HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Good Moanin' Healing Well V27

Support Forums
>
Rheumatoid Arthritis
✚ New Topic locked
1 23
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 4/26/2007 7:43 AM (GMT 0)
scool  Moanin' Friends.  Don't know what I'm doin' with the shades cuz it's always dark when I start roaming the halls.  Feeling ok and starting my weaning process from Effexor.  I know rheumy has me on it for the RA and Fibro but I sure don't like it. 

Took daughter shopping yesterday and we had a blast.  2 month old grandson cut the spree short but that's ok.  We spent enough $$$$$.  Got on the turnpike and about quarter of the way home when she called and said I left my company checkbook on the table when I was looking for something in my purse.  Ugh!  Had to turn around in rush hour traffic. 

Everything came out ok and it was worth it.  I'm remembering why I had such big cars when the kids were little.  You all should have seen me trying to load a stroller in a VW Bug!  I waited to get the car of my dreams until the kids were grown and was wishing yesterday I had a SUV. 

Helping host a wedding shower this weekend and I may end up in bed for a week.  I have silver to polish and fruit trays to make.  Sure hope my body cooperates.  Boo 

Posted 4/26/2007 4:11 PM (GMT 0)

Erin, glad the remicade is helping your chrons, hopefully, they can find something to push the arthritis pain down too.  I didn't get any help from voltaren either......Plaquenil and remicade (when I could tolerate it) has really be it. I'm hoping the arava starts helping as well. At least it's 1/2 the battle, right?

I hope everyone is doing better. I woke up with awful sinus pain in the face. Was in the sun all day yesterday - was REALLY nice out here (I know you don't want to hear it) -daughter had a field trip at SEa World I went along and I'm in a lot of pain now and completely wiped out from sun and walking. I did wear a hat and 50 spf sunscreen! Good for me! Now it's overcast and yucky so far today.

***

Posted 4/26/2007 5:57 PM (GMT 0)
eyes  afternoon ya'll? {sorta woke up @ 1pm}

sad  all of that hard work stickin' to the Makers Diet & all of that swelling gone from my legs...it's all back. sad aargh!

since having had the knees done last friday...i couldn't walk or basically do anything for myself.  and Old Smokey (my ma') can't see for crap so she wasn't any help in getting the things i need from the market.  what the heck is the sense of me staying at home if she can't help me?

makes a big fuss about going to the pharmacy or picking up scripts for me!!! wtf?

anywhoo...going away this weekend and I'M STAYING AWAY for the entire next week until i go for Remicade on the 7th.  can't wait to get the heck outa' here.

GI dude called last night, bless his little heart...definitely going to give the Voltaren the heave-ho.  going to try Celebrex (again) but at a higher dose & see if that works as an adequate antiinflammatory.  even suggested that we increase the Remicade too! :-) so i'm happy that some changes are coming & i hope they're good enough to at least let me enjoy the summer.

 

well...there goes my bikini this weekend. mad   i wouldn't be caught dead in a bathing suit w/ these legs mad

Posted 4/26/2007 10:39 PM (GMT 0)
hey everyone, still busy with two families to care for but we got the dx on mom and yep, she has RA and is in a bad flare to start with. blood work confirmed everything i already knew, not that i am a doc but i am observant, and she is my mom. so next step is getting her on a treatment and seeing a rhuemy. she is walking again thank goodness and as many of us do has responded well to the prednisone. she is pissed that in less than a week she has gained 5 pounds but i told her with good there is evil and one evil of pred is weight gain. well been medicating myself and survivng as we all do.
i quickly read some posts and sounds like life is happpening. pace urself boo and erin dont worry ur a hot mama! :) hugs all yalin
Posted 4/27/2007 10:18 AM (GMT 0)

Yalinda, Erin, CaMama and All,  TGIF!  Long week.  Two funerals and a baby shower this weekend.(Wasn't there a movie by that name? Teehee)

So far so good on the Effexor weaning.  I just have a real positive feeling about this.  I think it has pulled me down and exacerbated everything that's wrong with me.  Had a couple of "brain quivers" yesterday but that's all.  Went back to see grandbaby for a little while but he was acting like excorcist baby with spitting up and fussiness.  Just wanted his mamma.  So I went shopping again.  Woohoo! 

Mood Swing Lady at work is having a real rough go of it as her daddy is dying and she just found out her best friend's cancer is back and there is no more they can do.  Going to be hoofin' it for the next few days as she'll be off. 

Have a great weekend.  Boo 

Posted 4/27/2007 5:42 PM (GMT 0)
scool  hey ya'll

Boo...be careful hon.  don't over-do it (i know that's probably impossible).

Duck, yalin & El, mom & Camama have a good weekend! everybody get a good rest when you can.

