Welcome to the site. Please don't postpone treatment. I did for over a year and the results were recurring flare ups that became worse and worse. Flares come and go. You could be better for days or weeks but sooner or later the beast will return, bigger and badder than before. Please take your Dr.'s advice and work with him/her to treat your condition agressively up front. Good luck and keep in touch.

Thank you for your advice. I agree with you...I was just afraid to take the medicine for fear of side effects! But I will take it.

Wishful thinking on my part that it was going away and not RA afterall...

I think the monthly cycle for some does cause more pain. During a flare is when I have the most pain but my understanding even if you are not flaring RA can still be causing damaged to your body. Most folks don't want to take meds when they are not hurting but most of the damage that is done is permanent. So talk with your doctor. I was sero-negative for many years but have been positive for the last 2 years.. So glad to hear that more and more are getting treated as sero-negative so maybe they won't have the damage some of us older sero-negative patients have.

I have thought the very same on the days that I feel better that I am " cured". But yes it always rears its ugly head and shows up some times worse tban before. Yes I understand the worry of side effects of meds. I was on methotrexate, arava and now a biologic injection. Yes the side effects scare me but the beast of RA scares me more. Good luck

LB, go with your gut. It's only you that will have to deal with the consequences of your decisions. Plaquenel works well for many patients and has far fewer side effects than biologics or MTX. But there are side effects. Look them up on webMD and see if you can handle those risks.

As for RA causing damage when asymptomatic - that is still up for conjecture. It's primarily a scare tactic in commercials. And of course EVERY biologic commercial only states that it MAY slow progression. As far as my rheumy is concerned - if there's no symptoms and bloodwork is good then you're in remission with little/no disease activity. So you should stay with whatever treatment keeps you in remission. Whether that be a biologic, Minocin, or diet. Since he's involved in research and now teaches other rheumies at conventions - I tend to trust his judgement.

Since you are in child bearing mode - it's wise of your rheumy to start with conservative treatments first. You can always try the others later.

Hello and welcome-wave wave

Hi LB1977--
I am in a similar situation as you. I was recently dx'd (this month) with "inflammatory arthritis--most likely RA" (i'm seronegative too). My doctor did lab work and when I see him next week he plans to start me on sulfasalazine. Right now I am only on Celebrex. I too seem to be having waxing and waning of my hand problems on an almost daily basis. On the good days I think 'he's probably wrong and I don't have it after all" (I guess i'm in denial). In the general scheme of things it doesn't sound like I have much to complain about as many of the people on this forum are severely affected by RA and mine seems to be pretty mild at this point. My bad days aren't affected by cycles as I'm past that stage. I work everyday and so far my recreational activities have been only minorly affected.
Welcome to this site-- lots of friendly people and good info here :)

Thanks everyone! I understand the issue of the RA still being there even when there's no active pain or inflammation. I guess I will just have to see how these next days play out. My pain is still low today, as well as the inflammation, which makes me very happy :-)

If you put off treatment for now, your RA will eventually convince you to start it, but by then, you will likely have more damage to contend with. It's just a matter of time until your desire to alleviate the pain will override your fear of any side effects. The good thing about side effects is, for the most part (speaking from my own experience), if you have a side effect that you can't or won't tolerate, you can simply stop taking the drug and try something else. Many of the biologics don't even start working for months and most people don't have noticeable side effects from them, so you may not even notice anything either way (upside or downside) for months.

On the other hand, I'm glad your doc opted out of Methotrexate for you. Personally, I had a very bad experience with that and I wouldn't wish those symptoms on anyone else. I had some kidney failure that I attribute to it, but I also had horrible nausea. Other than that...

Back in the day (many years ago), when I would be on oral gold for an extended period of time, I would start to get sores on the inside of my mouth along with an awful metallic taste. That is when I would quit taking it, but it did help me a number of times years ago. They watch your kidneys closely with that one.

Some of the NSAIDS such as Meloxicam can raise your BP, so watch for that (get a home BP monitor). Prednisone can also raise BP, so keep an eye on it with that too. Nobody is too young to have a stroke. We have to protect ourselves and participate in our own healthcare. I take my BP at least once a day, but I also have to take BP medicine (not a very high dose) to keep it in check.

I've only been on Humira (in terms of biologics) and looking back, it helped me quite a bit until it stopped working, but I am sure I was losing a lot more hair in those days than now and it does make your urine smell funky.

I've never tried Plaquenil, but I would like to try it. You do have to see any eye doctor regularly for that one.

Try not to worry. Just listen to your body and try to be logical about your decisions. Do your research and discuss everything with your doc before you start on something new. Best of luck!

Oh, one more thing, some of my worst flares occurred when I was pregnant or just after childbirth, so I do think hormones have an effect on RA activity.

First welcome.
Second treatments can be overwhelming to newly diagnosed & I can understand your hesitation.
Here your getting total honesty.
This disease is unpredictable & quick to strike at times.
My cycles do indeed increase my pain.
A long with everything else such as exhaustion.
With in months my feet took on a different shape. Fast enough to shock me.
Not easy choices.
I understand, stay safe.
Sammy

LB and RASally--
Yes-- I totally understand that the damage occurs even when symptoms are under control and know all RA sufferers need to have continual treatment but when someone goes through a grieving process (and thats part of PA-- grieving for loss of prior good health and past freedom for pain) denial is just a part of that process.
I know I have RA-- just still wishing I didn't and that the doc was wrong. Knowing something intellectually doesn't mean one doesn't have moments of denial-- where it just doesn't seem real. I lost my dad recently. He always "wintered" in another state. I know he is gone and not coming back, but sometimes I have to remind myself that he's not just "away"-- IYKWIM.

The question that came to mind is....after getting your symptoms goneand labs are normal..how do u tell if disease activity is happening? MRI? Vectra test? Or does the rheumy just assume ur all set?