Have you seen a rheumatologist? What meds are you on?

Yes, I have seen a rheumatologist. He was not a gud fix 4 me because he didn't want me 2 have a voice in my care. He did however put me on plaquenil, Arava, n jus this month we completely finished my steroids. On December 1st, I will b seeing. a rheumatologist at UAB

I'm glad you decided to see another rheumatologist. I went through about 4 of them before I found the perfect one for me. This is going to be a lifelong relationship, so you have to choose wisely. It's got to be a collaborative relationship with mutual respect. Otherwise everything goes down the rabbit hole at some point. Sorry to be blunt, but that's been my experience.

May I ask if you were diagnosed on the basis of bloodword or x-rays or ?????

I hope you'll ask all the questions you want....there's a great group of people experienced with this disease on this website, This being a holiday weekend in the US, I suspect some are not online.

The one thing that I would discuss with your new rheumatologist is whether Plaquenil is right for you. I don't have any experience with it myself. I'm a 25 year veteran of Methotrexate, which is the more commonly prescribed DMARD.

You have a couple weeks until your appointment. Depending on the pain level, if you feel you need help between now and the appointment, call your doctor [even your family physician] and get a script for low dose Pred just to tide you through in case you need it. Again, I'm not a fan of Pred for the long haul.....but it is something that can keep you sane in the meantime. [Exaggerating, but you understand.]

Lynn

I'm also glad you're off steroids.......I think they are great for short term relief [and sanity] but not for the long haul.

UAB, is that Alabama Birmingham? I'm south of you on the FL line.
Suggest that you quit eating tomatoes, potatoes, red and green peppers, eggplant, okra, cucumbers, cranberries and cashews. Down here, the first four listed are the usual culprits. Nightshades is their catagory, theory is they pull calcium from the bone and deposit it in the synovial lining of the joints, tendons, organs. It really helped lessen the symptoms of the disease for me, takes 2-3 weeks to get what's already in the body out. This will not stop or slow the disease but will help with the pain. Most hidden nasty-nightshade in food/drink is paprika, used as a "natural flavor" in oh-so many things (even coca-cola, dr. pepper).

Depending on what your body does and doesn't handle, walnuts are an excellent natural anti-inflammatory and will help tremendously with the feeling of starvation if you change your diet. Also, if your kidneys/bladder/urinary are good pineapple is an outstanding anti-inflamm.

Good luck!

First of all, I want to say that I love the part about the pineapples and walnuts information about being anti-inflammatory is awesome information. I going to look into this because I believe a lot of our problem like anxiety for example, can be triggered by the things you consume. Secondly, I would like to mention that during a lot of my jogs, runs and bike rides that I used to get real bad arthritis pain in my hands when I would be holding the bike handles. But even when I didn't go cycling, during the morning would be the worst. I looked all types of analgesic and found that the best pain medication was Absorbine Jr and that worked really fast. please check it out as it works wonder for my hands and feet.

Please be reminded that DMARDS are the only proven treatment.

[I'm writing this because newly diagnosed people should not assume that foods and OTC topicals are sufficient treatment.]

Yes, well the food thing did not work at all for me. So don't be disappointed if it doesn't work for you. There are no studies or any kind of scientific confirmation that foods are any more than placebo effect. And placebo effect is not good, if it means your brain convinces you that you feel better, when the damage is still occurring.

I would say to the OP, from your description of where the flares are that you might be sero-negative. We (I am one!) tend to get RA flares more in the hands, wrists and feet (and knees) than those who are sero-positive. However, if you do not get proper treatment the big joints will eventually be involved.

As for Plaquenil, it did nothing for me. Twice, each a year long. Methotrexate is a much better drug, for most people. Plaquenil is for people with an extremely mild form of RA, and the red swollen joints may mean it is already beyond you. Also it used to be thought that sero-negative was milder. So therefore, just give it mild drugs.

That is what happened to me. Because I was so undermedicated, I became very, very severe. So push your new rheumatologist to get you on strong meds, if the Plaquenil is not working. And then a biologic. Don't let them tell you that your sed rate determines whether you are severe or not. It is NOT true!

Sorry to welcome you into the group. Because it means you have RA! But glad to get to know you!

DITTO what Lynne said!

it's just usual and customary to start with dmards if you just got diagnosed. i know some folks on plaquenil for a wicked long time. also concurrent dmards (like mtx and plaq)

did you have follow up appointments to the initial one? It's also common to go to many rheumies before you hit the one you want to marry you know?

pred can be devastating when I go off it - it rebounds me to worse pain (I take pred for lung infections not RA). it's a life time disease with a long road of different treatments for you. get an RA book used from amazon or from the library and read up the different classifications of pharma approach. while you are waiting to switch to a new rheumie I know I would like a pt script for say a warm water pool or a different nsaid. maybe your primary would step up for either if either sound helpful.

welcome

glad you are here.

depot