 

alright, GOOD NEWS yeah : i can actually WALK now! yeah it's slow...but it's a "normal" stride. i don't look so much like a Gerry's Kid anymore.  still pain when standing, but at least no major swaggering gimp.

started packing for my Marathon Weekend!  tried on bikini last night.... eyes well, good part is that it fits, in fact the bottom can be a size or 2 smaller...but my freakin' legs look like tree trunks still. mad so i hope the swelling goes down by sunday nite.

 

it's going to be nice...in 4 years of being together me & my hunny never went away anywhere yet. i mea, we're not leaving NJ...but it's the beach nonetheless. have the hotel till monday afternoon.

 

peace/love

erin

Posted 4/27/2007 7:42 PM (GMT 0)
Happy Friday Ladies,

Erin :) Have a wonderful sweetie, you deserve it!!

Looks like everyone else is still hangin in there...nothing really planned here. Hubby is redoing the backyard and he just keeps working at it until it is finished, so I know we won't be going anywhere. But at least we will have a pretty yard soon.

Pretty much just the same old same old going on...

Have a nice weekend everybody.
Posted 4/28/2007 1:22 AM (GMT 0)

I was looking through the posts and thought this where I need to respond. What a crappy week! It start last week on Friday a lady rear ended my car on my way home from work. She said she wanted to pay for the damage out of pocket so i took her name and PH.# and told her I would get back to her after an estimate. It turns out that there is  more damage and it will cost $700. She wouldn't call me back. I finally got her to email me back and know she said she wouldn't pay for the damages and she would let her agent know. I have emailed her several times since because I need more info. for my insurance. She isn't responding.

Monday night I had a bad case of Costochondritis. I also got the chills and was really scared. I went to my PC doc (The rheumy was to busy and never did call me back) My BP is up. and she feel confident that it is the Costo. that caused the pain. MY BP has been very stable for many years until now. I am taking Pred.it makes me very jittery. I am not retaining fluids, lost some weight, but my BP is up. She increased my meds. I do feel less jittery since then and my BP is getting lower. I ended up missing two days of work. It puts me really behind. I only have 5 more days of sick leave left. I go to the Rheumy next week. I really don't like the way Pred. makes me feel. MY DX. Is "some kind of inflammatory Arthritis" I have many signs of AS but he hasn't suggested that yet. I guess PMS is making me a winer some. I appreciate a chance to vent. My husband can only take so much! Thanks again for letting me moan! I think I will take a walk to help my mind off this.

NanMac

Posted 4/28/2007 2:16 AM (GMT 0)

Erin - hope you are having a GREAT TIME! yeah

NacMac, we're hear to moan and groan and hopefully take some of it off our spouses ears! tongue   Plus, we can commiserate better here than our spouses often can! Ha ha.

Everyone, have a great weekend. Gonna continue working on this mess to get a presentable downstairs (and accessible through the front door) before Mother's Day weekend. Company's a-coming. It's been way too slow going.....but that's what you get for 10 years of clutter, junk, and filing that hasn't been filed.... sad I know a lot of the health issues are why this mess all started, but boy is it embarrassing! redface

What does it mean when your knees start stiffening up and clicking all the time after mostly no noise for the last few years? <sigh>

******

Posted 4/29/2007 9:35 AM (GMT 0)
Whew! What a weekend! We made all this food and bought tons of brisket for a friend's funeral and dinner yesterday and then hubby got a migraine and I had to take him home. Didn't even get to eat. Had to come home and cook. I think he was so stressed about losing a dear friend plus he had to speak at the funeral.
Bridal shower today and I'm up doing the fruit prep. Going to bed after everything is done this evening! Boo
Posted 5/1/2007 8:29 AM (GMT 0)
OMG. GI (lower) distress all night. Always something. I'd love to stay curled up in bed here all day since I didn't sleep all night. It's rainy and cool and I don't want to get out. One employee off today and I have to drive into the city for an appointment this afternoon.
Sorry to moan......oh,yea, that's what this forum is called. Hee hee.
Boo
Posted 5/1/2007 11:51 PM (GMT 0)
Moanin...

Hey Nanmac..I wanted to post to you earlier as I am also undiagnosed. At this point, my joint pain (especially in the hips) gets so bad that I take a lot of pred, way more than I should be taking. Today and yesterday I took 25mg. The pain gets so bad, I cannot sit, and I do so much driving every day, that I really don't know what else to do. I wanted you to know you are not alone!

Speaking of pred, I am wondering how much is too much? it is the only thing I have to take at the moment, that WORKS and I am just desperate for the swelling/pain in my hips to STOP!!! but is 20 or 25mg too much? I see my doctor on Thursday, and I am taking the plaquenil, and only supposed to be taking 5mg of pred, I am worried what he is going to say or if I should even tell him.

