Author Topic: Rheumatoid Arthritis (Read 783 times)

Widewing · « **Reply #15 on:** January 13, 2008, 03:29:27 PM »

My wife has RA, and if not for the current crop of new drugs, she'd be in a wheelchair today.

Find a good Rheumatologist.

Treatment will depend upon how aggressive your RA is. The current crop of new drugs include Remicade, Humera and Enbrel. All are administered via injection or infusion. Humera is every two weeks, and Enbrel is typically a weekly injection. You would be taught to do self-injection, just like a diabetic. Infusions (Remicade) are done in the doctor's office or probably at an oncologists clinic; usually every 6 to 8 weeks. The good news is that these drugs work, stopping the progression of the disease. They don't cure it, just control it.

Also used are steroids and methyltrexate. Mild cases of RA can often be treated effectively with anti-inflammatory drugs. It all depends on your individual case. Your's doesn't sound very aggressive, so I doubt you'll be doing the injections anytime soon, if ever.

One surefire help to limit the issues with RA is exercise. Joints that receive regular exercise always do better than those where patients don't exercise.

I wish you well, and I'm sorry you have to deal with this. The up side is that the science of RA is advancing rapidly and the new medications limit the impact it will have on a normal life.

My best,

Widewing

Widewing · « **Reply #16 on:** January 13, 2008, 03:33:36 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by eskimo2

My mother has osteoarthritis; I’m not sure heredity can span different forms of arthritis.

These are completely different. Osteoarthritis is a wear and tear issue. RA is an auto-immune disease, related to lupus.

My regards,

Widewing

eskimo2 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 13, 2008, 04:28:46 PM »

I read that the blood tests are 98% accurate; but I think my test was just an initial one. I’m sure that my rheumatologist will order a more specific one. If a positive test results in full blown RA only 20% of the time, that’s pretty encouraging. From what I’ve read, my condition either isn’t very bad, or it’s just very early. My hand pain is tolerable; I can still do normal things, I just get stabbing pain sometimes. My back pain, however, has altered my lifestyle. I’m a different person in the morning than I am in the afternoon. But still, I have no idea if my back issues are related to RA. One thing that I’ve read recently is that the grim statistics are from a World Health Organization study; that would include many poor souls who do not have access to modern medicine. I’m guessing that US stats would be much better. Modern medicines do offer much hope as Widewing pointed out.

Here’s a picture of my pinky:

That’s as straight as it gets, and note the bumps. My pinkies have the only visible damage.

Maverick · « **Reply #18 on:** January 13, 2008, 05:31:39 PM »

What others have said. Don't borrow trouble you don't need. Talk to the specialist and get the info from one who is working in the field and current in it. It may not be as bad as you fear. Like other things keeping a positive attitude may also have a significant impact on the disease. Don't let it get you down.

Thoughts and prayers OTW.

JB73 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 13, 2008, 05:34:39 PM »

the 20% thing is what my doc told me, he holds little faith in many of those tests for my condition and many other rheumatic disorders.

see here about some of the information:
http://arthritis.about.com/od/gene/a/HLAgenes.htm

the number of people having the gene can be listed as high (90% plus) but the actual number of full blown rheumatic conditions is much lower.

there are other things to read about out there, and look close about what they say is fact versus suspicion, or probable cause. hell they still don't actually know what causes my condition, or many other auto-immune conditions. some say viral infections, some micro-organisms, some bacterial, then there's the school of thought it is not caused by an external body at all.

overall it is a very unusual condition.

eskimo2 · « **Reply #20 on:** January 13, 2008, 05:49:42 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by JB73
the 20% thing is what my doc told me, he holds little faith in many of those tests for my condition and many other rheumatic disorders.

see here about some of the information:
http://arthritis.about.com/od/gene/a/HLAgenes.htm

the number of people having the gene can be listed as high (90% plus) but the actual number of full blown rheumatic conditions is much lower.

there are other things to read about out there, and look close about what they say is fact versus suspicion, or probable cause. hell they still don't actually know what causes my condition, or many other auto-immune conditions. some say viral infections, some micro-organisms, some bacterial, then there's the school of thought it is not caused by an external body at all.

overall it is a very unusual condition.

The Wikipedia article you pointed to says that a major diagnostic factor of Stills Disease is an elimination of everything else. That must be tough to figure out. Then again it looks similar to child onset RA, but also has fevers and rashes… Bizare.

How much joint damage did you suffer with each bout? Did it get any better between bouts?

Reschke · « **Reply #21 on:** January 13, 2008, 07:08:56 PM »

With my mother her hands were the first thing to go. Her hands and fingers became so crooked and unusable within the first 6 months that her fingers were almost at a 70 degree angle from what they were when she first started having pain.

