Juni - what meds are you on?

Sulfasalazine 1000 mg per day with 5mg of prednisone.

Feeling overwhelmed is totally normal. You have been through symptoms, including pain and loss of function, for a period of time. You have been through a diagnostic process that may or may not have run smoothly (for some it is obvious and easy and for others it takes years of evaluations before a diagnosis is made). You are having to learn lots of new terms and information about a lifelong disease that may cause bad problems and about medications that are pretty intimidating.

Treatment takes time, and may take adjustments or changes to new medications. That is very frustrating.

Realize what you are experiencing is normal and common. You are not alone.

How many months exactly? More than 3? More than 6?

Are you seeing a rheumatologist? If not, you NEED to.

Prednisone is a stop-gap measure used until a treatment is found that works. Both Prednisone and Sulfasalazine are anti-inflams (and pred also works to reduce pain)...but neither is stopping the disease progression.

I would have a conversation with your rheumatologist about your improvement or lack thereof on this medication regime and possibly discuss DMARDS and biologics.

I know this frustration as I am sure we all have been there. Do not give up! I went a year with no treatment, horrible pain and was working full time with joints that were operating at less than 50% of what was normal for me. The one thing I have learned is that nothing happens quickly in the rheumatology world. Give yourself a break! Just because you can't do something now does not mean it will always be this way.

can you cut back on non essentials (the only that come to mind are work overtime, volunteering and making the division of labor at home temporarily unequal, if applicable).

I could never do enough self care with the disease because of life. how is the parenting if applicable, making money and doing life part with the disease? what are the thing you can't do? the gym? friends? yardwork? or the big ones like kids and paycheck?

I can do those things now but they don't look the same as before I was diagnosed. this is the new normal. you'll get there. or maybe you'll hit a partial remission or get into a more comfortable spot. I hope so. hang in and be very very very very gentle with judging yourself.

depot

Try to think of this as a walking life time journey and not a sprint to the finish line. So, it will be with you every day, and you will have to find ways to go slow, but still move forward. And sometimes that means being patient with meds, and sometimes, it means pushing for more or different drugs.

I was on Sulfasalazine (with a biologic) after 9 years on methotrexate, and I was much more tired on it than the mthx. I don't know if that is typical. I would say, based on my memories that it started working in a few weeks. I think I was on a biologic, mthx and Sulfasalazine for a while, and I felt so normal, I would have stayed on all three, although I was severely allergic to Sulfasalazine, which is why I had to go off after only 8 months. But that was just me!

It is hard to cut back and pace yourself. A lot of people with RA are Type A's and we are not happy unless we are doing a lot. (Too much) Again, this is part of the attitude adjustment we need to make. I have seriously not come to grips with that after 20 years with this disease. Today, bad right hand tendon flares. I should not even be on the computer, but here I am, telling you to do as I say, not as I do!

Thank you all for your warm and kind words. Yes, I am typical type A person who was always getting things done way before its due and everything have to be almost perfect but now I see a lot of things around me is different and it is not easy for me to deal with it. I know I need to make big adjustment in my life for me and my family to face this illness better but it is sooo hard to be not me.
It's going to be a long wait. My head knows that I have to be patient but it is not that easy to live in that way.
Try to be hopeful and positive but sometimes I just want to cry.... especially when I feel like I am all alone.
Thanks again everyone for your support.

I feel your pain. I too think I should be able to do things that I can't. I have had to ask friends and family to come cut my grass since I have been diagnosed. I can't change my own oil.

Both my wife and I have R/A. One day we couldn't open a jar and had to change what we had for supper.

Everything seems so different. I have only been on meds for a short while. It is getting better slowly.

You feel overwhelmed because this IS overwhelming - not because you're weak or anything bad like that. This sucks, and it's perfectly normal and okay to be dragged down by the sheer overwhelming suckage of it.

But there's no point staying there, either. You're probably pretty close to the point where most of us found a hint of a turning point in our treatment programs. There is no RA Fairy who will come wave a magic wand and make this go away. It's your reality now, as it is mine and everyone else here. You just have to dig deep inside yourself and pull out the strength you need for each day. The amazing thing is that it's in there. You can do this.

Yes, you can do this. You will adjust. I am doing this, I have adjusted and I am still adjusting.....just as you will.

i like having a best buddy who has RA plus several other auto immunes (ankolosyng spelling) and Lupus and uvetis, loss of her 32 year old son, her business, her home. 10 years later things are a little bit better for her. translation: she is worse off than I am in every way (motherhood, financial, homestead, grief, career), yet funnier than myself and more grateful. she gives me perspective when I have none. even with my new normal I all of a sudden see so many who much more has been asked of, with these diseases. that's the bonus plan. You are going to get more empathetic. small things will become big wins. big losses will become no big deal, within the realm. when life gives you lemons.

hang in there.

depot

Everyone here is so right. This is the new reality. We didn't ask for it but we're all in it now and the only way 'out' is through. The light at the end of the tunnel is not the day when you no longer have RA but when you have a 'good day' despite the RA. in the 10 or so years that I've had RA, I've cursed 'it', thanked 'it' and shrugged at 'it'. Some days you are better able to cope than others. The fatigue is probably my worst enemy. Somehow I can deal with pain better than with fatigue.

Give yourself the freedom to feel crummy but just know when to move on from it too. Staying in the pits is no good for your spirits or for your family's .

One day, one thing at a time is best. I've found if I keep myself in the present moment and not try to deal with absolutely everything on my mind, it's a little easier. Takes time and practice to learn to push away the other thoughts, worries, problems, plans, etc. But practice makes perfect. Multi-tasking, multi-thinking isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

I hope you will slowly start to feel better as you adjust.

Take the time to do things that help you feel better- gentle stretches Before rolling out of bed, warm shower to loosen your joints a bit after you get out of bed, soak your hands in warm water...whatever helps. Get ahead of the pain if you can so you can move around. It will all help a little bit at a time.