Hello I'm new

HanP

Hi everyone

I'm new to the site. I was diagnosed with RA following a serious case of viral Meningitis last Dec. I had physio and a few cortisone injections and I carried on exercising as I was very active before the Meningitis. My symptoms improved alot with the exercise and I even ran a 5K back in July unfortunately I caught another bad virus end of August and now all the RA symptoms have come back worse than before. I haven't been able to exercise for 2 months now and am in alot of pain. My rheumatologist is sending me for bloods an MRI and ultra sounds on Tuesday to check everything and then she wants to put me on a short course of steroids (prednisone) does anyone have any advice or good or bad experience with prednisone? I'm a little wary to take them but really need some pain relief as I cannot take anti inflammitories due to stomach issues.
I'm feeling quite down at the moment I've got 2 young children and it's a struggle most days feeling exhausted and having been unwell for almost a year now. I didn't know that the RA could come back I thought it was a one off thing so I have been taken by surprise. I also didn't know tiredness was a symptom until I read this website so that's been really helpful. Has anyone experienced night sweats or swollen lymph nodes with their arthritis? I also have these symptoms but they could be related to my other medical issues (post meningitis) anyway I'm very happy to find this site and meet others going through the same things

HanP

Let me just clarify I've got my abbreviations mixed up! Ive currently been diagnosed with Reactive arthritis not rheumatoid.

H x

stickywicket

Hi there and welcome to the forum though, as we say in these parts, sorry you had to find us.

You write of RA but, from what you’ve said, I think you probably mean ReA ie Reactive Arthritis. (It sounds as if yours stemmed from an unfortunate reaction to the meningitis.) R.A. is the usual abbreviation for Rheumatoid Arthritis and I can tell you, after 50 odd years of it, it doesn’t go away :roll:

Any type of arthritis tends to get us down from time to time and why wouldn’t it? It’s wearying and painful and it messes our lives up no end especially when there are children to be taken care of.

The steroids will probably make you feel cured It doesn’t always happen but most of us love them. However, they are not a long term solution as they bring their own problems and can be hard to get off after a while. Short term though, just to tide one over a bad patch, they are heaven!

I don’t get night sweats or lymph node problems though others on here have certainly written of night sweats but possibly to do more with medication than disease. If you re-post this on the Living With Arthritis forum, hopefully some will see it and chip in though weekends tend to be a bit slow on here.

Sorry, I replied before seeing your second post :oops:

If you click on the 'Publications & Resources' button at the top of the page, and then, on the left menu, click on 'List by Subject', you'll see, at the top, info on different forms of arthritis and there's a factsheet on Reactive.

dreamdaisy

Hello HanP, it's lovely to meet you and from what you have said, yup, it's ReA. From what little I know about this it is a form that 'flares' in response to a bug or infection but as to how much it clears away during the gaps between bugs I don't know. I have another form of an auto-immune arthritis, psoriatic, and mine never goes away but it is will well-controlled thanks to the meds. Actually I like getting a bug because that's means I stop the arthritis meds and actually feel better in myself!

As Sticky said steroids are a good short-term answer but they are not a long-term fix. If you are given some be wary of the 'feeling better' because you won't be better, they only mask the symptoms. As regards the night sweats I get those, and day sweats too. Mine are possibly related to meds but I also think that pain is a factor: I can't move very easily at all and as my knees, ankles and toes are affected my pain levels are pretty high. And as for tiredness, well that's constant. Whatever sleep I manage is far from restful or refreshing and it is a factor with all types of arthritis.

I hope we will be able to help with information and support and I look forward to seeing your name here and there around the forum. I wish you well. DD

HanP

Thanks very much ladies it is nice to meet you too. I will post on the other pages about ReA and see if there is anyone else out there suffering with the same things

barbara12

Hello HanP
Its lovely to meet you.
I do feel for you having such small children, but you will find other in the same situation on this forum, and its helps alot to talk to others that understand some of what you are going though.
I do hope to see you posting more very soon xx