Recent diagnosis

Jmb161

Hello,

I have recently been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

I am currently struggling through the stages of getting medical help and waiting for appointments.

I have read a lot online but a lot of the info I have found can be very helpful but there is a lot out there to take it.

I have just found this page and thought hearing from people who have been through what I am going through might be the best way to go.

Any advice would be more than welcome!

My main issue at the minute is my pills / pain. I am now on Steroids to stop the pain which have been fantastic and made a world of difference but I am supposed to be coming off these. I am now also on methotrexate (hope I’ve spelt that right) which apparently takes around 6 weeks to start working.

I am on 3x 5mg of the steroid pills and have been asked to dwindle these down slowly. However whenever I go down to 2 I cannot use my hands and wrists and I need them for work so I end up going back to 3. Any advice on how to solve this would be fantastic.

Something else I would be really interested to hear people’s experiences on is nutrition. A lot of the info online can seem to slightly contradict other info, it is possibly quite individual?

anyway sorry for the long message and I hope I am using this platform in the right way.

Thanks

James

Ellen

Hello @Jmb161

Welcome to the online Community.

I see you have a recent diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis and are currently taking steroid while Methotrexate is being given a chance to kick in. You spelt it perfectly! The correct abbreviation for it is MTX is that helps?

As you know Methotrexate can take some time to actually make a difference and you are struggling to reduce your use of oral steroids. Many of us find prednisone a real 'wonder drug' it reduced our inflammation and pain very effectively, but it comes with potential consequences. It may be that your consultant can give you your tablets in smaller doses so that you can reduce more slowly? I am attaching a link to an article about steroids:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/drugs/steroids/

You also mention an interest in nutrition so am attaching information which you should find useful:

https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/complementary-and-alternative-treatments/types-of-complementary-treatments/diet-and-nutritional-supplements/

I'll leave yo now to meet our members.

Best wishes

Ellen.