Arthritis?

I was diagnosed about 20 years ago with psoriatic arthritis. Unfortunately for me, I break out in psoriasis when my arthritis is in a flare.

I don't know what precipitated my latest flare, but I have been feeling really bad since at least April. I suffer from overwhelming fatigue and pain from head to toe. This usually lasts about 3-6 months. When I'm not in a flare, my symptoms are always there, just less severe. Those of you who attended the St. Louis gathering probably had no idea, but I could barely function just to be able to make that trip. :( I almost didn't even go, but didn't want to let Polly down as we were travelling together.

For the first time in about 5 years, I am heading back to a rheumatologist. I go on Friday. The Aleve I've been taking every day is just not cutting it for me anymore. I haven't been on a prescription form of medicine for years and am not up to speed on all the latest and best ones. I've heard that Vioxx is good and possibly also Celebrex??

It's affecting the quality of my life at a time when I can't afford to be held back. I have got cleaning and painting to do to prepare for Remi's arrival here.

I was just curious how many of you out there in Agelessland have been diagnosed with some form of arthritis? If you have, what type do you have and what medication do you require for it? What other remedies do you use at home that are non-prescribed? For example, I find that Aspercreme helps alot, but for a very brief period of time.

whiterose, check out my book thread. and perhaps an endrocrinologist would be helpful to see if you are missing something ...

just my two cents, but i have been feeling sooooooooo much better than i have in a long time since i revised some of my dietary habits ... and received the results from my test ... it told me soooooooo much.

hope you feel better.

princessdy

Katrina, I'm sorry to hear that:( I hope that you'll find something soon that will help. Do you take glucosamine and chondroitin by any chance? The combination really helps to alleviate a lot of my mother's intense, constant pain.

I have osteoarthritis in the back of my neck and in my fingers. I don't take anything for the pain....I usually don't need it. When I was working as a massage therapist, I was in terrible pain a lot of the time...I did deep therapeutic massage as well as cranial sacral massage. Whenever I did the deep tissue massage, I would ache for days afterward. I decided that it wasn't worth putting my body in that much pain in order to help others' pain, so I gave it up:(

By the way, do some research into Vioxx and side effects before you decide to take it.

At 27yrs old The Shadow has artritis in his right knee.It's form a old injury.In the mornings,my pops like that bubble pack,being twisted.
Hurts like all get out,untill it pops.
Also cause of it,The Shadow has a slight limp.


The Shadow

Originally posted by The Shadow
At 27yrs old The Shadow has artritis in his right knee.It's form a old injury.In the mornings,my pops like that bubble pack,being twisted.
Hurts like all get out,untill it pops.
Also cause of it,The Shadow has a slight limp.


The Shadow

This sounds more like a torn ligament or damaged kneecap, why not have it checked out properly before thinking arteritis. The symtoms are similar to what my son had after a rugby injury, he has had surgery and will be back on the field next month, has no more pain and no more "popping". As he is studying Human Movement Science he even worked out his own rehab exercise program as a project. :-)

Thanks for the suggestions Dy and Whisper. Yeah, I took glucosmine and chondroitin for years until I found out it was elevating my triglycerides and blood sugar. It did wonders for me and therefore the reason I didn't have to go to a rheumatologist.

I will definitely research the side effects of any medicine he recommends. I learned about the side effects of naprosyn (what Aleve is made of) years ago when it was prescription strength. I developed naprosyn toxicity which is a very rare adverse reaction. It affected my cognition, meaning that I had difficulty thinking. I couldn't my phone number or even my nephew's name! I thought I had Alzheimers until I read in about this type of reaction in the PDR. My own doctor did not believe this type of reaction could exist until I made him read up on it in the PDR, too.

So, now that Aleve is over the counter, I am very careful about how much I take because I never want to get into that situation again.

Shadow: I agree that your knee problem doesn't sound like arthritis. You should get that checked out.

Originally posted by whiterose
Thanks for the suggestions Dy and Whisper. Yeah, I took glucosmine and chondroitin for years until I found out it was elevating my triglycerides and blood sugar. It did wonders for me and therefore the reason I didn't have to go to a rheumatologist.
Yikes. My mom sure doesn't need her triglycerides to be any higher! I'll check into this. I didn't know about that.

I don't think that Shadow's problem sounds like arthritis, either. I'd advise seeing a doctor, too.

Katrina, that's weird about Aleve. I don't take it, but I didn't know about that. It's gross how many side effects medications can have and how often people don't even know about it or even care to know.

This happened to me when it was a prescribed dosage years ago long before it became over the counter.

But, I am still careful anyway, because I take the maximum recommended dosage. So, as long as people stick with the maximum recommended daily dosage, they should be fine. But, just in case one starts developing those reactions after taking Aleve, long term, they should discontinue use immediately and then wait two weeks to see if the symptoms have improved before becoming alarmed that they have Alzheimers. Two weeks is how long it took before my symptoms improved.

