[NotGolfer]

If it's rheumatoid or in that family sometimes (early on) it's hard to get a definative answer. Doctors order blood tests for it...one VERY good one is the Vectra DA test to measure the particles in your blood. Then they'll do another lab where they check your sedrate and some other things as well. Plus will order x-rays (most times of your hands) to check for joint damage. This is one of the 1st places RA will strike. People often confuse RA with OA and they're nothing alike!!!! A person can have both however, which makes it doubly not so fun. I hope you get your answers and good treatment.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Bryant

It is Medrol Dosepak (methyIPREDNISolone Dose P 4 mg. PO Tab

Thank you. So a short pulse course of steroids had tremendous therapeutic effect. I think Dr. Ramos should be able to find an answer with the right lab tests.

Originally Posted by NotGolfer

If it's rheumatoid or in that family sometimes (early on) it's hard to get a definative answer. Doctors order blood tests for it...one VERY good one is the Vectra DA test to measure the particles in your blood. Then they'll do another lab where they check your sedrate and some other things as well. Plus will order x-rays (most times of your hands) to check for joint damage. This is one of the 1st places RA will strike. People often confuse RA with OA and they're nothing alike!!!! A person can have both however, which makes it doubly not so fun. I hope you get your answers and good treatment.

My apologies in advance, however.....
1) Early rheumatoid arthritis or an auto-immune arthropathy really isn't all that hard to diagnose in 99% of the cases.
2) Vectra DA is essentially a useless test. It is a proprietary combination of various inflammatory markers combined to give a "score" of disease activity in patients ALREADY diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, and is not approved to guide treatment or diagnose RA. Most insurances will not even cover it as it is considered "medically unnecessary", and since the company advertises financial assistance in paying for their useless test, I suspect it isn't cheap either. Number of Vectra DA tests I ordered in 35 years = zero
3) Yes, they will do appropriate x rays, especially the hands. Certain erosive changes are radiographically characteristic of RA
4) confuse RA and OA??? I can tell the difference from 10 feet away, a rheumatologist could probably do it from 30 feet

Sorry, don't shoot the messenger.

Also, until you get a diagnosis, I would avoid the herbs and creams that have been suggested by people who want to help. Those remedies help many people, but need to be tried after a diagnosis is established. Good luck, but I am pretty optimistic that your husband will improve with treatment.

[Bryant]

Thank you so much. Very enlightening information.

[Pointer]

My experience is that a friend told me that her friend was crippled with arthritis until she gave up the coffee. I tried that and have been medication free for 10 +yrs.

It was hard to do but the results are amazing for me. If I have more then a two cups of coffee a week I wake up in pain so it's just not worth it. I've tried decaf so it's not the caffeine. I can drink very strong caffeinated tea with no problem. Well the bladder isn't happy with that now so I've switched to decal tea. LOL no more running to the bathroom hoping to get there in time, I can walk.

[John_W]

I normally only buy the generic brand because of price, and I then also know exactly what drug I'm taking rather than a brand name. I have found Walmart Equate brands to be a good value, better than Walgreens.

For arthritis pain, which is usually my lower back since I have a generative L1 thru L5 and sometimes my upper back and shoulders after golf, that Ibuprofen works best. For those who go by brand names, that would be Advil. At Walmart the Equate version you can get 200mg, 500 pills for $6.98.

There is one stipulation, for those with a stent and take a baby aspirin everyday, you are to avoid this drug. Apparently it stops the aspirin from doing it's job. I have a stent but also take Plavix, a prescription blood thinner, in the morning and a baby aspirin in the evening. So I will take Ibuprofen but usually at least an hour after I've taken a baby aspirin late in the day.



Also for back pain only, I take a prescription drug called Flexeril, I usually use the brand name when speaking because the generic name is Cyclobenzaprine. The generic is very cheap, usually $4 for 30 at most pharmacies and most doctors will prescribe easily. I've been taking them since 2005 and they work great and don't give you any buzz, so driving or any other activity is not a problem. It's a muscle relaxer and it only works on the back. I often forget about the pain and then later realized the drug must of worked.



Probably one of the most popular drugs is Tylenol, or generic name Acetaminophen. I have it onhand but only take it for headaches, I find it has zero benefit for any ache or pain of the body. At Walmart the Equate generic you see pictured below is $6.98 for 2 bottles, 500mg, 500 total pills.



Another drug that I do take is, generic name Naproxen, also known by brand name Aleve. This drug is recommeded for those of us with a stent and don't get any relief from Tylenol. I take one at the end of the day, so that's well after my aspirin, and it doesn't really work all that great for me but does help me fall asleep.

[John_W]

An addedum to my previous post.

I saw a physiatrist, Dr. Amy Clunn (pain management) in June, of Simed Rehabilatation Medicine.

SIMED Online



She said most of her patients are getting relief with a herbal called 'Inflamax', previously called Inflaguard and still sold on the Amazon website under that name. It's made in Gainesville and they sell a 60 count bottle at their office for $26 in Lady Lake or Ocala. I checked online, and Amazon carries the brand but for $30.80. You're suppose to take 2 a day, I did for the first month and now I'm taking 1 a day. Currently near the end of my second month I believe I am feeling less pain after golf and working out at MVP, which I do 5 days a week.

Amazon.com: Douglas Laboratories(R) - Boswellia-Turmeric Complex (Formerly Infla-Guard) - Botanical Extracts to Support Normal Recovery of Joints and Muscles* - 60 Tablets: Beauty



There are other names that have similar ingredients, such as 'Inflama-care' which I found on Puritan's Pride. Both of these are a combination of Turmeric and Boswellia. The first one Inflamax has 750mg of each. The Inflama-care brand on the Puritan Pride website was only $17.25 for 60 pills but had slightly less mg of Turmeric and Boswellia.



