Hello advice needed pleas I'm new here.

michaelangelo

Hello
I'm new to this forum.
I suppose I'm hoping to find ways, treatments and maybe a support group in my area.
I have R.A in most joints which effects my life in a bad way.
I've stopped taking medication because of the side effects.
Can anyone recommend a good treatment or even a workable alternative natural treatments that works?.
I look forward to any replies.
Mike

stickywicket

Hello Mike and welcome to the forum. I, too, have RA and it's got to most of my joints too but that's over about 52 years.

You can see if there's a support group in your area by clicking on the small button near the centre of the page at the top. The one that's labelled 'In my area'.

As for meds, I'm sorry but there is nothing that will deal effectively with RA other than the prescribed meds. So-called 'natural remedies' just don't cut the mustard. If you eat healthily, sleep well, don't smoke and keep your joints mobile that will all help but, to hold the disease back, you need the meds that the rheumatologist prescribes. They can have side effects. Sometimes these can be circumnavigated. But you really do need them.

When I was first diagnosed they weren't available and, believe me, I'm glad of the changes that DMARDS have brought to my life.

What were the side effects that you had? Which med(s)?

barbara12

Hello Mike and a warm welcome from me
Sorry I wont be much help, I have OA..but you will find loads of info on the forum...and new friends...

marrianne

Hello Michael ,...I have R/a ....almost as long Sticky and have to endorse what she it stops the terrible has said ,And also have Barbara s osteo recently diagnosed my drug of choice 2 years now Leflunomide ....couldnt get on with methotrexate ... or mannage with out some form of disease modifier ...I tried for years and wasted a lot of my life in agony feeling as though I had the flu all the time ...I tried healthy eating etc etc ... now think given the choice I would do all the healthy things and take 1 disease modifier ...............Marrianne

lulubell69

Hi mike
I tend to agree with the others, only meds will help to control the RA,especially very severe RA which I have. If there were any natural "cures" I'm sure the docs would recommend them. All meds come with side effects but In my experience the benefits of the drug far out weights the side effects. Personally, I could not function or indeed cope with the pain, fatigue, debilitation, depression etc which unmedicated RA brings, although I am really struggling at the moment, waiting for new meds.
I wish you well and hope you make the right choices.
Les

michaelangelo

Thanks all for your kind replies.
Does the medication prevent R/A from getting worse?.
Does it improve life by taking away the pain ?.
I'm considering going back to the doctor but I don't fancy having steroid injections if he refers me to a Rheumatologist. What would a Rheumatologist normally advice on a first visit ?.

DebraKelly

Most DMARID drugs aren't pain killers, most of us are on either DMARID and a combination of pain killers too.

I have been on Meth for 4 years now since getting diagnosed with RA and its a great drug and has done a lot for me.

DMARID drugs control the RA but they aren't pain killers, I also get a steriod injection in my knee every 6 months or so which really helps too.

Diet changes are also necessary for me as I have switched to a Meditarinian diet.

Regular blood checks are also necessary with RA (which is unforuntate for me as I was terried of needles at the beginning) but not so much now as I have do regular injections with the Meth.

dreamdaisy

If there was a natural alternative then this forum would not exist. It does because there isn't. RA is an auto-immune condition and the meds are necessary to suppress disease activity. There is a wide range out there to be tried - which ones have you taken to date? I think any rheumatologist would advocate taking the meds, steroids are not a long-term treatment and anyway they don't 'cure', they mask.

I am on a triple therapy but the meds do nothing to relieve the pain, for that I take co-codamol 30/500 pain dullers (so-called because they dull, not remove). All pain relief is limited in that way, the stronger the pain relief the more you are taken away from the pain, not vice-versa. Pain is the ground-elder of our lives, a constant presence and we have to learn to live with it. I am in my seventeenth year of this, I began with PsA in 1997, was finally given my first DMARD in 2002, and now have OA (diagnosed in 2011) thanks to joint damage: I am sure that if I had begun the meds far earlier than I did then that would not be a factor now. This is another thought to bear in mind - you may be able to avoid things worsening by taking the meds. I wish you well. DD

stickywicket

The whole point of the medication which only the rheumatologist can prescribe is to prevent the disease getting worse. Without it, it will.

Steroids, either in tablet or injection form can make us feel that it's all gone away but it hasn't and will still get worse while we are taking them. They only mask the symptoms and, as they bring problems of there own, are a good temporary help but a poor permanent solution.

The disease modifying meds that the rheumatologist can prescribe may remove some of the pain simply by helping to stabilise the disease but they may not. For the vast majority of us pain is an inevitable part of arthritis. Pain relief, which your GP can prescribe, may help to some extent on that score but, without the meds from the rheumatologist, the disease with still continue to get worse thus bringing more pain.

I can't remember my first visit to a rheumatologist but, from reading threads on here, most people are started on one of the disease modifying meds and maybe given a steroid jab to help them out until the meds start working as this can take up to 2-3 months.