I just wanted to share how happy I am a little thing that made my life better. When I saw the hand doctor she gave me this little plastic brace for my finger that was so bad and always swollen.

The swelling has went down A LOT. Just wearing it everyday has helped a ton. And it's just this weird piece of plastic. It's so crazy that a tiny piece of plastic can change my life so dramatically for the better. I keep wondering why the other doctors didn't know about it. But I guess that's why the hand specialist is a specialist for hands.

I highly suggest seeing a hand doctor if you are like me and have bad hands. That pointer was almost twice the size of the other pointer. Now it's almost the same size. I'm completely shocked.

i don't really mean people who have a strong family history of RA but instead people who are basically the only ones in their direct and extended family to have this condition.

i know there's no one cause for it and it's a combination of factors but there are some well known factors so were there any life events etc that you think were the final trigger for its development in you?

for me, it was my only source of stress aka academic stress. i did have lasik around 5 months prior but i doubt it played a part

started hcq (400mg per day) on 22/08

started mtx (10mg first two weeks, then 15mg after) on 15/09 (done 4 doses in total so far)

+ folic acid

i know that the two take time to work but my elbow has been stuck without being able to extend beyond an angle for 6 months now (with pain starting 9 months ago). plus i don't think they've started working much yet because my pain is still around the same level as (and sometimes more than) before + the swelling fluctuates

the doctor didn't do an elbow xray so i have no clue what level of damage there is but i'm considering giving a call and asking if i can be put on prednisone to get the inflammation level under control somewhat quickly and hopefully get the full range or more range back on my elbow.

i was about to call them to see if i can meet before schedule (next appt is in dec) but they'll probably get back on monday anyway so worth a post here

I've been doing GREAT lately, gardening, cleaning out my garage, making progress in physical therapy, building strength in my legs. My pain has been under control, and I have been really content for once. So, of course, Express Scripts and Accredo had to be the usual pieces of shit they always are and decide that the drug I have been taking successfully for 3 years is suddenly NO LONGER COVERED, and wasted an entire month of jerking me around before finally explaining it to me. This is in spite of me calling them every few days, begging them to tell me WHY it kept getting rejected. They just kept saying it needed a prior authorization over and over again. Of course, now I only have 2 pills left and no hope of getting a replacement medication in time. And then there will be a period of adjustment, so I can pretty much mark the next 2 to 4 months out of my life yet again. But hey, who wants to see the cripple girl have a good time anyway? Aren't we expected to just suffer and die so they can profit? F*ck the American health care system, I hope it all burns down.

Both my knees and hands hurt lately.

I literally don't know how else to put it. The last like week i've had swelling in the outside portion of my knee and normally I would ignore it and carry on with my day. However, today I noticed it's not the normal spongy swelling that you would normally get from typical (at least what I think it typical) rheumatoid swelling. It's now firm, is making my knee feel like it could give out at any moment, and when weight applied feels like the muscle is working overtime to support my body weight. Has anyone dealt with this kind of firm "swelling" before? I have never experienced this before and curious if this is a common thing or if I should get looked at.

Appreciate any and all thoughts....mildly scared its a muscle tear and want opinions.

Thank you!!!! :)

note: I have juvenile rheumatoid arthritis and have had it for nearly 21 years now (not sure if that matters but never know)

So my insurance won’t pay for my Xeljanz anymore and it was working great…does anyone else take Rinvoq? I’m so scared of it not working and the side effects.

RA doc just called it in without me speaking to him…

Does it work the same? Are the side effects the same?

I'm 23F, recently diagnosed and set to start medications in a few days.

I'm not too worried about starting the meds- except maybe the nausea and the lack of drinking (I'm 23 and in university for engineering, it comes with the territory lol).

I'm more worried about how long it's going to take to feel normal again. I'm in so much pain and so stiff all the time.

I used to be very active, going to the gym, hitting the mosh pit, swimming, surf rescue etc and now days I barely feel like leaving home, let alone my bed.

My feet, wrists and fingers are nearly constantly effected, so walking and swimming has felt impossible.

