taking steroids for RA?

hello Ginger! ooh vegas! pretty nice. never been...was going to last july for a neurology convention with my honey but i was too ill. i agree with the immune system transplants! that would be a true blessing. but i strongly feel that in the future medicine will properly get a hold of RA, PA, lupus and other autoimmune diseases through stem cell therapy. i think that will be the ultimate key. i know the whole thing is controversial...but there are ways to culture stem cells without having to destroy life or any thing like that. i wish congress would push for more self supplied stem cell and umbilical research. i hope in the future that when all babies are born....their cords are saved so they could possibly be free of having to live with horrible conditions like we do now. IF ONLY THERE WERE A PILL TO FIX THIS!!!!

 it's 90 here today in NJ! we are in the Ramapo mountains up in northern NJ. very beautiful. but during the week i have a house in a city where it's congested and gross and noisy.

it's been really good talking to you! i like how you described PA!!!! i find that it helps me explain better to patients about disease when i hear from someone who HAS it and how they describe it. so you were very very helpful.

thanks again. have a happy day!

erin

Small cough...much better (knock on wood.)

Pain meds and beer...no wonder you sustained 5 hours of dancing your heiny off!

I haven't had topical relief for my psorisis in a while. It's usually a steroid cream. The last one they Rx'd for me isn't cutting it when I need it, but I keep using it anyway - just in case it is helping.

I'm all for that miracle pill that cures all that ails you so you can live a happy, healthy, pain-free life!!!

Your story just add to my theory about a good doctor - your doctor was a WOMAN!!!! Now, I know all women doctors are not awesome, caring, compassionate, etc - but out of all the doctors I've seen here (and let me tell you, I have seen a LOT of them! ) my 2 of my 3 top doctors were FEMALES (both PCPs.) I had one podietrist who was awesome. Eldrely man, short, very friendly - I had been in absolute torture (pain) for a long time and getting no relief, no help, and no sympathy from the doctors. I was 24/7 in tears.  He walks in for the first time and says, "hey squirt!" Now, I guess if I was healthy, that might have put me off - but, his bedside manner was exactly what I needed at that time. He to this day has been the only compassionate,  understanding, comfortable to be around, and caring MALE doctor I've had so far. Sadly, he retired way too soon for me.  He was the one who officially diagnosed the psoriatic arthritis and explained a lot of things to me about how my body was working and attacking itself. He was able to tell ME how I felt and the off-the wall problems I was having w/o me telling him. I had JRA growing up,and nothing was really ever explained or discussed with me about what was going on. In fact, problems I had addressed as a teen to my Rhuemy at the time were responded with a shrug and "I don't know what that is..." when it apparently was very clear a psorisis issues...whether or not I had PA back then (if that is possible) I don't know, but I suffered a lot of years with doctors ignoring me when I needed help.

Have a safe weekend. What are you doing?

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Have you dropped even more, below 94lbs now? Stay away from the coffee!!! That caffine is not good for your intestines either!!!!! You know that!

I haven't had the full GI testing, if you're talking about what I THINK you're talking about!   My mom went through a whole series of that, she was not thrilled. Said it was uncomfortable and intrusive feeling. My husband had some of that testing also and said the same thing. He had the flu a few years ago and it left him with severe IBS for about a year - I guess we're lucky that s all it was, but having the big D for a year was NOT fun. And I know you really can't afford that in your condition! Most of my problems (doc said a form of colitis caused by the arthritis) were subdued by the use of Remicade.

We went to the County Fair today last minute, it was fun. Gotta go grocery shopping tomorrow (ugh on a holiday weekend!) now. Daughter is going through a "spell" these last few weeks and causing me and hubby a TON of grief. I actually just posted a long email asking for advice on the ADD forum. Her spells are getting worse and I feel so helpless and like such an awful parent!   Reading through the forum, I see a lot of talk of other issues beyond ADD and hope someone can shed some light or give me some guidance on what to do about her. So, she will be about as grounded as you can ground a 5 1/2 year old this weekend.

Stay safe. **

Thanks for your input, Oreo. I have problems with milk as well and it also makes my arthritis flare and psorisis worse!

I put my daughter on soy over a year ago. It was a slow elimination process, but she started having diarreah every day more than once a day. The switch to soy has helped.

