Worst flare up I have had

Teapot

Good afternoon everyone. I have not been on here for a good while now. I was diagnosed around February and to be honest I have not been too bad. I am on Naproxen 5001 in morn and 1 in evening. When I saw consultant he wanted me to go on Methotrexate, I gave this a lot of thought but decided against it so am not going to reconsider this. Since the weather turned colder everything has got worse. Pain in shoulders, wrists, fingers, knees, calfs, ankles and feet. Extremely tired and not sleeping because of the pain. Sorry but I am having a really bad day with the pain. Naproxen on its own is not touching it so I am also taking paracetemol. Will this pass ? New to this and never had a flare up like this.
Some advice on how to get through this would be welcomed legs and feet are the worse. Thank you and again sorry to be a moaner.

stickywicket

I'm sorry about the flare, Valde, and it is in the nature of flares that they do ease off eventually but 'eventually' can be a long time coming without help. You write 'When I saw consultant he wanted me to go on Methotrexate, I gave this a lot of thought but decided against it so am not going to reconsider this' . If you stand by this, the only other place to go is, I think, steroids. These will probably make you feel great, and even cured, but you won't be cured, they are very difficult beasts to get off once you are on them and they bring problems of their own, every bit as undesirable as the potential side-effects of meth.

My advice is to see your rheumatologist again and talk over all options. Many of us have found enormous improvement on meth but there are other DMARDS you can try. Having had to do it in my early years I really do not recommend trying to cope with an auto-immune arthritis without the auto-immune meds.

mike26

hi valde
when i started down this rocky road,, this was one of my first drugs
naproxen and wow it worked so well i thought i was cured i could walk with relative ease.
then as time went on it got less efective and pain reterned,
now bit ferther down the road and started met, and this has made it better for me, and on lefuionmide as well and now about to start TNFs drugs,
Takeing regular blood tests will show up any problems we might
have quickly.
so you may have to reconsider your thoughts about differant meds,
as the problems you face may get worse.
i to was frightend about all these powerfull meds.
but i think we do need them at some point mike26 :roll: :roll:

villier

Sorry to hear about your flare Valde as it is OA I have can only send you my sympathies, hope you feel better soon..............Marie x

Friartown

Valde - I am like you very new to this (diagnosed last week). However my GP did give me Narproxen before this to try and help with the pain but I like others did not get enough relief from it.

I am due to start Methotrexate this week but still trying to understand as much as I can about it. But like Stickeywicket said I have been advised and understand that Steroids wont help longer term.

Can I be cheeky and ask what are your main objections to Methotrexate as I am still feeling in limbo about it all and would welcome anyone elses views on the drug?

dibdab

Sorry to hear about your flare Valde, it's truly miserable to be in constant pain.

I would encourage you to talk to your rheumy again and explore treatment options- the thing about RA is that we can mask symptoms with steroids, but they don't cure. The longer you go without some kind of disease modifying meds the more joint damage you are likely to develop- and once the damage is done it isn't reversible. I don't think any of us like the stuff we take, but at some point it comes to weighing up benefits and risks and deciding whether we want to hold the symptoms and results of the disease at bay for as long as we can, or whether we are prepared to just let the disease run its course what ever that might be.

Take care, hope you get more sleep tonight.

Deb x

Teapot

Many thanks to you all for your help and advice. I will certainly think on all you have said. Unfortunately I still feel very scared of meth and because I also have psiorisis the stress of that made my skin worse. Since making the decision not to go on it there was an immediate improvement in my skin problem. Problem is we seem to solve one problem and another one rears its head. Thank you all again and this forum is so helpful I read nearly all of the posts and try out different ways to help.

