Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Group
Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, inflammatory, multisystem, autoimmune disorder. It is a disabling and painful condition which can lead to substantial loss of mobility due to pain and joint destruction. The disease is also systemic in that it often also affects many extra-articular tissues throughout the body including the skin, blood vessels, heart, lungs, and...
I'm still so new with all this RA stuff. Ever since starting MTX I reached the Ahhhh.....finally feel good about 3 months into it. I am now 6 months into treatment.
Last week (Thursday) I hauled 3 bales of hay off my truck and into my hay shed. I thought I had the bale strings by the palms but I had them each time pulling with my inside knuckles. My right middle finger knuckle is the only majorly damaged as far as permanently swelled. It hasn't hurt in a long time. After I did that I said "oh oh" to myself because immediately that finger started to really hurt.
Saturday, family and I ran around town doing errands. Then later we had to drive to Hollywood for a Nieces Birthday right off the BLVD. It started at 5....by the time we were in bed it was after 11:00 PM. We had to wake up at 5 AM Sunday for a group ride. (Keep in mind I wake up Mon-Fri at
4:45 AM for work.) I actually hurt after the ride. I even took a Tylenol my PCP prescribed (650 mg) and it did nothing. My fingers and feet were hurting, especially the right foot with the tendinitis. Everything hurt but it was tolerable. I'm just not use to it. I had tried Tramadol but it made me sick.
Then the real stupid thing I did was not pick up my prescription of Xanax on Monday. I took the last one in the AM and I am on 3-4 mg a day. I've always taken Xanax for years due to anxiety but when the RA struck last year, before diagnoses, I needed it increased and it was. I go into major panic and anxiety now and I was never this bad. I run a business with my husband so I have to be right in the head. Monday I went to bed and literally did not sleep all night. I didn't realize at the time it was withdrawal. You actually can start 6-8 hours after your last dose at higher levels. Tuesday I planned to pick up my Xanax but didn't feel right. I thought I would have daughter pick it up at 5 PM after work but by 2 PM I knew if I did not get it I would possibly go into a seizure. I went and got it. I took one and it's amazing at how quick your body comes back. But remember....I had not slept at all. Wed my husband knew I needed sleep so he got up and I slept until 6:45 and Thursday until 6 AM. Today I got up at 5:20 AM. When you are told or read NEVER stop cold turkey they are not kidding.
Today, Glad it's Friday. I need rest. I think I did too much to my body and that made the flare last longer and just be there. I ran myself ragged over the weekend, then had literally no sleep. So I am guessing I've done this to myself.
My body is telling me something, huh?
Last week (Thursday) I hauled 3 bales of hay off my truck and into my hay shed. I thought I had the bale strings by the palms but I had them each time pulling with my inside knuckles. My right middle finger knuckle is the only majorly damaged as far as permanently swelled. It hasn't hurt in a long time. After I did that I said "oh oh" to myself because immediately that finger started to really hurt.
Saturday, family and I ran around town doing errands. Then later we had to drive to Hollywood for a Nieces Birthday right off the BLVD. It started at 5....by the time we were in bed it was after 11:00 PM. We had to wake up at 5 AM Sunday for a group ride. (Keep in mind I wake up Mon-Fri at
4:45 AM for work.) I actually hurt after the ride. I even took a Tylenol my PCP prescribed (650 mg) and it did nothing. My fingers and feet were hurting, especially the right foot with the tendinitis. Everything hurt but it was tolerable. I'm just not use to it. I had tried Tramadol but it made me sick.
Then the real stupid thing I did was not pick up my prescription of Xanax on Monday. I took the last one in the AM and I am on 3-4 mg a day. I've always taken Xanax for years due to anxiety but when the RA struck last year, before diagnoses, I needed it increased and it was. I go into major panic and anxiety now and I was never this bad. I run a business with my husband so I have to be right in the head. Monday I went to bed and literally did not sleep all night. I didn't realize at the time it was withdrawal. You actually can start 6-8 hours after your last dose at higher levels. Tuesday I planned to pick up my Xanax but didn't feel right. I thought I would have daughter pick it up at 5 PM after work but by 2 PM I knew if I did not get it I would possibly go into a seizure. I went and got it. I took one and it's amazing at how quick your body comes back. But remember....I had not slept at all. Wed my husband knew I needed sleep so he got up and I slept until 6:45 and Thursday until 6 AM. Today I got up at 5:20 AM. When you are told or read NEVER stop cold turkey they are not kidding.
Today, Glad it's Friday. I need rest. I think I did too much to my body and that made the flare last longer and just be there. I ran myself ragged over the weekend, then had literally no sleep. So I am guessing I've done this to myself.
My body is telling me something, huh?
Take your meds, put your feet up and try to relax.
In other words, the chances are you would had the flare without doing all you did.
I've even had my doc's office call me and warn me my numbers were rising and I was headed into a flare...they knew long before I did.
But one thing you do have to adjust to is that you have low level inflammation wherever there is synovial tissue and all tendons and bursas are covered with it(and joints lined with it)....so beware. You stress them and the go from little/no pain to bad pain very quickly. You induced it this time. Be gentle with your body unless you are prepared to pay the price.
gentle hugs.........Jen
And yes, Xanax is extremely addictive. I have one friend who had to go cold turkey because his new psychiatrist refused to prescribe him any, not even to cut down. It took him almost 2 years to recover from the withdrawal. My advice is to find a way to get off of it. The thing about benzodiazapines is that they actually create a feeling of anxiety. I was put on clonazepam, in the same family, after I got RA. I was continually anxious, which I had never been before. My family doctor urged me to get off of it, and I am so much calmer and less anxious than when I was on it. That is called a paradoxical reaction. One I hope to never have again.
Yes, learning to listen to our bodies is a hard thing to do. Because my body is telling me to do absolutely nothing right now. So if I totally listened to my body, I wouldn't get out of bed in the morning! So I am trying to listen a bit, but still push through and get some stretches and strengthening done.
Thanks Etain. Agreed! It is really unpredictable. And yes, today I am taking it kinda easy! :)
Haha Jen! I got a glass sliding door out to the back and the wheels are going bad so that is irritating my hands every time I leave and I go in and out all day to the horses.
Thanks Marlene. My hands would hurt here and there but the worse inflammation was always in my feet. I am lucky they are not bothering me.
Yeah, I knew Xanax was addicting so I am trying to titrate down. I get very stressed with work, thinking about things we have to do, how my family deals with it. Sometimes I feel like I just have to suck it up and that's where the stress comes from. I feel bad when they have to do things for me that I use to do.
1. Step/Staph
2. Overdoing it
3. Stress
The take away messages:
1. Pace yourself, pace yourself, pace yourself.
2. Don't overdo it.
3.Stay away from sick people
4. Wash your hands after any public contact
5. Avoid stress
it's a chronic disease til death - if you micromanage every minute of it at this point you are going to really crash if a co-morbidity comes along to make things interesting or someone else in your family or life or friends has a crisis or even if the RA gets bumpier.
you need to save some non-worry spoons you know?
hugs
depot
In other words, we can induce them by doing too much or just by doing absolutely NOTHING!
Jen