Hi Blueyonder,Whiterose,and Whisper,
The Shadow isn't worried to much about is knee.As it is old injury,it a part of me now.Have learned to live with it.It realy that bad,just sounds awful.Also the limp is that bad either,at times you'll hardly notice it.
Thank you ladies for being conserened,but it's realy nothing....realy.


The Shadow

Red's_Daisy,
For The Shadow is one person and one person only.Not two...just one.For changed my user name to hopefully get a new start.Guess off to a bad one....huh.
Perhasps,I'll try to do it different.For I am a YM of few words word,just a guy,that has alot on his mind lately.Sorry it offened you....
didnt mean too.

The Shadow

My new rheumatologist started me on meclomen today, which is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medicine. He ordered a whole barrage of lab tests and when I return to see him in a couple of weeks, he wants to talk about starting me on methotrexate.

I'm a little afraid of it, to tell you the truth. It has some serious side effects. This is a cancer therapy drug which has been very effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis (which is the type I have). The last rheumatologist I went to didn't seem to make a big deal out of the kind of arthritis I have. But, this M.D. recommended that I treat this aggressively because otherwise, I could end up with some crippling effects of my hands and feet. So, I've got alot to think about before I go back there. I really don't want to have long-term problems, yet I also don't want the side effects mentioned here.

INFO ON METHOTREXATE (http://www.arthritis.co.za/methotrexate.htm)

It's weird that I've lived with this disease for 20 years and finally someone wants to treat it aggressively.

Katrina, I won't go on about this, but please, before you take something that sounds very harsh for you body to deal with, won't you check with a holistic doc?

I'll stop now.

princessdy

I'll definitely think about that Dy. I am not too keen on the idea of the methotrexate, that's for sure. I'd rather continue on an NSAID for a while. That has always helped me in the past. He just surprised me today by suggesting that right off the bat without even reviewing my labwork yet.

He is a very well known rheumatologist in this area, so I am sure that he knows his stuff. But, it just felt odd to me that he'd suggest such a strong treatment on my very first visit without having prescribed any other type of treatment first. But, he reiterated that it would help get my arthritis in good control before damage is done. And, it is true that I've been in a bad flare for over 3 months now.

Again, I'll think about that Dy and may give that some consideration.

You know, we nurses make horrible patients. :p

Actually I was talking to my very good friend Mortifarts about your situation and she promised she will get here to post to you ... Katrina, she has some very good information and insight into your problem.

And I will just add, just because a doctor has a good reputation, does not mean that what he suggests is the right course for you ... or me for that matter. That's how I turned to holistic, herbal healing in the first place.

Really just trying to help.

All the best ...

princessdy

I am sorry you are dealing with health problems but I am glad you are taking care of yourself as well as researching what may work for you.

I have been on Methetrexate for 10 years. I stay on a low dose of .5 cc that I give myself by injection once a week. I tried it in the pill form but it made me too nauseated. If you start at a very low dose and built up slowly, I doubt that you will have any problem.

Also there are some real miracle drugs out there now that will put people with immune system problems in total remission. I am on Remicade that I get by IV every 6 weeks. Yes, they have some risks but so does doing nothing about your disease....

My Rheumie also worked with me when I tried Holistic medicines. He was very up to date on the effects and pros and cons. I hope your doctor is as well. I can't live without Vitamin E.... it is as vital as everything else.

Best to you..... and good health!
Barbara with Rheumatoid Arthritis
(FYI group... it is an immune disorder not a joint disorder like osteoarthritis) :)

Thank you for posting Yellowrose. It's so good to talk to someone else who has been on methotrexate. I have psoriatic arthritis, which is supposed to be more closely linked to rheumatoid than the other types.

I went back to my doctor on Friday and since I am seeing some positive effects of the NSAID he started me on, we are going to try Plaquinil. Hope I'm spelling that right. He agreed with me that if I am receiving some positive effects from the NSAIDS that I don't necessarily need "the big guns" as he called the more potent stuff like methotrexate. I haven't yet started the plaquinil because I am going to order a 90 day supply from my pharmacy company thru insurance. But, hopefully soon I'll be on that. My mom who has rheumatoid arthritis and lupus swears by plaquinil.

Interestingly enough, while my arthritis feels better, I have been experiencing a very severe muscle cramp in my mid-upper back since Friday. It's very painful and I can hardly move. My rheumie didn't seem to think it was related to my arthritis. So, I've gone from one general problem to another. I'm off to the pharmacy in a little while to buy more flexall and a heating pad and will hope that it will feel better by the time I return to work tomorrow.

Again, thank you for your positive thoughts. You give me hope that the day will come when I will feel better.

I've been disgnosed with mild arthritis on the base of my spine along with sciatica but at the moment the I'm just taking Tramadol whenever I need to for the pain. I'm on other medications for my high blood pressure problems and have some problems with anti inflammatory drugs so we'll just have to take things as they come as this thing progresses I guess. At the moment, apart from the bad weather days when I sometimes have really bad episodes of pain where my back is just throbbing I'm not doing too badly so I try not to think too much about it all. Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and it won't get any worse than it is now.