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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Arthritis / April 2006what to do....
Hello and Happy Spring to ya'all! I am greatly enjoying the spring wildflowers, hiking the trails and enjoying my national park; however, the OA is really bad and I'm currently doing a 4mg medrol pak and not a lot of relief there. I was recently advised by you all, that I should start a DMARD - well, I have trouble with all of the pills - side affects, sore mouth, chest pressure, etc., etc., I'm suffering with the medrol right n ow, diarhhea and sick stomach, but soon finished with it. I need suggestions as to what you all have tried -when sensitive - and what works for you. The doctor has never encouraged me to use them due to infections, etc. Scares me off of them! I'm having as much trouble just getting in to see the doctor - nothing but phone tag! So frustrating there. As always, I appreciate your input - Be well, be happy, Hiker > As always, I appreciate your input - > > Be well, be happy, > Hiker Hi Kiker, I think you will find that nearly all the time you will get better answers if you are very specific with your information in you question. 1. You do not say what DMARD you have started and how much you take. 2. We all had to adjust to taking DMARDs because it is the disease we fear more than the side effects from what we take. 3. It takes serious medicine to control a persons immune system. Something that 10s of thousands of years of our body adjusting to what it takes to survive. You have to understand that inflam.arth. does more to us than joint pain. The same immune system that attacks the cartilage in our joints also attacks our veins and arteries, the cartilage in our eyes that holds the lenses, in our ears, in our voice box and the support tissue around our joints. The good news is that it does not do all of that to any one of us. The way to win is to have teamwork with your doctors and yourself. Its us against it. A good Rheumatologist will find out how this disease is attacking you and what to do about it. The better you supply the doctor with correct information about what you daily life is like,,,,, the better your answers are going to be. Now,,, if your want to,,,, what DMARD did you start and how much are you taking? Harv For starters, you need a doctor's office where you can actually talk to someone about these side effects. Both my primary care and rheumatologists offices will at least get a nurse in touch with me as soon as possible and will get back to me with what the doctor says reasonably fast, depending on what the problem is. The problems you're having from the medrol dose pak suggest to me that you might do better with a big shot of prednisone to get you over the hump. A shot would bypass the digestive system so you shouldn't have those side effects. Beyond that, what DMARDs have you tried and what is this history of infections that concerns you? You may have told us more details before, but I forget. I can tell you I've had fewer sinus infections since being on DMARDs than I had before. Don't know why, but maybe they are helping suppress my allergies just enough tto reduce the infections. I'm taking less decongestant, too so that's a possibility. I envy you your weather. We've had a warm week here and thought we'd get to go walking in one of our nearby state parks today, but today is our best chance for 10 days to get much needed rain. May not go out.  SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Thank you all for help and information - I am not on a DMARD, but once posted about my hands and members of this group were very supportive in suggesting I get on a DMARD. I do tend to ask foolish questions, but then, how will I know they're foolish, if I don't ask? My current conditions for anti-inflammatories continue to cause me to have to get on to and try a new anti- inflam. I did Bextra which was great, but then removed from the market. I tried Relafin; Celebrex; Arthrotec, Sulinac, and lately tramadol and couldn't tolerate any of them. Sulinac and Tramadol were totally ineffective. The rheumy never really encourages me toward the DMARD. Yep, having a tough time getting full information, other than phone messages. I will see the rheumy, next week for sure. I've finished the 4mg medrol pack and I find it's not as affective as I had hoped, but, lucky for me, I still function well, just some discomforts for my feet and hands. I am very active and I know I am lucky to continue as I am. I have great confusion as to how seriously to take my arthritis and when I "talk" with you people, I realize, I tend "not to take it seriously" as I should. That suggestion about the shot of prednisone - now that sounds right to me! That's a new tip and I hope to write this down for future reference - rather wishing there was no future need for that reference. Thank you all for your input. Hiker > For starters, you need a doctor's office where you can actually talk to > someone about these side effects. Both my primary care and [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > go walking in one of our nearby state parks today, but today is our best > chance for 10 days to get much needed rain. May not go out. > I do tend to ask foolish questions, but then, how will I know they're > foolish, if I don't ask? Hey, hey. None of your questions were foolish. We just needed more information to give you an informed reply. We all understand the frustrations of trying to manage arthritis and