Pain free
hi I am 54 years old was diagnosed with RA at age 32 and it’s not been fun, I was lucky enough to go into remission for 8 years which was great 👍 however the past 5 years I don’t think I’ve had a single day where I have been pain free? I am on methotrexate injection along with hydroxychloroquine and have recently been put on leflunomide too, the only time I am pain free is when I beg doctors to put me on steroids, my question is are you ever pain free from this horrendous disease if so please give me tips many thanks x
Comments
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Hi @Aud23 , I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing a lot of pain despite being on methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine. I understand how you feel, as I am also going through something similar with the same medications; have you asked your rheumatologist about adding other medications? It may be worth asking your rheumatologist about medications such as 'Sulfasalazine' (I have attached a link below). I know you can take it in addition to MTX and hydroxychloroquine. I have also heard quite a few success stories of people trying biologics - of course, every person is different and what works for one person may not work for another but it is worth asking your rheumatologist.
I will also attach a couple of links on different pain managements, but it may also be worth speaking to your doctor about different pain medications and discuss what's right for you. I hope things begin to improve for you.
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hi Annabanana thank you for your reply, my rheumatologist tried me on sulfasalazine to which I had a reaction so that’s out of the question 🤷♀️ I just feel like at this moment in time I’m going backwards instead of forwards and if I’m honest my GP and rheumatologist don’t seem to care all they do is nod a lot and agree with me, my GP always wants to give me Tramadol which I don’t want as it makes me like a zombie I want to be able to function, is that too much to ask? X
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Hi @Aud23
I was a lot better on etanercept (anti-TNF biologics) till it stopped working. I then tried two different biologics which didn’t work for me.
I’m now on Rituximab (as well as MTX injections and low dose daily steroids)- early days but I’m noticing some improvement so am hopeful.
You might now meet the criteria to be put on biologics so ask your Rheumatologist
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well because I’ve only been taking the Leflunomide for 2 months I’m guessing my rheumatologist will tell me I have to give it a chance but like I said I just don’t feel any better by being on this at all, in fact I do feel with each day I am getting a little bit worse and to be honest it’s the first time I’ve actually let this horrible disease get the better of me 🤷♀️ I’m just hoping that there are pain free days ahead of me x
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I think the benefits of leflunomide is seen by 3 months or so. I had found it helpful but it caused some serious side effects and so rheumatologist stopped it.
The good thing is that there is so much research being done and newer medications are becoming available- so it’s just about finding the right medication
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I caught arthritis a couple of years ago and it was painful most days until recently when it went pain free. I am kind of expecting it to come back one day like yours.
I went pain free after a lot of careful nursing and adapting of anything that was painful. Ultimately maybe the system learns how to stay in a safe zone.
Probably it is something I learnt how to do from migraines. Migraines fare better if routine is always the same and not suddenly broken, so I kind of naturally do that all the time.
The other thing that happened was becoming well enough to restart my favourite exercise of cycling, which I can't help thinking restored some missing balance.
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