Teapot

Hello Friartown - I started the process for meth and had the lung function tests, chest xrays and blood tests and then decided against it. I think it was the side effects that frightened me, like possible lung damage I felt why would I want to take a drug that could cause me damage. Also it must be a strong drug to warrant such tests on a regular basis. Blood tests do not worry me but the others did. I may be reading too much into all the side effects as there are side effects to all drugs I know. Also I thought I was not bad enough to go on it - after the last 2 weeks I feel I do need something else but not meth as I don't feel brave enough. Sorry about my moans but I am feeling very low at the moment. If I do not feel any better in a week I will go back to GP for more advice. Hope all goes well with you and I will look out for your posts.

thistlegirl

hi valde, I was on meth for years and it helped me. As far as I can remember the lung and chest xrayss are just to check before you start the drug then it is blooe tests regulary after you have started? They were looking at liver function in the bloods and that reminds me alcohol was discouraged?
All drugs have side effects and it is about quality of life for you and some experimenting will be necessary to find the right one for you. Be protective of your joints, the more pain, the more inflammation, the more wear and tear on the bone and that is tough to fix. Can you call the helpline here for more info on meth as I am sure they have lots of good info? The internet is wonderful but also not perfect, talk to the professionals.

hope this helps

thistle

Teapot

Thanks everyone I slept better last night, still woke with leg problems The feeling is like my legs are moving inside from top of leg to foot especially down side. The doctor did a while ago prescribe antripiline (sorry about spelling) but it made me feel very odd so I stopped taking it. Has anyone else had this, I call it crawling legs. Pain in hands and shoulder still there but after ready so many of the threads I think this flare up could be due to this damp weather so I am wearing warm clothes, heating on low and also I am wear supporting shoes in the house as think this may help the ankles. I am now looking for a good supportive pair of warm slippers. Any more ideas would be welcome. Someone did suggest taking Calsium & Magnesium, has anyone tried it. Thanks again for your time in reading my moans. Hope you all have a good day. I have got to get on top of things today as I have my 2.5 year old grandson for late afternoon and evening so feet and legs will be working overtime !

destiny0321

hi.
i have OA & PSA (psoratic arthritis) been on meths quite a few yrs now no problem with it but arthritis getting worse now so will proberbly have to try something else.
Arthritis is playing up as i have a chest infection & cough & the more coughing i do my back & neck threatens to play up.
hope everyone is well take care all. destiny

Teapot

Hope you feel better soon Destiny and that the cough clears up. I think there maybe a cough virus going around because my sister is still coughing from her virus 3 weeks down the line. Take care

Mormodook

Hi Valde - it really is stressful if you really worry about what you pop in your mouth! I have had RA 15 years and started on the prednisolone ( the devils tick - tacks I've heard them called ! ) it was an utter nightmare to get off them ! I've been on a couple of different dmards and even managed to come off them completely to have a baby. I never had to take any dmards for a couple of years after but had a flare went back on methotrexate. I quickly felt better so stupidly came off .... It triggered a BIG flare for me and I was put back on plus hydrochloroquine and maybe a jag thingy soon too! I wish I hadn't stopped taking it! So basically I'd say keep an open mind as you need to live for today ( I think ) and try and push the worry of side effects which may or may not occur to the back of your mind. It has taken a lot to get me to accept the regime of meds but I think I'm won over. I hope your flare eases up soon . Take care of yourself

dreamdaisy

An auto-immune arthritis needs the stronger meds to bring it under control. Without taking them the future for your joints is not bright - I went seven years without any medication because my arthritis was not recognised as such and I am now paying that price.

I am on a triple therapy of injected methotrexate, injected humira and suplhasalazine, and have been for the past four years. I know that my PsA is very well controlled but the meds don't touch the OA which has come along thanks to joint damage, or the fibromyalgia which has turned up just because it can. I have my bloods taken every two months (for years it was monthly so this is a relief). I know there are side-effects to the meds, but then there are side-effects to everything, no? I read the leaflets once then put them away. If something happens and persists for a while then I read them again to see if the meds are the cause. I stop taking them when I have a sore throat to give my immune system a chance to fire up to fight the bug and then I flatten it again when things are better.

I always feel better in myself when I have to come off the meds (and especially if I need anto-biotics too) but I can truly say that I am not bothered by side-effects at all. Given a life-time of taking drugs I am not in the slightest bit phased by the dire warnings - these meds are relatively new and the docs don't know about the long-term implications of taking them. If they give me a better quality of life now then that is what counts. I don't class my life as wonderful but it is better than it would be without the meds. DD