we want to give you appropriate information. > I tried Relafin; Celebrex; Arthrotec, > Sulinac, and lately tramadol and couldn't tolerate any of them. What kind of side effects did you suffer with Arthrotec? I ask because it is a combination drug - it has both an anti-inflammatory and a medication that is supposed to make it easier on your stomach. But 25-30% of people find that second medication is actualy *harder* on the stomach. I was one of them. Major belly pain whenever I took it, even on a full tummy. My PCP changed me to the anti-inflammatory component only (I happened to ahve an appt. with him between calls to my RD) and I did fine with that. So if stomach trouble was the side effect of Arthrotec, it might be worth trying plain diclofenac sodium. > The rheumy never really encourages me > toward the DMARD. It's probably time to ask your RD about somehting to really slow down the progression of your disease, that is a DMARD. If I remember rightly, you said you have OA. Has your RD said anything about why you have it so bad in your hands and feet? > me, I still function well, just some discomforts for my feet and hands. I > am very active and I know I am lucky to continue as I am. I have great > confusion as to how seriously to take my arthritis and when I "talk" with > you people, I realize, I tend "not to take it seriously" as I should. yeah, we all have learned our lessons to cope and keep going well! LOL It's amazing what we'll put up with to keep doing what we love. Just ask Mary Z who kept paddling even through her darkest days. (And I understand, I too have to get outside, in nature to refresh my spirit - even more so when I feel lousy.) But, as Harv says, it's both about relieving your current discomfort and preventing further damage. Some RDs aren't as strong on the later, you'll have to judge for yourself how your RD responds on your next visit. SignatureNann remove the Gator cheer to email me Simply the thing I am shall make me live --- William Shakespeare Because I could not take Arthrotec twice a day without the same results Nann had, my RD also changed mine to just the diclofenac only and I'm doing fine on that. However he also added tramadol ER at the same time; I had been on the regular tramadol and still have that for break-through pain. Gwen >> I do tend to ask foolish questions, but then, how will I know they're >> foolish, if I don't ask? [quoted text clipped - 45 lines] > later, you'll have to judge for yourself how your RD responds on your next > visit. My Good Friend, Janers, put me onto Nexium and I take that, religiously. It definitely makes a difference for my stomach upset, lower bowel, etc. No doctor ever gave me this advice. As for Arthrotec and Celebrex - the feeling was of pressure in the chest - I expect that was esophagitis; however, I worried for fear it was my heart. I hike away from any help - so, I went to another doctor and received a 64slice scan and found my heart condition is good - but the Indigestion(?) esophagitis (?) pressure, was to be acknowledged. What do I call this condition? The Relafin worked very well on my joints, but my mouth was so sore - so, I post to you fine people and you advise me, NOT to tolerate such a condition. Without the help of you and Ms. Janers - I don't think I could figure it all out. The doctor's (even though they try) just aren't there as it is with this newsgroup and a good friend! (smile) Hiker > What kind of side effects did you suffer with Arthrotec? I ask because it > is [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > later, you'll have to judge for yourself how your RD responds on your next > visit. Hiker, you may have GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease). Nexium helps that but you may need something other than Nexium. I took Prilosec before Nexium came on the market, and when Prilosec went over the counter,my RD put me on Nexium. According to him, Nexium had some healing powers that Prilosec didn't have. You really should mention this to your doctor. Gwen > My Good Friend, Janers, put me onto Nexium and I take that, religiously. > It definitely makes a difference for my stomach upset, lower bowel, etc. [quoted text clipped - 57 lines] >> next >> visit. Gwen is quite right about the nexium hiker my friend. Some docs only prescribe it for healing ulcers already found and it also has that ingredient that keeps the acid down LIKE the prilosec and prevacid does. Now some doctors are keeping patients on nexium for long term instead of switching back to prilosec even if the ulcer is healed up;. Why, beats me. My friend is on it all the time too Like my friend Hiker...but again it might be wise to ask your doc if indeed you could or should stay on nexium all the time or switch. It is up to the doc... Thank you for being so kind Hiker for life janers When I read Mary Z's post and how remicade had helped her - I asked my rheumy and he disuaded me from any type DMard. I was so happy for Mary Z's and impressed with what a difference was made for her. I am nervous about really pushing for anything and lately have heard so very much about Enbrel - Opinions on the remicade and the enbrel would be appreciated. As always - everyone is most kind and I thank you all, Hiker > yeah, we all have learned our lessons to cope and keep going well! LOL > It's [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > later, you'll have to judge for yourself how your RD responds on your next > visit. |
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