Yet Another R.A. Question
 

I'm new to having a diagnosis to rheumatoid arthritis. I was told it's still in a mild form, though I would hate to know what a more worse form would be like. At any rate I'm still in that phase of discerning what the best RX will be to address it. My physician has suggested two----Plaquenil and Methetrexate. Both can be taken in pill form and the latter (I think) also via a shot. I've read up on both and they both have appealing aspects along with VERY much less appealing side-effects.

I'm in a quandary on making a decision! Apparently some of the burden at this time is on me for that. I would weigh some suggestions here before I call the clinic early this week to ask them as well.

HI Jen- I can feel for you. It is hard to make these decisions on such important medical matters. I can tell you from personal experience with less then pleasant medications (for cancer) that the side effects can vary greatly. To be listed as a side effect, the threshold is very low...only a very low % of subjects have to show them to be listed as a side effect. So, there is a good chance those side effects will not not occur. I had idiopathic side effects...terrible joint pain on a medication that two of my friends were taking and had no problems with. The medication I am on now has a very low % of pain joint as a side effect, but it still got me! It just hurts a little less then the first ond did, but I will gladly take a little less. LOL And I have had no side effects to meds that more frequently have them. SO try to keep the side effects in perspective. You can try a med and if it does not work for you, try another one.
Making these decisions are so hard, but you have to make them. I choose not to have chemo after reading a lot of the literature, comparing the distal cancer rates (chance of a reoccurence somewhere in the body within 10 years) and concluded that the percentage of improvement (for 18 to 15%) was not worth the percentage of things that the chemo could cause, like cancer. Oncologist went postal, but I had discussed this decision with many specialists, including the oncology nurse, and they all agreed with my conclusion. SO again, you have to make the hard choices and once it is made, do not second quess yourself. You can always change course if you have to and all you can do is use the facts you have on hand to decide. Talk to your husband, to your friends, bounce ideas off of them, suck up their support if you need to. That is what they are for. They feel kind of helpless (trust me on this) and your including them in your decision making process will make them feel like they are helping. And they are. I am sorry I can not really address the RA issue, but I am hoping this might help you in processing your decision. Best of luck.

Jen, I think you'll find that with R.A., you'll just have to try something to see how it works for you. That's what Sandy and her doctor have been doing over the years - go from 'Plan A' to 'Plan B' and so on. Plaquenil was one of the things Sandy tried in the past - didn't do much for her. Her current use of Remicade (via I.V.) in conjunction with Methotrexate works wonders for her. But I believe results will vary by individual.

Hope you can find the right combination that does the trick for you!

Bill :)

Thank you!!!

Jen, I think I would give Plaquenil a try if your doctor says that is one of the things that might help. When my RA was diagnosed as "mild" it did wonders for me. The main thing with it is that you want to have your eyes checked regularly since at least I was told one of the main side effects as possible blindness. I never had a problem and as was mentioned earlier side effects are not givens but possibilities. One benifit of Plaquenil i that it is an anti-malarial drug so you won;t get malaria.... :laugh:...Living with RA is easier than living with many other chronic diseases. Yes it can be very painful and it can slow us down, but if managed and watch carefully it is not usually life threatening. There's not much I don't or can't do at least after a good dose of Aleve and my regular meds. I just can't do them as soon as I get up in the morning. It takes a hour or so to work out the kinks.Oh and water aeobics are WONDERFUL!
Suzanne

I just picked up my 1st RX---it will be Methotrexate. I decided on this as I already had been monitoring my eyes and thought I didn't want "one more thing" with them to think about. It seems that every RX has 'something' to watch as does this one that I'm trying. I'm a bit nervous as with any new drug...but we'll see and Doc is just a phone-call away. I want to thank everyone here who have left comments and encouragement.

good luck with the r.a. and also with the meds. although i know that the majority of folks deal with physical ailments through medicine, there are those of us who seek other ways to combat these things. i've successfully kept r.a. on the back burner for two years so far, simply by exercise. i'm not sure why it works for me, but it does. one day of running = two to three days of no pain.
here is a story i wrote about it right after i was diagnosed. you may enjoy reading this and giving consideration to other avenues for dealing with this.
i too was on methotrexate along with several other meds to offset the side effects. it wasn't for me.
again, good luck to you!

http://ontheroadwiththechief.blogspo...ief-short.html

I'm 70 and have never had R.A. but I agree with those who have mentioned exercise as being very beneficial. Now I'd like to go one step further and mention diet. There are foods that promote inflammation so why not try eliminating such foods? There's a book: "The Anti-Inflammation Diet"

There's another good book that tells how to maintain a good pH balance. The title is: "The pH Miracle" by Robert O Young.

There will likely be some overlap: I believe both books will tell you that sugar is the worst culprit.

Good luck,
John