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...
AMAZING!
Okay, maybe not so much. More of a fluke. Sunday night and Monday night I had horrible cramps/aches in my calves and thighs at night and in the morning. I felt like I needed to take my muscles out and stretch them like taffy! Anyone get that?
Doctor tells me I shouldn't have to take Ibuprofen as the meds start to work. The longer time goes by the more aches and pains I get WITH the MTX. Every morning is a struggle to get out of bed and move around.
I didn't want to have another sleepless night so I took my PPI my PCP prescribed for my belly before I take an NSAID before bed. This morning I feel great! No cramps, no stiffness, no anything...pain, nothing. Thanks to the old time travelling medicine show! Okay, nothing that fancy, just my daughters 600 mg Ibuprofen! I feel limber and can move. FOR NOW! Hey, I'll take it! But I'm not suppose to take it all the time because of the gastric bypass 6 years ago. Bleh....always a catch, huh?
Then you have all the music in your head......is it the MTX working or the 600 mg gift?
Let's see how long it last. I start my one extra MTX pill today (up to 7 every Tuesday), at 2:30 I'm having my failed root canal tooth pulled and then I have a 6:30 horse group meeting with a potluck.
Do we start a Melly pool today? Will I be a sprite 'ol gal all day or will they find me in a fetal position in the hostess' barn wrapped in straw snuggling next to a horse?
Game on! Remember.....God only gives you what you can handle so he must think I'm a bad ass. He must think we all are!
Okay, maybe not so much. More of a fluke. Sunday night and Monday night I had horrible cramps/aches in my calves and thighs at night and in the morning. I felt like I needed to take my muscles out and stretch them like taffy! Anyone get that?
Doctor tells me I shouldn't have to take Ibuprofen as the meds start to work. The longer time goes by the more aches and pains I get WITH the MTX. Every morning is a struggle to get out of bed and move around.
I didn't want to have another sleepless night so I took my PPI my PCP prescribed for my belly before I take an NSAID before bed. This morning I feel great! No cramps, no stiffness, no anything...pain, nothing. Thanks to the old time travelling medicine show! Okay, nothing that fancy, just my daughters 600 mg Ibuprofen! I feel limber and can move. FOR NOW! Hey, I'll take it! But I'm not suppose to take it all the time because of the gastric bypass 6 years ago. Bleh....always a catch, huh?
Then you have all the music in your head......is it the MTX working or the 600 mg gift?
Let's see how long it last. I start my one extra MTX pill today (up to 7 every Tuesday), at 2:30 I'm having my failed root canal tooth pulled and then I have a 6:30 horse group meeting with a potluck.
Do we start a Melly pool today? Will I be a sprite 'ol gal all day or will they find me in a fetal position in the hostess' barn wrapped in straw snuggling next to a horse?
Game on! Remember.....God only gives you what you can handle so he must think I'm a bad ass. He must think we all are!
Are you just starting out with MTX? I know when I started it took a solid 8 weeks without feeling any effect - I was to the point of barely being able to walk though I was still working. But then at the 8 week point it was like majic - I thought I was cured! But that slowly wore off over the next 3-4 months.
My last few months I was working I took A LOT of ibuprofin just to get through my days - couldn't take any pain meds due to federal regulations. The ibuprofin did help just a little - I was taking up to 15 200mg tabs a day though......
I still take some occasionally on bad days between pain meds as it does seem to still help a little. My PCP warned me however not to overdo it like I used to.
Wow, that is a lot of Ibuprofen. I rarely take it. Usually I know before breakfast if it's going to be one of those days. Then I take the PPI before I eat but I couldn't stand another night of leg/thigh cramping. I took them together last night.
I know I'll get vicodin today from the oral surgeon, I wish I could take that instead but I guess if I did I wouldn't know if I was getting better. I'm a wuss when it comes to pain. Had only one child because I didn't want to go through labor again. My Rheumy will not give narcotics out at all. That's the only thing I can take that does not hurt my stomach.
The max dose of ibuprofen is 800mgs and I used to have to take that 4 times a day until my stomach started to bleed. Now, if I need anything, I use Arthritis Strength Tylenol....still not good for the liver but it's all I can do. Bleeding ulcers are a real pain and I can't imagine what would happen with a gastric by-pass.
Reconsider(and the effect only lasts about 6 hours).
hugs.....Jen
Tylenol has never worked for me at all. Since starting MTX I am so careful about any pills. On antibiotics now for the tooth extraction. :)
Melly, have you asked your doc about shooting up the meth instead of eating it? It would certainly take the stress off your GI system. As Jen says, be careful with ibuprofen, and don't burn yourself out on it. I was taking 1600 - 2400 mg a day after a surgery about 25 years ago. It caused a lot of gastric distress, and now I can barely take it at all without a bellyache. Too bad, as it does work.
And I rarely take Ibuprofen or any NSAID's. Maybe 5 total all last year.
Right now I'm on Norco's for tooth extraction. He gave me 20 and thank god because yesterday I had tooth pulled and it's infected. I didn't sleep a wink last night the pain was so bad even taking one every 4 hours didn't help. This morning I took one at 5 AM and finally feel better. On antibiotics as well.
I saw that you were having a "failed root canal tooth" pulled. I have read many studies of the possibility of failed root canal teeth contributing to RA. I'm not sure when you were dx and whether it was before or after the root canal tooth but I'm interested in seeing if you get any kind of relief after it is pulled. Interestingly, I got RA about 1 month after I had a 'horrible' root canal done by my dentist. Just recently, I have found that my root canal wasn't done properly and have anticipated having it pulled. I'm curious to find out if my RA was to magically leave my body after it's pulled.
RAfighter.....I bought a book at the beginning of this journey called Living With RA and there is quite a few pages discussing oral health and RA. Theories, reasons etc. I actually had copied it and took it with me to my dentist a month ago. But what I also find interesting is the many theories as to how it comes on. Mostly they think it's genetics and it may be sitting in us like a time bomb waiting to go off. They suspect there is always a trigger. And if you already have one autoimmune disease, you are likely to have a few more. My Mom has RA and Osteoporosis. Luckily, I don't show any signs of Osteoporosis.
My "trigger" seem to be last January 2015. I was walking out back one morning going up my cement stairs and tripped over my own feet. Don't eve ask....lol. I landed hard on both knees and was in pain for a long time. That's when everything started. My right middle finger had already been swollen at the joint for years so I may have been RA positive and never had a clue.
I actually had a root canal in October a month before I even seen my RA doctor for the first time. I had a really bad "flare" at that time. The root canal went without a hitch. It was a Saturday and he gave me a script for pain meds and antibiotics. He said if I started to feel like an infection was coming on start the antibiotics. The pharmacy was out and wouldn't have any until Monday. I wasn't hurting so I said okay, luckily picked up the pain killers. Two hours later I was in severe pain. Then every joint on my body blew up especially my feet. With this one the tooth was badly cracked so they had to pull it. That went flawlessly. They expect me to go in for an implant or other work when I heal but I'm not. The gum will heal nicely and I'm done. Then I'll keep up with the cleanings etc.