I am sorry you feel the way you do. I remember not so long ago saying the same thing. You will feel better soon, when you get on the right meds and they start working for you.
I am on Enbrel now and 2.5 mg of Prednisone, and I am feeling great on most days, but it took alot of trial and error with the meds to get there.
Stay positive, use prayer to get you through the day and come back here often, we are here to listen.
bigi

I agree with everything bigiblue has said. I am on Humira and mtx and things are slowly improving. On days I feel down I vent, write, etc. and then try to focus on what I can do. Take this time to prepare for your doctor's visit on the 7th. Prepare your list questions for the doctor. Make a list of the issues that are concerning to you. Perhaps it may be time to explore talk therapy and/or anti-depresants. Ask your doctor for a referal/recommendation of a therpist.
I will be praying that your doctor's visit will be benefical to you. Please keep us posted on how things go at your doctor's visit. My important, take care of yourself.
HMaby7

Were you recently diagnosed? I was diagnosed about 7 or 8 years ago, but only had infrequent flares and it did not affect me that much. The last two years, it has been slightly more aggressive, and had a flair in the summer of 2008. It lasted for about a month, and then I was able to resume my normal life. I do not take any biologics for fear of their side effects. I do take over the counter medication, tried celebrex for about 3 months and went off and went back to Motrin. I now take a combination of 1 Motrin and 1 regular strength Tylenol and it seems to do the trick for me. I do not eat a lot of sugary products as sugar can cause inflammation. I also try to avoid cow's milk too, except for some half and half in my morning coffee. I strongly feel from some of my research that our diets can contribute to our inflammation level. I monitor what I eat and I do see a correlation between what I eat and my rate of achiness. I have both RA and OA.

Do you take any medications for the pain and achiness? I live a full life, do my own cleaning, shopping and cooking and I have to say I feel good 95% of the time. My worst times are in the middle of the night and sometimes when I get up in the mornings, but it quickly goes away after I keep moving. I do take a hydrocodone just before I fall asleep at night and that certainly helps.

I hope you feel better soon. Sometimes we have to be our own doctors. I am sure if you investigate you will find something that will help you. I had Lyme Disease and went to a slew of doctors 15 years ago and literally had to get myself well. I listen, I read, and I take in all I know about RA and I come to my own conclusions so that I can live a productive life. I do not want to do more harm to my body by taking these very strong, potentially dangerous drugs. People survived RA years ago by not taking them and taking anti inflammatories. We do not know what the long term effects will be with these biologics. Also there is a great website about antibiotic therapy for RA. It is roadback.org. I think you will find a lot of information and testimonies that may help you understand this disease.



Just my opinion.

Also you may want to leave some of your pain medication (Motrin, tylenol, etc) by the side of your bed with a glass of water before you get out of bed in the mornings and wait 20 minutes and see if it helps when you get up so you will not feel so achy. Someone on this board told me to do this and I have done it in the past and it has helped. I no longer have to do this. But it did help me.

Yep! I understand. After Christmas I had a few days off and slept many many hours. Thankfully, it helped me recoup some of my energy so I can use it up working. (yuc)

"Amen" to doctors listening! I know they are trained, but we live with this nonsense 24/7 and none of us are probably "textbook" cases.

Just keep being strong. I've not found my "magic bullet" yet, but I keep hoping. I actually have an appointment with a pain specialist in a couple of weeks to see if he can help me adjust this annoying, chronic pain.

Keep us posted on your progress and I wish you all the best.

I hear you. I had a Rhuematologist for over 10 years. He just went through the normal routine and never progressed the treatment for the disease. I know it is scary to change doctors but sometimes it is worth it. I have had RA for 18 years. I am about to start Orencia. I am excited to maybe get part of my life back.
It is good to vent. So do it as often as you can to release the fustration. Hope you find something that helps.

I am so sorry you are feeling crappy, I wish I could say something to help make it better. I have forgotten what it feels like to feel really well myself , but things have changed compared to several years ago. The early years were brutal. I can only say in time, life can improve.
Are you taking any anti-depressants? I know that they can help not only with mental well-being but also can bring a little pain relief.
If you are feeling depressed please tell the dr when you see them on the 7th.
I have had various rheumys over the years. I remember one saying that they were frustrated too, frustrated with not being able to find the right drug/help for me. I know some doctors do feel this way and they do care.
The thing is the doctors follow a set protocol and most of our stories are all pretty similar, the docs main focus is on reducing inflammation and trying to slow or halt the progression of the disease down. And their solution for that is offering and suggesting drugs.
The decisions they make is based on the combination of what we verbally convey, what they see when they look at our joints and of course lab and other test results. And there is not much more they can do. One doc said to me you know there is no cure for this, but we will try to find the best treatment for you.

This is why I have liked to look into holistic type medicine as well, as it looks at the person as a whole, and takes everything into consideration.

Hi Renne. I am sorry you are feeling bad. I don't kno when you were diagnosed but I know it took awhile for me to feel good and somewhat normal again. The first couple of months was hell. All I can say is hang in there. Like Bigi says when your meds start to work you will feel alot better. Take care.