I'm on MTX 5mg a week. I've been on it since mid July. For the first time I actually forgot to take it on Sunday! I remembered at 8pm that I hadn't taken it. I took it then and then again at 8 on...
Good evening, I live in the Boston area and we are expecting the giant hurricane, named Sandy. All day I've noticed an increase in my hand and feet pain along with some areas where I have tendonitis,...
I have sero negative r.a. My blood work was negative but the p.a. and my physician immediately stated this could still be sero negative r.a. They see it in women many times after they have an...
Hi Weary, I'm sorry you are having a difficult time. I am newer to the whole r.a. thing and I am having a hard time accepting it myself. Like you, I'm seronegative and my blood work doesn't support...
Wow, I just re-read my entry above. I said "I'm "not" on methotrexate. Yikes. I guess I am wishing I wasn't so I typed it like that! freudian slip? :yeah: :yeah: I "am" on methotrexate 1 x a week on...
Hi Kelsey, Welcome to the r.a. board. I'm fairly new to r.a. myself. Just diagnosed at the end of May. Like you, I'm seronegative and I have been second guessing myself since the diagnosis. Same...
Welcome Rocckyd. I'm fairly new to having r.a. and just starting on this board. I've found it to be very helpful. I'm sorry you have such a hard struggle with the disease. My brother has had r.a. for...
Thanks Bad Day ! I have an update. I called my gyn doc who did the procedure to let him know I was in agony. He had me come into the office this afternoon. I have a big bruise on my back where the...
Thank you Chartreux. I'm putting some heat on my back and hoping it will help. I also meant to add that the spinal didn't really work. I felt what they were doing. I was also pretty wide awake. They...
Hi.. I know this isn't really an r.a. issue but wanted to ask if anyone has had a spinal for anesthesia and had back pain the next day. I had a minor procedure done and didn't want to be knocked out....
Sorry Stavy. I'm sure it is difficult to manage r.a. in the military. I know you said you have to wait 3 months to see the rheumatologist but that is pretty average for civilians too. Not easy to get...
Hi Mari, Did the doctor give you a shot of cortisone rather than prednisone? The cortisone shot will hurt and takes a few days for the pain to wear off . I've had a cortisone shot in my elbow and it...
Hi Tom, I don't know anything about that drug but I take tylenol # 4 for pain with my r.a. but also I have some back issues too. I take methotrexate, prednisone specifically for r.a. The tylenol # 4...
Hi Donna, I agree with Weary. It's really difficult to say because with r.a. it doesn't always follow specific symptoms. Hopefully the rheumatologist can help you out with more direction and care....
My r.a. is not controlled yet. I do feel fortunate to have a physician and his nurse practitioner who started treating me right away when I came in with symptoms. I was the one who was disbelieving I...
Hi Tesa, I have used a medrol pack in the past for hives and I don't remember any issues. I'm on prednisone 10mg now for the r.a. swelling/pain. My side effects center around being hungry, gaining...
I'm on 10mg of prednisone and it's definitely not giving me any energy but it has helped with the swelling in my hands. They still hurt but not as much as they did when I wasn't taking any. I'm...
I'm with both of you. I feel like I'm always going to the doctor's or having some sort of test done. I had an mri of my hands a week ago and was supposed to have my wrists done at the same time but...
If you opt to use FMLA, that is unpaid, correct? I haven't really investigated anything yet but I know that my company has short term disability and long term disability. I don't have any idea how...
Wow. That's crazy! Thankfully everyone was safe and not hurt. I had a car accident in my front lawn years ago when my children were in elementary school. We had an ice storm overnight and the school...
I agree with Kathleen. You will want to be examined at the very least by your own primary care physician but should get to a rheumatologist. I believe a normal r.f. factor is 0 - 14, so 22 is outside...
Hi Golithio, Thanks for your input. I called the doctor's office today and told them what was going on. It's back to taking the dang prednisone. They said to try 10mg and stay on it until I see the...
Hi Frustrated.. I had the tendon release done on my elbow. It was wayyy back in 1992. But before I had the surgery, I had 3 cortisone shots right into the elbow joint. Those are awful. The first time...
Hi Vannie, Today is really rough for me. I had to get to work this morning with meetings and I barely slept last nite. I had the hand, fingers, wrist, ankles and foot pain but added to that were my...
I'm pretty new to having r.a. - just diagnosed in July - and I know there are good days and bad days but today felt overwhelming. I worked from home because I was so tired and didn't have the energy...