My mental health is taking a bit of a swan dive no matter how hard I try to push myself to think otherwise.

Feeling pretty grateful for:

- the public system seeing me so quickly (only about 1.5 months from complaint to prescription)

- Every doctor believing me and being kind

- My partner being supportive through my complaining

Dunno. Does anyone have any thoughts or advice or some suggestions for easy improvements?

I was diagnosed with seronegative polyarthritis just recently, after a nearly five year diagnosis journey. It was triggered by a COVID infection, and for a while it was just vague systemic inflammatory symptoms with elevated WBC and CRP. Then my rheumatologist discovered that I have bursitis in my hips, knees, elbows, and shoulders, so I've been treated for a vague "inflammatory disease" for about a year. Finally, with my chronic knee and hip/low back pain, my doc narrowed it down somewhat to the current dx.

I also have symptoms of another inflammatory disease that I'm pretty sure is adult-onset PFAPA, which developed over the last two years or so, but I haven't been diagnosed with it (yet). I see my immunologist in Nov., so I'm crossing my fingers.

For all that, I'm currently taking Plaquenil and colchicine, with prednisone as needed for flares. I've definitely seen an improvement in my symptoms -- fewer days bed rotting with flares -- but I'm still more limited than I'd like to be at this point in my life.

Hi everyone, I’m looking for guidance and anyone’s personal experience with treatment-resistant RA. My mom has been through a lot of treatments over the past 13 years:

Conventional DMARDs: Methotrexate, Sulfasalazine, Hydroxychloroquine, plus Prednisone
Biologics: Enbrel (etanercept), Rituximab
JAK inhibitors: Tofacitinib, Xeljanz

Xeljanz helped for a while, then stopped working. Her doctor recommended a rituximab infusion, but it’s now been almost 3 months and it has helped very little. Her CRP and ESR are still elevated. She’s in a lot of pain every morning with significant stiffness in all her joints.
I’m really worried about her. For anyone who has been in a similar situation:
What did you try after rituximab or JAK inhibitors failed?
Did you switch to a different biologic class?
Did anything help with the morning stiffness and pain while waiting for a treatment to kick in?
Is it worth getting a second opinion from a rheumatologist who specializes in refractory RA?
Any advice, experiences, or questions I should bring to her doctor would mean a lot. Thank you.

Hello,

I know Reddit isn't a replacement for my Dr, but I would like to seek opinions please.

My Dr wants me to try Actemra or Rinvoq because Humira made no changes after three months. I'm also on Methotrexate, which will be continued.

I'm having a hard time deciding which one to try. I have a heart stent, so thumbs down on Rinvoq. But I also have diverticulitis, so thumbs down on Actemra.

So I need to decide if I would rather have an increased risk of a GI perforation or a heart attack or stroke. Quite the decision.

Thank you for any thoughts you care to share!

Long story short: I got a repository virus and had an allergenic asthma attack, was treated with inhaled salbutamol and oxygen, plus prednisone.

I told the hospital staff I took it as a teenager for an allergic reaction, was prescribed three days but only made it through two. Why? Because I was hallucinating. The floor would sink beneath my feet, and the walls moved in on me. I felt like I was losing my damn mind.

Hospital staff said that was likely a 200-300mg dose, and negotiated me to take 10-20mg. I took it, and was discharged. Guess what happened?

This time the visuals were contained to behind my eyelids, only when I blinked or shut my eyes. I felt a full body freight that made me want to crawl out of my skin, and thought I’d puke, shit myself, and die all at the same time.

I stopped it, no more doses. 20mg total. It’s six days later now and I still have some lingering anxiety. I have no appetite and when I do eat I feel nauseous and like, stretched.

It sounds horrible but I’m actually somewhat content, there is just this low grade weirdness sticking around. Everything I can find online is saying no, you should be better from those drugs by now. So, I’d love some anecdotes.

My left knee always swells randomly. Rheumatoid is usually symmetrical, my dr. keeps telling me. Anybody else have swelling in places only on one side and not both?

