Hi Dawn,,,,  I would drop by my RDs office and see if I could get a steroid
shot in my rear and if what is taking place quiets down,,, its the RA in my
world and I would think about changing DMARDs.
Harv

On Oct 21, 6:12 pm, dzog...@yahoo.com wrote:

Hi Dawn:

I agree with Harvey about seeing your RD ASAP (though I can't have
steroid shots), but have a little something to add.  I've got FMS and
RA, so I can really understand where you are coming from (as can
others).

I was on Enbrel, and at first it worked so good, I was over the moon.
However, each time I had to stop taking it (for infections, colds,
bronchitis, etc.) it did not seem to work as well when I started it
again.  My RD said that is something that can happen, medication losing
efficacy after stopping it, especially with Enbrel (he'd noticed).

If my rheumatologist is puzzled by my joint pain, I'd be puzzled by my
RD.  It sounds like your RA is becoming active again, and what worked
last time isn't working this time.  That's just my thinking, and of
course I'm not a doctor.  I hope that doesn't sound too judgemental (or
that *I* know more about your RA than your RD), I know how hard it is
to find an RD willing even to listen, before I found my current one.

I take Flexeril at night to help with the muscle stuff as it helps me
sleep a bit (along with 5mg of Ambien).

Smokie Darling (Annie)

Are your joints tender to pressure also or do they just ache?  It may well be
RA acting up again - there is a certain overlap of symptoms between FMS and
RA so fatigue and such that you think is FMS may actually be RA.

I'm in sort of a reverse situation - I was on Enbrel and mtx for PA.  We
dropped the mtx last winter due to some screwy liver labs.  Liver checked out
ok, but we decided to hold the mtx and see what ahppened.  Within 2 months,
my fatigue had really kicked up and I was getting major muscle cramping
throughout my bod, esp. in the legs.  That continues, though I've gotten
better at preventing the cramps by moving differently.  But.... these are
fibro symptoms so it didn't really fit that they kicked up when we dropped a
DMARD for PA.  Now, the past 3 weeks my joints have begun raging again.  This
has moved beyond a flare.  Either Enbrel isn't holding me or I have a bad box
of it.  So now I'm thinking there may be more overlap in symptoms between FMS
and auto-immune arthritis than they've realized in the past.  It'll be
interesting to see what they think in a decade.