A good website to buy your herbal medicine is the Puritan Pride I mentioned above. They have great prices, quick shipping, and many of the drugs they make themselves, so they are priced lower than even Walmart on some items. They will carry the regular familiar names and their brands right alongside. They have a lot of customer reviews, so you can compare before chosing.

Discount Vitamins & Herbal Supplements from Puritan's Pride

[shumbapie]

Originally Posted by maureenod

For me, glucosamine & chondroitin. Also take turmeric, the best anti-inflammatory, without any known side effects. In fact, great for the whole mind and body.

I might add, less than 1 percent of people over 65 in India have dementia or Alzheimer. Curry, from turmeric, is a staple in their diet.

Life expectancy in India is a little over 66 years. That may be the reason for less dementia and Alzheimer in India for those over 65.

[VyAllen]

Hi there - My name is Vy Allen and I'm someone who will fight taking any prescription medications -- as of now I'm not on any. And I'm 65. I take vitamins and a couple of herbal supplements (ginko biloba for memory), but that's it. Sometimes the side effects are worse than the original ailment.

For arthritis, I recommend Mona Vie -- it's a strong antioxidant. I have taken it for 10 years and it works. Not only for arthritis. It contains something like 20 different berries -- berries are all antioxidants -- and one of the strongest antioxidant berry in the world -- the acai berry.

It looks like a bottle of wine -- chill it -- take two ounces in the morning and two ounces at night -- on an empty stomach and don't eat or drink anything for a half an hour after you take it. At night, I take mine just before going to bed so it has all night to "do its thing." It's potent and it works. And it flushes toxins (poisons) from your system -- chemicals, etc. that accumulate because of the foods we eat and things we drink. My own personal opinion is that we are poisoning ourselves with what we eat, drink, pour on our lawns, etc.

There are those at The Villages who also swear by white raisins soaked in Beefeater gin. Soak them for several days until the gin has been absorbed -- then eat 9 a day. I've tried it and it definitely helps with some joint pain -- but I like Mona Vie better.

And don't even get me started on amniotic stem cells -- which I also did back in April.

I'm not advising anyone not to take prescribed medications -- or to stop doing anything they are told to do by the doctors -- I'm just saying if there is something that is natural and has no side effects, that may be something to do in addition to whatever your doctor has told you to do.

Got way too wordy -- but this is something that I am a true believer in.

Vy Allen:

[VyAllen]

I experienced this too when we came down. We own a house in Summerhill but haven't moved down there yet. We came down for two months -- and within a couple of weeks my ankles and knees started bothering me. By the end of our stay (two months) my calves were also starting to swell and hurt. When we came home, within a few days, everything returned to normal. Couldn't figure it out. Second time we went down, same thing. We finally figured out that it's the tile/cement floors -- too hard on our joints. Something worth looking into. At home we have tile floors -- but mostly hardwood and carpet -- and have no problem -- but we have a basement -- so the floors have some "give" if that makes sense. Our friends, who live in Hadley -- the husband had the same problem. He wears flip flops on the tile floors and swear that it takes care of the pain. Hope this helps! Vy Allen

[FosterMomma]

Rexxfan...
Ask your doctor about replacing the thumb joint. They use your own ligament so there is no rejection and the difference is astonishing. I had mine done 3 years ago and now have full use of the thumb joint.

[maureenod]

Originally Posted by VyAllen

I experienced this too when we came down. We own a house in Summerhill but haven't moved down there yet. We came down for two months -- and within a couple of weeks my ankles and knees started bothering me. By the end of our stay (two months) my calves were also starting to swell and hurt. When we came home, within a few days, everything returned to normal. Couldn't figure it out. Second time we went down, same thing. We finally figured out that it's the tile/cement floors -- too hard on our joints. Something worth looking into. At home we have tile floors -- but mostly hardwood and carpet -- and have no problem -- but we have a basement -- so the floors have some "give" if that makes sense. Our friends, who live in Hadley -- the husband had the same problem. He wears flip flops on the tile floors and swear that it takes care of the pain. Hope this helps! Vy Allen

If you are eating in restaurants, that may be the problem. The food is very salty. I never have swollen ankles except when I go to Florida. Better to eat at home, at least you can control what goes into your food.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by VyAllen

Hi there - My name is Vy Allen and I'm someone who will fight taking any prescription medications -- as of now I'm not on any. And I'm 65. I take vitamins and a couple of herbal supplements (ginko biloba for memory), but that's it. Sometimes the side effects are worse than the original ailment.
Vy Allen:

That's all well and fine if you stay healthy, but consider this: If you get sick, you are now restricting yourself to the same treatments, and therefore the same chance of cure and survival as we had in 1930. How did it work out for those people????

[villagetinker]

There was an interesting thread, about 2 years ago, that talked about a link between wine and arthritis. Initially I though "right", then I did some research, and found several reports about links between the amount of wine consumed and the appearance of arthritis.
When we moved to TV, we actually significantly increased the amount of wine we were drinking, and all of a sudden, my shoulders and knees started to hurt. Stopped the wine and within 2 weeks or less the pain was gone.
My point is that there maybe another cause for you pain.
Hope this helps.

PS we still drink wine, in moderation, fortunately Scotch does not have the same effect

[gmillard]

An excellent book full of ideas is, "Arthritis Interrupted" by Stephen T Sinatra, M.D. and Jim Healthy.

[Barefoot]

Originally Posted by VyAllen

I'm not advising anyone not to take prescribed medications -- or to stop doing anything they are told to do by the doctors -- I'm just saying if there is something that is natural and has no side effects, that may be something to do in addition to whatever your doctor has told you to do.

It's rare to find a drug or herbal remedy without side effects.
Even Tylenol OTC has warnings.