I don't know why but it is a rollercoaster for some of us. I am like you I feel pretty good for a couple months then Bang, back to bad ankles and feet. From what I read here some folks are lucky and actually go into remission, I haven't hit that yet. I have good times and bad. That is why I practice the week by week, day by day, minute by minute philosophy. It is so true for me, I can feel good say 'right now' and then in 30 minutes my left foot will be stiff, later it is better but the toes on the right foot are a mess. That is the way it goes for me. Very little time when something doesn't hurt.
Take care, Charlie

Thanks charlie for your reply,i agree it seems i have good and bad times at the mo.It would be great to go into remission i think cause i went a month feeling ok i got my hopes up.But like you i prob should take the day by day philosophy you talk about.I wont be beaten and aim to stay positive and not let RA rule my life.!!

I have pretty much figured out that I am on a 4 month cycle, or at least that is the way it has been for the last year since I was DX. I go about 4 months then have a flare that lasts 2 to 3 weeks, then back to my normal. I hate it but there doesn't seem to be much I can do. Hugs, God Bless Charlie

Hi Izzy, I am always trying to figure out where I really stand with this $#@&%$# disease. One day I'm in awful pain and unconsolably depressed by my own visions of the future I will face with this horrific disease and the next day I am managing to push myself out the door to go do some limited shopping and try to have some fun. I don't really know what I should be feeling about having this nasty RA, so I struggle daily to do the best I can to get through the pain and the clouded future that I am faced with. We just have to fight on and keep going and whatever happens will just happen. The alternitive is to simply give up and that's not even an option for me. But, it's a relief to come here and co-miserate with others who share our fears and our pain. Somehow, it's ok when you're not alone. So, I say, thank you to all of you!
Sue

I like what Mydobpoochie wrote, We're all in this together. Finding a right treatment helps, and the right treatment after a time will stop working and Doc.s try others. One day at a time. best wishes!

defiantly day by day minute by minute

I think most of us have good and bad days. As soon as I saw you are from UK I checked your drugs as I have heard that there is a really good but restricted treatment there. (I also have a cutting from a paper last year saying RA patients face long wait to see specialist in many areas....) However you sound like you are on the same stuff as many of us here. It is a roller coaster and drugs can make that mind frustration worse - but then with your medical training you will have seen this yourself with patients with other diseases. Unsure if you had been working full time before this struck - stress??? Very few of us get away with no life changes once it hits but it isnt all negative. Good luck.

That happens to me every time they put me on a predisone taper. As soon as the taper is over I am back to square one yet again. Then I have to get use to the pain all over again. Other then the predisone taper i am pretty much downhill most of the time so the pattern only exsists with a taper.

I totally understand how you feel. This disease confuses me. Before my diagnosis in February I thought arthritis just meant sore joints. The strange coming and going of burning and pain in different areas make you feel crazy. You never know what will hurt next, or how to predict how you will feel. Just when you feel great and can't remember what all the fuss was about, it hits you again. I'm waiting for Plaquenil to kick in.

LoveBaby... Have you tried asking to take the Pred on a daily basis instead of the tapered basis? That's what I was doing and it worked well. I honestly think the reason I'm doing poorly now is because I was off the Humira for a month and am only just now getting back into it... But the daily dosage of Pred really helped! Check with your Rheumy.

Izzy (everytime I see your name, I think of Grey's Anatomy, which I am ashamedly hooked to watching while I work)! anyway... I think we all have the same issues, where we feel great, practically convince ourselves we're disease free and then it hits us like a mack truck. Sucks. I'm in that boat now.... so, hang in there. Vent as much as you like, and remember....

EAT YOUR GARLIC, ONIONS, GINGER & TUMERIC. :D

Thanks for all your replies.Its great to not feel so alone and that there is others out there who know how it exactly feels!!