 when diagnosed 31 years ago and still going strong ! You adjust , family and friends adjust ; life is good . Jillyb

Aprilann

I too first started with RA in my feet and really felt it there on my 29th birthday 32 years ago.

With me, in those days, I was only put on a very mild tablet - it was called Feldene. Because of the mild tablet it did not stop the deformity in my feet and hands but I have managed remarkably well and have just undergone major operations on my feet. Until you suffer with RA you don't realise how tired you can get.

peridotlouise

heya
sorry you had to find us, but everyones really helpful on this forum
i was recently diagnosed too in december, im 24.
i find with the tiredness you just have to rest up as much as poss, dont overdo it and listen to your body, if ur tired, rest. im still learning to listen to mine.
yeah the spoon theory is great if you can read that.
hope the mtx works well for you

skezier

Hi and welcome from me as well

glad they have sorted out your diagnosis now, its a bit rough when you hae the wrong one for so long but thankfully now they have got you on the mtx and know what's wrong it can only get batter.

The fatigue side is not so easy but as the others say listen to your body is helpful. me i sometimes can do no more than 20 mins before I have to rest up and cus I am self employed i can do that but its not endless and sometimes you feel a lot, lot better. Hey with luck the meds will start to work and you will not have as much fatigue.

Good luck and got everything crossed the mtx will work and work fast. Nice to meet you. Cris x

hileena111

Hi Angie
Just wanted to say welcome to the forum.
I have OA not RA so although i have pain I dont get the awful fatigue that apprently people with RA get {just tiredness}
Hope you enjoy the forum

Love
Hileena

petals

Hi Angie,

I am glad that you finally have a diagnosis.

I remember when I first started taking MTX and the fatigue was horrendous. I found the best way to deal with it is to take your MTX on a friday night, just before bedtime. I would be asleep in under half an hour and the next couple of days I could rest as it was weekend and no work (hooray)

Remember to take your Folic acid tablets as they counter any bad side affects of the MTX.

I also noticed that after a few weeks/months of taking MTX the fatigue did not bother me so much. Whether this was because my body adjusted naturally or whether I just got used to feeling crap i am not sure lol. Good luck, I hope you settle down quickly and get some relief from your meds.

Petals x

prefabkid47

Hi Angie
Welcome to the forum,as we always say sorry you had to find us......
I also have RA in my hands and in the left foot.
Tiredness,especially before the medication kicks in,is unfortunately part of the RA package....I use to nod off half way through a conversation........ :!:
Have been on methotrexate (12.5mg weekly) for about 10 years,with no side effects and has given excellent control.......
Did find the tiredness decrease once the medication had taken effect.
Ron

frogmorton

Hi Angelito

Lovely to meet you but so sorry about the RA

the fatigue is the hardest thing for me too. Suggest as was suggested to me; you take naps if you can and set the alarm. One of the things the meds should be doing is getting symptoms under control.

Fatigue is a symptom. If it isn't settled you should tell your rheumy or the nurse if you see he/she first.

Love

Toni xxx

DebraKelly

Hi There and welcome.

When I was first diagnosed I started on Meth too, I am affraid that the tiredness is part of the course, however it is awful to begin with when you are on the Meth and slowing increasing the dose. It does get better.

I have started taking a vitimin c and b everyother day and this seems to help with the tiredness a lot, swimming is another good thing to battle tiredness.

One thing I would say is avoid eatting oranges and or orange juice, they are one of the worse things that you can have if you RA. Unfortunately I found out the hard way.

I recently had a steriod injection into my knee and I have to say that this has worked the best by far, its a little uncomfortable but worth it in the long run.

dreamdaisy

Hello angelito, it's lovely to meet you and I am glad to hear that you have been given some medication. It can take a while to 'kick in' - the usual timespan is 2 - 12 weeks before a difference can be felt so I hope you do feel some difference soon. The tiredness is a dreadful thing to cope with, all of us struggle with it and the only thing to do is rest when you can and sleep when you can. I wish you well. DD

bubbadog

Hi angelito, and welcome to the forum. I'm 39yrs old and was diagnoised with Osteo-porosis around the age of 27 so pretty close to your age. You did the right thing joining this site, I'm still happy I found this site and joined up. It helps me stay calm, and I learn something new each day. I'm glad I found these people on the forum they have changed the way I look at things. I'm sure you will understand one day when you've been a part of the site one day.

nikkib007

Hello and welcome!

I am 28 too so know what you feel like, rest when you can and keep talking on here and to your friends and family it helps I found

Take care

Nikki
x

tjt6768

hello mi dear. And welcome from me too.
Hope the meds help hun.

JoeB2

Hi Angela,

Sorry to read about your recent diagnosis.

Fatigue is a part of almost all chronic (i.e. long term) conditions and with Rheumatoid Arthritis it is a fairly common feature. However, in my experience, the actual levels of fatigue experienced tend to be a bit like the tides - ebbs and flows. Often, but not always, llinked to disease activity. Hence you may well find as the inflammatory processes settle down the level of fatigue will considerably improve.

Do keep in mind that one of the possible side effects of Amitryptiline is fatigue. However this usually improves once yor body adapts to the presence of the medication.

Otherwise my advice is not to fight it. A short nap as required during the day can do wonders for energy levels.

Hope this is of some use to you.

Arthur

tillytop

Hello Angelito and sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

Nothing to add to what has already been said but just wanted to say "hello" and "welcome". Really hope those meds kick in for you soon and start to help you feel better.

Tillyxxx