Has anyone ever taken more than 200mg of plaq? can that be increased? sorry but sometimes we just want to feel better!

Anyway still hanging in there!!
Posted 5/2/2007 1:11 AM (GMT 0)
moanin everyone! tongue   hows it creakin?  like the tin man i am certain lol yeah

 

me i am hanging in there, still in pain but od' ing on darvacan. helping a bit lol 

seeing the rhuemmy next week will have to see what he suggests.

 

i am a nervous wreck right now ..... i am watching the SABRES  PLAYOFF game and the stress is killing me!!!!!!!!!!! 

 

lets go buffalo!!!!! whoohooo buffalo sabres!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!! 

 

anyone else follow my families favorite sport? 

 

we so deserve the stanley cup!  sorry guys but this year we have played a good game yeah

 

so here is to a win tonight please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!                   (___)

                                                                                              l       l

                                                                                             l         l

                                                                                            l           l_

                                                                                        l                   l

                                                                                        l                   l_

                                                                                      l                       l

                                                                                      l                       l

                                                                                    l                           l

                                                                                    l                           l

 

FOR THE CUP!

 

 

 

 

Posted 5/2/2007 3:17 AM (GMT 0)

Momto3,

I am a mom to 3 also. My baby is 20. I am only taking 10mg. of Pred. It make the pain go away for about 2.5 weeks. After 2 weeks my Sed rate and CRP went back to normal. Now after 5 weeks my hips, thumb joints and neck are sore. I also go to the Rhuemy on Thursday. I am going to try to get off the Pred. I don't like the side effects, increased BP Jittery like I drank way to much coffee. I don't know what he will say. I sure hope to get a DX and some kind of TX I can live with. Keep in touch and let me know how it goes. I took an Ambian so its good night for me!

NanMac

Posted 5/2/2007 3:35 AM (GMT 0)
Hi momto3 - I take 200mg of plaquenil twice a day (so, I guess tht makes it 400 a day.) It sounds like, from my opthamologist, they have in the past given higher doses and I think my rhuemy talked about my taking it 3 times a day, but decided on 2x instead - I'd talk to your doc before you try upping it.

Boo, I hope your belly pains go away.......

****

Posted 5/2/2007 5:58 AM (GMT 0)
Erin and El sounds like you are both a mess. I hope you feel better soon. I hope the meds start working. Yalinda I feel your pain with your mom that must of been a very stubborn generation. my mom was just as bad.
Posted 5/2/2007 3:58 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Nan..

My baby is 10 and my oldest is going on 15. I also hate the pred, but for some reason it doesn't keep me awake like I thought it would. Yesterday, finally at 1pm, I just couldn't stand it any longer and took a large dose of it, and by 10pm I was falling asleep. I hate the weight gain that comes along with it, and it is starting to make me cranky :(

I am wondering why they can't prescribe just regular pain medication for it? why does it have to be a steroid?? The options seem so limited at times. Especially for those of us who are undiagnosed, it has taken me 18 months just to get to the pred for relief. When I go tomorrow, I am going to ask how much longer I will be "unspecified". Good luck with your appointment as well, let me know how it goes!

CaMama...I am going to ask my doctor before I increase the plaquenil..I only take 200mg twice daily. My prescription ran out, and the pharmacy took a few days to get another called in, and it seems the minute you stop taking it, the joints notice it!! Now I have back tracked a bit, and seem to be in a flare. I forgot about the eyes!
Posted 5/2/2007 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
scool  moanin' ya'll!

it's been a while...trying to catch up on some posts.

yeah  Harley Diva! YOU'RE BACK!!!!!  so how did it go?

i know i wrote a few of my HW friends over the weekend w/ some pics from my "mini-break" with my hunny.

the NJ marathon was awesome...my joey did fantastic!

and i felt right at home because EVERYONE there walked with a big ol' limp and everyone was gimpin' along afterwards...so i fit right in! tongue

i was on crutches b/c  i blew both knees out trying to walk & stand a little bit on Sunday...and all the runners were like, "Wow...so what was you're time?!?" :-)

i played along...made up a whole bunch of crap. tongue

 

so it's back on bedrest for me till these ******* knees go down. eyes can't get to the docs to have bloodwork done...oh well, if they want it that bad they should come to me!

i can't believe they actually got worse...i don't know what the heck happened.

this too shall pass. i guess.

oh...momto3:  20 & 25mg of pred isn't really a lot.  especially if it's not long term.  i'm usually on 60 mg and the a taper from that.  nsaids and steroids are really like the only meds that actually help inflammatory arthritis. opioids don't hold any anti-inflammatory properties...but narcotics are needed anyways for pain sometimes.  be honest with your doc, unbearable pain is inhumane to be made to live with.

ciao ciao

erin 

Posted 5/2/2007 9:33 PM (GMT 0)

Hey Y'all,  I am also getting caught up on posts.  Ended up having some kind of stomach virus which is never fun. 