If this keeps up, I will be calling the doctor for advice and referrals. I want to get her tested for food allergies as well - I have suspected that could be contributing factor to her behavior. My husband, who I discussed this with last night, thinks it's a load of crap. Nonetheless, I have met and read enough from people who testify behavior differences in their children. I know how I get with certain foods.

My daughter's emotions are stronger than her desire to think and act logically. She gets a thought or feeling in her head and cannot let it go - no matter what the cost. It is exhausting.

Oops, speaking of.....I gotta go tend to her again..

Thanks, Erin, I hope you are feeling better! Oreo, are you still feeling good? I hope so!

I still have not seen the doctor - so much for that "rush" referral. I need to call and make sure I can at least get my appt. on the 7th as it was previously scheduled. I'm coughing again and am congested. I don't know if I picked up my son's flu. I still haven't had my infusion (was supposed to be Jun 13th) and if this gets worse, it's going to be a while.

My daugher is not getting any better. We're at a loss. It's killing my joints (constantly picking her up and taking her back to her room because she won't stay - soon as I walk towards her, she plops her 44lbs of dead weight on the floor and she's 2/3rds my height!) She is scaring the crap out of us. This behavior can lead to so much trouble as a teen. I've tried numerous tactics on her, nothing works. I don't know if it's just strong-willed, ADD, or something else....whatever it is, I need to find answers NOW and help her deal with it before she's too old to change. They say kids have their behavior set by 7....she's  5 1/2 and answers may not come quickly.

Saw a GREAT fireworks show from our house. There weren't supposed to be any this year, but they found an alternate spot. Yeah!

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Hi Camama,

I read your post about the problems with your daughter. My son was dx'x hyper when he was 6, he is now 31. But, he could not tolerate his Ritalin, it made him worse. We controlled him with what was called the Feingold Diet. It eliminates alot of the preservatives & additives, food dyes are awful on these kids. Red food dye was the worst of the lot.

Sugar was not his enemy so to speak as most think in this situation. Its the crap they put in our foods. My son was more than a handful and it was pretty rough to handle. See if you can do a google search on the Feingold Diet. Best of luck. Susie 

Aw CaMama, oh yes, I had a meltdown 1 1/2 yrs ago. I was put on Effexor by my PCP, low dose in the beginning now up to 300mg. I am on Cymbalta 60mg a day which is an anti but also the first true med per my PCP for PN. It is starting to work well for the PN. Then at bedtime I take 15 mg of Remeron to sleep, its an anti also.

Believe it or not, but antidepressants do help with chronic pain. I have had it for 20yrs plus. Last Wed I had a morphine pump implanted and the difference is awesome. But, I have such mixed emotions about it, I am happy with it but scared at the same time. I think I am afraid it will stop working and I will end up back in the horrible pain and trying to juggle pain pills, pain patches, allergic reactions ect.

One thing to keep in mind w/your daughter is try to eliminate foods/drinks with red food dye. Its really hard on them. Also, only let her have caffeine free drinks. This diet made all the difference in my son. Thats awful about your sister, but in many cases that is what happens, they use it as a crutch.

Try and get some help for your self. Go to your dr and tell him about maybe being depressed and the problems with sleep. Lots of hugs coming you way. Susie

I"m glad you finally got that pain pump - I'll be praying in continues to work for you! I'm so glad it is giving you relief!

Thank you for being open and honest about everything. It really helps. I will hopefully talk to PCP on Monday about all this. My feeling is, she may not want to add any more insult to injury with my liver problems if she feels we're better off w/o it. We'll see.

With the exception of the occasional glass of chocolate soy, my daugther is caffine free. I will check for the dyes and some of the additives in the snaxs she eats.

**

I was on Paxil for chronic pain/depression many years ago. Much more obvious and worse than what I'm dealing with now - which is why I'm now somewhat aware of what I might be going through. I had accidentally gotten pregnant with my daughter 8 months earlier than planned and my PCP at the time made me stop it cold turkey. I was over 8 weeks pregnant at that point and my body felt so stressed out, even when I was relaxed and happy. I didn't realize at the time what stopping like that could/would/was doing to me. My daughter is SO high strung....I just have to wonder if either being on Paxil those first 8 weeks and/or stopping it cold turkey like that is the reason for her high-maintenance/excessive need for repetition and routine behavior.

I guess there is a chance she is having problems with soy - her milk issues are more of an intolerance than an allergy. She is gassy and has diaharreah constantly along with non-stop belly aches when she has milk products. Much of that has subsided with being on soy.

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