Happy Saturday ! I have a question. I went to have an MRI on both of my hands and wrists. My physician wanted to get a baseline for the inflammation in my hands/wrists. Scheduling this was a...
I am taking vitamin D3, 2,000 units a day with calcium 800mg. Vitamin D is something I'm lacking, even before I was diagnosed with r.a. I bought fish oil vitamins but have yet to take them. I find if...
I'm on methotrexate for my r.a. and on a very low dose. 5mg once a week. I had stomach issues a few times with this medication. The first week I took it, I didn't notice anything. But the next week,...
I'm still pretty new to this forum and to the diagnosis of r.a. I'm on 5mg of methotrexate a week. I take it on Sunday. 8am and again at 8pm. I usually try to take it easy on Sunday since the drug...
Before being diagnosed with r.a., I had (and still do) deal with lower back pain. I had an x ray done and it showed a bone spur in one of the vertebrae that is pinching on a nerve. The x ray was done...
Hi Kathleen... I've actually just been diagnosed with sero negative r.a. and I'm just starting this journey with meds, exhaustion, pain. Like you, I travel a good deal for my job and it's really...
I was also just recently diagnosed with sero negative r.a. My physician put me on prednisone and MTX. I have a difficult time with NSAID's also but he had me try Celebrex and unfortunately, like the...
Well, I've been on the MTX for the rheumatoid arthritis for almost 4 weeks. The dose is low, 5mg one time a week. The doctor also had me start on Prednisone 30mg every day for 2 weeks and then start...
I'm decreasing my Prednisone down from 30 mg a day for 2 weeks to 15 mg right now. I don't know if I stayed at 20 mg long enough but I just hate being on this stuff. It does help with the pain in my...
Thank you all. I got the fish oil at GNC and it's supposed to be the kind that will not cause any aftertaste or indigestion from them. I hope because I'm not a fish lover. :) If it helps with the...
I would like to share my journey with r.a. but I've just started. I'm going on week 3 of methotrexate and still on 30 mg of prednisone. This past week was tough as I was really exhausted and the mtx...
Hi all, It was suggested that it might be helpful to supplement my diet/meds with fish oil as it helps with inflammation but also can lower triglycerides. Is anyone already doing this? And if so, is...
Enduroman, Statins have saved many lives for people who have cholesterol issues which block their arteries and cause heart attacks. There are pro's and con's on everything but the fact is people are...
One of the reasons my brother chose to "not" take methotrexate had to do with being able to drink alcohol. He's not an alcoholic either but as a young guy, he liked to have a beer. So they put him on...
One more thing, I tend to derail into a subject and forget what I was intending to write lol . My family history with r.a. is positive. My mom's brother , my uncle, had r.a. mild, but their...
Hi Kitten, You can google "seronegative rheumatoid arthritis" and there will pop up a ton of information. I had never heard of it myself until my first appt with the nurse practitioner when my hands...
Hi Kitten, I'm just newly diagnosed with r.a. but I noticed the exhaustion before I noticed the swelling, pain in my hands and wrists. Also, my hands radiated heat - they actually still do. Some of...
Thanks for the replies. :turn: I am going to try the folic acid. I spoke to the nurse practitioner at my physician's office and she said there is 400 mcg in women's daily vitamins and that isn't...
Good evening all, I had a question and hope it's okay to start another thread on Methotrexate and side effects. If not, please let me know and I'll roll it into another thread. I was just diagnosed...
And Ms Weary, wow. You were that affected with the r.a. that you were almost an invalid. So sorry!! From the little I've read (there are volumes on the web) I thought the sero negative r.a. was...
Thanks Weary. I hate taking the prednisone because of the side effects. It does help for the most part with the pain but as I said, the pain is still there. The other part I'm struggling with is the...
Interesting about the folic acid supplement. I did ask my physician about including it and he said that I was on such a low dose he did not see a need. After taking it on Sunday, I didn't experience...
Thank you psalm 18:30. Your response gave me the courage to take the first mtx dose this morning. I'm very bad with medications and following thru with taking them. I worry about the side effects but...
Hi , me again. I see that people have read my post but I don't see any responses ? I'm new, and that was my first post so I don't know if this is normal? One thing I did want to mention is that I...
I was just diagnosed today with Sero Negative R.A. I've been dealing with symptoms since the end of May. My hands were first to start bothering me. I was on a business trip to CA, I live in MA, and...