I am pretty furious right now.  Been trying to get rheumy's office to call me back for three days.  Need a few more Effexor half dose as he is weaning me off at my request.  I couldn't do it as quickly as he wanted me to (the effects of coming off this drug are awful).  Three days!  I finally called my PCP and explained the situation and he was happy to call in Rx.  I'm thinking that I will be looking for a new rheumy.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  And one visit I had with him a few months ago, I let him know that his staff had called in the wrong script to the pharmacy.  His nurse even said on the phone, "Oh well, it's a good thing it wasn't something serious."  It was serious to me!  He let me know that his staff didn't make mistakes like that.  I let him know they did.  I thought the man was going to come unglued. 

Anyway, had to vent.  Arthritics aren't people who like to travel around spending money on doctors.  We are people who need help in a lot of different ways.  Compassion being the first and most important.  Like all of you, when I'm dismissed or not taken seriously about medications or pain or not being able to get out of bed or crying myself to sleep or whatever this disease has done to me, it's time to find someone else to write a check to.  So there.

Thanks for being here for me once again, you funny, brave, courageous, kind peeps.  Boo

Posted 5/2/2007 10:22 PM (GMT 0)
Hello to everybody moanin' from the UK, can I park awhile from the parkinson's forum as like so many people using this excellent site, have other conditions namely arthritis of the leg joints and lower spinal region and unless my body is doubling up for somebody else, it's starting to move around. Left knee ligament reconstruction in 82 probably kicked it all off followed by numerous arthroscopies, semi-compartmental L knee replacement in 02, total hip replacement in 05 and awaiting the other hip being done in August. Hips are done using non-cementation method cad/cam. Meds are arthrotec 75 and dihydracodeine. Still working full time but finding it harder and harder to get through the week as the combination of pd and arthritis is hard on the body and mind. Am happy to share experience with people who are havign replacement therapy and those who may have pd thrown in.
Am 56 with a 15 year old son who thinks he is the next jim Morrison but what do I know. The sort of support I get from my family is the 'there are no sick people here' type which really helps as it drives me on. My attitude has to be I have conditions but they do not have me.........yet!!!
Hope you don't mind the invasion Erin but your forum is the more cheerful than pd so I shall pop in and out if I may.
Thanks for listening Erin, Boo, camama and all the rest. Stay well.
The Bear
Posted 5/2/2007 10:26 PM (GMT 0)
Hey The Bear!  Welcome to the Arthritis side of the house!  Glad you think we're a cheery bunch!  It is hard sometimes, but we do what we can!  You are more than welcome to come by anytime you'd like!  Take good care, and hope to see more of ya!

Duck

Posted 5/2/2007 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the welcome Ducky - what is it with the green tea? Yakkimo in the pd mods uses it. We Brits are a devout tea drinking nation but usually it is pretty awful stuff adulterated with tea and sugar/sweetner but one must have a tea pot for leaf tea and thats difficult to carry around. Apart from drinking the stuff I know very little about it - is it a good anti-oxident or something? Knowing our luck putting milk and sugar in probably kills whatever goodness is in the stuff. Always had images of D-Day landings around about three in the afternoon adn teh Brits sitting down and brewing up - 'sorry old chap, tea!!!'
It's getting late but I'll visit again and maybe you can pour and tell me more
g'night
The Bear
Posted 5/2/2007 11:47 PM (GMT 0)
Dear Bear,
Anytime! Come on over!!!!!!! Bring your friends!!!!!!!! LOL.
Glad you got to check us out.
Looking forward to seeing more of you!
OK...I have gotta' get, HANDS HURT! ;)

peace/love
erin
Posted 5/3/2007 10:12 PM (GMT 0)
moanin everyone! aw erin sry to hear the hands hurt so bad ....
welcome bear !
so anybody well enough to enjoy the sunshine? oh yep camama we have heat and sun finally!!!!!! and it looks lide we might have it for 7 days in a row!!!! whoohooo no shorts yet but heck we hit the 60's!!!!!!!!!
update on mom she got a cortisone shot and is back to her good ol self. i told her it is a temp fix more than likely but none the less happy .......
well lata and take care everyone yalinda
Posted 5/3/2007 11:25 PM (GMT 0)
hey everyone.. hope you are all well.. sorry I haven't posted much.. in a self/stress induced flare and not doing well.. but I read everyday.. I'll be back soon.. take care..
✚ New Topic locked
123