MEDS FOR RA

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paddyw
paddyw NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 93
edited 4. May 2013, 18:49 in Living with Arthritis archive
Hi,Is there any=one out there like me who dont take the meds the drs want us to take for RA? Still after years with my RA i will not take what i think to be these harmful drugs into my body.Surely there has to be something better .I live in hope, I wish you all well. Paddyw

Comments

  • toady
    toady Member Posts: 2,835
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Hi paddy, tempting though it is to avoid ra meds - and I did for as long as possible - I would certainly be in a pretty bad way now without them, so it is the devil or the deep blue sea for some people, like it or not. For me it became a matter of no longer having the choice.
  • stickywicket
    stickywicket Member Posts: 27,764
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Definitely not. DMARDS weren't available when I was first diagnosed and I have all the deformities plus OA to prove it. If my sons or grandsons were infortunate enough to get RA I'd want them on DMARDS asap.
    If at first you don't succeed, then skydiving definitely isn't for you.
    Steven Wright
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    By all means don't take the meds - that is your right. We all have a choice about these things and I have chosen to take the meds in an attempt to improve the 'quality' of life I have. I know that things for me are far from great but I also understand that life would be a damn sight worse without the drugs. (I spent three bed-ridden months without them after one didn't work that well).

    RA is a pernicious disease (I have PsA but the meds are the same) and, as such, requires apparently pernicious drugs to combat its worst effects. You are lucky in that you live in a time when these meds are available and they may well help to prevent further damage. My auto-immune arthritis went undiagnosed and therefore untreated for five years, now I am reaping that 'benefit' with OA in a number of joints. What a crappy lottery win that is. :wink: You have a choice, as do I. I've made mine and OK, it's not giving me what I want but then why should it? For me life is about compromise and I am fortunate in that I learned that lesson very early on; as a result I am content to settle for very little. Risks? So what? I could die tonight regardless of the meth, humira etc. Knowing my luck I won't. :wink: I wish you well. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • trepolpen
    trepolpen Member Posts: 504
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    hi paddyw , know how long you had RA but it varies how bad people get it , my sister has it but pretty mild , she can work & dont take any drugs but can see joints being damage & she will end up having joint replacement at some point for no reason , others like myself will take all the drugs going & still endded up crippled up

    got to agree with sticky , why have the joint damage when you dont have to , its not clever
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    I forgot to say that I am on meth, humira and sulph and have very little trouble with any form of side-effects. Many of us on here take the meds with little or no trouble - they are not necessarily the horrors that one may think from reading about them. Yes, there are a few who cannot tolerate them in any shape or form but at least they've tried.

    If there were effective alternatives this forum would not exist. It does because there are none. Admittedly the drugs are not a good answer but they do have a part to play in slowing the potential joint damage. If you are managing without them then that is a good thing but please think about the future - none of us know what it holds but why run the risk of making it worse than needs be? DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • paddyw
    paddyw NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 93
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    Hi Thanks to all for replys. Just let me say i am not trying to be clever at all,as someone said at the end of the post.I shall just have to think a lot more about it. I do know whats happening. Wish you all well Paddyw
  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy NonActiveMember5yrs Posts: 31,520
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    All the thinking in the world won't change your circumstances. It all boils down to a simple 'Do I or don't I?' Both options have their pros and cons. DD
    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • Mat48
    Mat48 Member Posts: 1,075
    edited 30. Nov -0001, 00:00
    I'm not quite sure what you are living in hope of exactly? The only kind of cure, if one is found, will be a drug-based one and you're refusing drugs you inform us, so it won't be much use to you?

    I am however, sympathetic with you to an extent - because I've struggled a bit with the drugs and now seem to have developed an ulcer from high dose of NSAIDs while undiagnosed. I don't take pain meds and fear the side effects of my RA medications as much as I fear the pain of RA.

    But I'm 50 now and am mindful of how much worse things might be in 10 or 20 years time if I decide not to take them. I want to be able to continue to work with my hands and not to worry about deformed joints and other related stuff. RA needs to be fought and the drugs seem to me to be the most effective ammunition at our disposal. Regarding putting all this "stuff" into our bodies - we are all going to die one day so the way I see it is that we might as well make the most of the time we have on this planet to be as mobile and pain-free as we can be.

    Each to their own however. I make no judgement about anyone who decides not to take the RA drugs as long as they don't make me feel bad for doing so. It's a hard decision for many of us and I wish you luck. Mat x
    If you get lemons, make lemonade

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