With those bumps on your fingers do they start itching, then swell up and then the skin dry up and flake off? I don't remember my mom having anything like that but I have something on my hands that the doctor's can't figure out. They think it is a problem from when I was working in the forestry field and we were spraying some super duper weed killer and eliminating trees in fields before we came back and planted hard woods and pine trees in there.

JB73 · « **Reply #22 on:** January 13, 2008, 07:44:23 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by eskimo2
The Wikipedia article you pointed to says that a major diagnostic factor of Stills Disease is an elimination of everything else. That must be tough to figure out. Then again it looks similar to child onset RA, but also has fevers and rashes… Bizare.

How much joint damage did you suffer with each bout? Did it get any better between bouts?

I don't get the rashes, but fevers of 105+ for hours at a time... I was originally diagnosed with JRA, but when it came back in 1997 they changed it to Stills. actually when I was in the hopsital they released me officially "undiagnosed, and uncured" but treated with prednisone, and an anti-inflammatory.

joint pain, yes extreme. my knee was about 2.5 times it's size and I couldn't bend my leg to put a sock on that foot.

joint damage? none so far that I know of. my particular condition is such short (2-3 weeks in 1 location) time the pain is from the inflammation, but not actual damage. then it either goes away, or moves to another joint.

from my first episode I missed my JR year almost in high school, and my right shoulder has never been the same. I can throw it out playing catch easily, and I can't reach parts of my back I used to to scratch, but thats about it for me. I know I am lucky in regards to that and some other sufferers.

as mentioned by widewing I too am on prednisone, methotrexate, and indomethacin. I was on hydroxochlorine too but doc stopped that.

Widewing · « **Reply #23 on:** January 14, 2008, 10:51:09 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by JB73

as mentioned by widewing I too am on prednisone, methotrexate, and indomethacin. I was on hydroxochlorine too but doc stopped that.

Your doctor has probably mentioned it, but a common side effect of prednisolone is cataracts. Be sure to get a thorough vision check-up bi-annually by a ophthalmologist, or if you find glare becoming an increasing issue when driving at night. My wife developed cataracts in both eyes. Both required surgery to replace the lens. Later, periodic laser treatments may be required to remove scar tissue.

My regards,

Widewing

Halo · « **Reply #24 on:** January 14, 2008, 11:38:00 PM »

Bummer, Esk. Keep actively participating in your research and treatment options. Things change all the time and no one is a better advocate for you than you are.

JB73 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 14, 2008, 11:50:51 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Widewing
Your doctor has probably mentioned it, but a common side effect of prednisolone is cataracts. Be sure to get a thorough vision check-up bi-annually by a ophthalmologist, or if you find glare becoming an increasing issue when driving at night. My wife developed cataracts in both eyes. Both required surgery to replace the lens. Later, periodic laser treatments may be required to remove scar tissue.

My regards,

Widewing

oh yeah, another side effect is diabetes... got that one last time, along with the floaters and eye problems, and teeth problems.

last time was on prednisone 4 years, this time I am going on 3 months hope to be off in 6-8.

oh and yeah, those eye treatments and surgery are NOT covered under any insurance I have ever had... fukn BS doc makes your eyes bad and OOPS you gotta pay $2500 to even see right. ,,|,, to insurance

BAD BAD drugs help those in pain, and with conditions that need help

eskimo2 · « **Reply #26 on:** January 28, 2008, 07:43:18 PM »

Update:

I met with my rheumatologist this morning. He is 99 percent sure that I have good old fashion, wear-and-tear, just-getting-old osteoarthritis. That is fantastic news. He ordered a more detailed blood test just to be sure, however. Osteoarthritis is no fun, but it's a walk in the park compared to rheumatoid arthritis. I really was just hoping that I had a mild case of RA; I really didn't think that I would get out of there with such a relatively mild diagnosis. Two and a half weeks ago my doctor's receptionist called and told me that I tested positive to RA and that I needed to find a rheumatologist. Since then I've come to terms with having RA and developed a positive attitude and determination in dealing with it. Even though I never had RA in the first place, I feel very lucky. I am still at a loss as to why going on a diabetic diet has relieved my pain so effectively (at the advice of a co-worker with RA). I do like the idea of removing a drug from my system to relieve pain over adding a new one, however.

JB73 · « **Reply #27 on:** January 28, 2008, 07:54:00 PM »

great to hear.... that is good news for you.

as for the diet? who knows. there are SO many things doctors don't even know or understand it is funny. Every week something new is bad for you, then something that was bad is now good.

My guess would be though 2 things, "healthier" food, and a bit of placebo made a difference.

well good luck with the rest of it