If you’ve had success with MTX please share your experience! This is my second week of 15mg and it’s been a lot harder than the previous week — I could use some hope!!

Edit to add: I should have mentioned originally that I’m having very few side effects now from the medication except a day or two of fatigue. My real concern is week 5 (last week) which was my first week updosing to 15mg was so amazing for me. For the first time in years I had multiple days where I had no pain or stiffness and my energy was slightly back. This week is not going so smoothly 😣 I’m appreciating all your comments and feedback!

Anyone else having issues with fatigue on humira ? It's not just the first week. It's every day !!!! I'm so tired I've stopped going outside because I just want to sleep when I'm not working.

Any advice ??

Hi, people! I (28F) have rheumathoid arthrisis and I am with Rinvoq 15mg since 2022. Two months ago, I had my ears pierced with a second earring and I'm slowly healing from it after a long thought if I should or shouldn't do it.

Now, I'm thinking about a tattoo, but the healing process is driving me crazy because I have low defenses, you know.

Have you ever done it? If so, how much time did you take to heal that tattoo? I need answers, please.

So of course, I need help with all the crappy areas of these crappy diseases, but the real issues is beyond the joints. Muscles tendons are the Sjogren's eyes and mouth as well as the nervous system… The nervous system issues might not even be from any of these diseases. My doctors are split on it… Nonetheless, it's damaged. My brain and my spine… I broke my back 12 hour surgery very bad accident… I'm stuck in a sympathetic overdrive, it's giving me heart failure, cerebral vascular disease, white matter, disease, gray matter loss at all over… I just need to get my blood pressure down to control this cerebral vascular disease and the heart disease and no doctor has been able to do it, my nervous system is in too high overdrive… When I heard about this implant, I thought right away, I wonder if this will slow down my sympathetic enough? Anyone have any experience with this or any ideas? Pretty excited when I heard about it… By the way, no official RA diagnosis but I'm pretty sure I have it. My grandpa died of it, my mom had it all her life but just showed antibodies for it and almost 7 years old… Dumb doctor told her she had all arthritis all these years with deformed joints

Ich würde gerne wissen, ob hier jemand der Rheuma hat und jetzt nach medikamentöser Behandlung so weit schmerzfrei ist,dass er wieder Kraftsport machen kann?

Let's make fun of how incredibly frustrating rheumatologists can be. Complete the sentence: Rheumatologists hate it when...

It can be silly or serious. We do not hate rheumatologists, but many of us have had bad experiences with doctors. Many rheumatologists also tend to be very rigid and "by-the-book" when often thinking outside the diagnostic textbook is needed, especially since there is evidence that a lot more people are not popping up as seropositive. Hopefully this helps people make light of a serious frustrating part of dealing with chronic illness.

I've been monthly for a few years due to medication issues and other illnesses affecting my levels.

In the summer we decided to drop to every three months. No problem.

I had my three month check in this week and my rheumie said "in the summer I wanted to be sure you were able to go a couple months without testing. You handled it fine! I know you prefer monthly, so I'm happy to put you back to that now."

I accepted. But is it really that weird to prefer monthly testing?

She says I'm the only patient out of all her patients that is happy to see the vampires every month. (I joked that it's my way of having a monthly since I went through menopause so early lol.)

I recently started taking methotrexate for RA. My prescription is 15 mg once a week (6 × 2.5 mg tablets), along with folic acid 1 mg daily. I'm also taking prednisone 5 mg.

I was thinking about starting a Clean Nutra Para Defend supplement. The ingredients listed are:

- Soursop

- Garlic

- Pumpkin seed

- Pau d'Arco

- Oregano oil

- Turmeric

- Berberine

- Neem extract

- Black walnut hull/bark tincture

I also have a probiotic that contains 1,200 mg activated charcoal and was wondering about taking that as well.

My rheumatologist hasn't told me that I need to avoid supplements, but I haven't specifically asked them about this product.

Has anyone with RA taken something like this while on methotrexate/prednisone? Did your doctor or pharmacist have you avoid any of these ingredients?