Hi, I'm a RA Newbie

Morticia Hi and welcome to HW.I'am truley sorry to hear that you have RA,while I understand your concern's I have Ra as well it it is not a fun disease to live with that is for sure.I do have some question's if you are up to answering them.You say you are on Methotrexate are you taking it by pai form are you taking it by shot form?I take the shot form because my Dad started out on the pill form and it would make him severley sick for about two day's so I would recommend the shot form if you are not all ready takeing it.There are a lot less side effect's with the pill.There are other med's that you may want to ask you Rheumy about and two of them are Humira,Emberel and there are as well Rimecade that you may want to ask about if you feel the metho is not helping but keep in mind that some med's take a little while to get into your system for you to notice any different's.

Thank you for your replys

As far as the MTX goes, DR. put me on pill form, i had my first ones on Friday and so far so good I didnt get sick from it. My liver is a little bit sore, he told me that might happen because its very hard on the liver. DR. wanted to put me right into hard meds right away to try and slow the progression down. I'm praying it will work, to the point where i can at least sleep at night and move around in the days. I sleep about 2 hours, then im up and down all night long. The pain at night is brutle, and that with Vicodens. Specially in my legs and feet at night. My knees lockup in bed and i can't move. If i lay on my back like a board, i can't move either. Nothing helps, so i just get up and try to watch tv or surf the net.

This sucks, and to think its gonna be lifetime is really hard to deal with.

dear Morticia,

 

wow, what a fesh case huh?  last week? wow.  whe i was told i had RA, at age 16, the docs told me to ignore it! and i did! for 4 years!  that it would probably lay dormant & not get bad till i was old.  NOTHING COULD BE MORE THE OPPOSITE!  so i know how you feel with being young yet.  at age 19 the RA got very bad.  i'm 24 now and it's disabling.

 

so...my sincere advise would be to stick with the hard meds!  it is proven and shown that when caught and TREATED early with MTX and especially with the TNF meds like Enbrel and Humira....the destruction caused from RA is slowed better than with mono therapy alone.

 

it's good you're on pain management.  you need it.

 

this RA came on this quickly?  or have you been gradually getting symptoms over years?

 

the best way to get in remission is to be on the DMARDs and TNFs injections.  i would definitely have a heart to heart with your doc about the possibility of starting a Enbrel or Humira med as an adjunct to MTX.

 

are you able to do at least some things for yourself or are you really contracted?  how is walking, typing, eating, etc....?

what types of Xrays have you had?  is there really bad joint deterioration yet?

 

when you feel up to it, please write back to let us know how you are doing.

 

i'm up all night too!  it's awful.  i'm very determined for this to go into remission one day, at least for a while to at least be able to work.

it really changes your life, especially when RA is not controllable and left untreated.  keep the faith & stay strong!  aggressive treatment is really wise to nip this in the bud if this is indeed a newly caught and early RA, because the right treatment can pave the way of the future for the path the disease takes.

 

this is so hard.

you're in the right place though!  welcome to HealingWell & i hope you find a lot of support and guidance here.

 

the best to you!

erin

 

im looking at my blood work report and my "RDW" is high at 16.20. Dr never talked to me about this result, anyone know what this means?

with the RDW....what is it grouped with? like....what are the 5 labs before it and after it? tryign to figure out if it's an inflammatory/rheumatic panel or blood cell count or what.

 i got it!

 

ok...(RDW) is Red Cell Size Distribution Width.

it's a study helpful with looking at blood disorders & monitoring responses to therapy.

all RBCs have different shapes to some degree, and this RDW test basically indicates how the RBCs look and to see if any are abnormal or shaped funny.

 

basically all this lab is, is a check for anemias.

• iron deficient anemia
• vitamin B or pernicious anemia
• thalassemia
• immune anemias (from medicines)

 

ok, so you have a RDW of 16.20:  normal reference is 11.5 through 14.5 and may vary lab to lab. and this test can be very "innacurate" so to speak, if an inexperienced person is doing the lab studies, because a person in the lab analyzes it.  so i would definitely have it repeated.  it may change.

 

so you may have anemia of some sort.  with RA it's common to get it.  and some Dmards can cause it also.

 

do you have anemia that you are aware of already?

 

what was your MCV numbers on your lab?

 

the doc is ordering this RDW to distinguish between anemia of chronic illness, like RA; or if it is an early onset iron deficiency anemia.

 

so there we have it!  now you can go grill em' at the next appointment!  have him explain it! LOL.  or maybe you can explain it to him.

 

but when you get a chance, let me know what the MCV numbers were on you labs. should be under the CBC near the Hg and RBCs.

 

erin

sorry did not know

I was just trying to help people, this product really works

I hate mornings !!! The RA has hit my pelvic joints and I cant move my legs. I have this pain in my right leg that takes my breath away. I had an Angiogram test done a couple years ago, and the RA is attacking the puncture spot in my groin area on the right side where the needle went into my main artery for the Angiogram. Feels like im being puncutred again over and over. This sucks!


Where's my Starbucks with Morphine delivery boy? He's late !!

Getting up is a nightmare. I wake whenever this morning it was 4:30 do to my leg screaming in pain. Getting dressed really takes about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on if i need a bra and sock on. If i need my bra, thats another challenge from hell. And socks are out of the question most days. I cant shower till hubby gets home in the evening, I cant lift my leg over the tub to get in. And raise my arms high enough to wash my hair.

The doctor has me just on the MTX for now , because I have no medical insurance and I cant afford the cost of the other medications. Long story to make it short...... I am Canadian living in the USA. No immigrant staus as of yet, so im out of luck on medical coverage.

I phoned home to Vancouver BC and told my doctor there whats going on with me, she is trying to get a time estamted time on how long i will have to wait to get to see a Rheumy there. Once i get an appointment set, I will make arrangements to fly home for more treatment in Canada. So for now the doctor down here has me on vicodens and the MTX. Im ordering the Microplasma meds tomorrow, and gonna be on a cycle of that for three months. Hopefully after thats done, i will be much better and not need to fly home. We were just about to get medical insurance for me down here in january then hubby got laid off for the month. That blew that out the door, and now ive got a "pre-existing" problem and they wont even look at me.

hey morticia,

wow, i sure know that!  IF I GET TO SLEEP!   man sometimes i'm up 3 nites in a row because the joints throb so badly.

i take Avinza 30mg daily; that's a slow realease morphine.  i'm trying to take it every other day due to constipation problems.  it's OK...nothing takes away the joint pain completely.

i take dilaudud 4mg when needed.  and tylenol when needed.  and of course prednisone when needed. taking Imuran for RA and the Crohns as well and Humira every 4 days.

 

i need alot mostly!

 

luckily, i'm bedrest most of the times so that helps as to not aggravate the RA further.

i do what i can, but unfortunately it's at a disabling point...hopefully not forever! 

that's great you have your hubby.  is he good to you?  that's important.  my Joe is my lifesaver.  pretty much the only thing i look forward to through all of this.  he's very supportive & understanding.

 

i know what ya mean.  i hate having to sacrafice a shower if i need to be somewhere because i can't do both.  and trying to REACH my hair! forget it.

 

i have medicaid ( no insurance and no money....CAN'T WORK! ) ....but, for the Humira....i get it at no cost.  there is a program you apply for and if you cannot afford the RA meds the company provides them for you!  you have to show your income and lack of insurance, but inquire about this at your next doc appt.  it's worth a shot, ya never know.  i think in Canada it's the same deal too.

 

have a goodnight!

erin