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...
Hello All,
Iam 49 year old active female recenlty diagnosed with RA...My sysmtoms began back in July when I noticed i was limping getting out of bed every day...i was also having some issues wih my hands. I was also experiencing numbness and tingling in my legs and hands and arms...I i first saw a neurologist as was tested for MS with an MRI. That came back negative thankfully but I do have a moderate bulging disc at C5-C6 and spinal stenosis...so they they thats what was causing the numbness and tingling. I knew there was somtning more...too much fatugue and joint pain in hands and feet. SO...made an apt with Rheumatologist and finally saw him in begining of Dec. Bloodd work came back High Positive for Ant-CCP. So was offically diagnosed with RH a couple weeks ago. Started Plaquenil and of course have to wait and see how much and if it helps. I was freaked out at first as I'm an active healthy person and wondered how any why I go this...although some signs have been there whwn I think back...pains I related to "wear and tear" from working out and running and my age were probably most likley begining signs of the RA. I have cleaned up my diet and take some natural supplimets as well. Time will tell I guess. I wonder if my cervical spine issue can be related to the RA?? I didnt think to ask my Rheumatologist but wanted to know if anyone else has bulging disk/stenosis of the spine issues related to their RA? or do you thinks its just a normal degenerative thing with age? I enjoy reading through everyones posts..can be very helpful and good to know not alone on this jounrney. Unless you have it and experinece it< its hard for a person to understand. But, thats with anything I guess. ;)
Yes, I, too, have:
Autoimmune:
RA, PsA, AS, LGMD
Non-Autoimmune:
OA, DDD, Bulging/herniated discs, spinal stenosis
The list goes on, but I'll stop here.
So you could likely have multiple things going on.
How long have you been on the Plaquenil? Frankly, I don't know that it's a good enough drug. The current thinking is to treat RA aggressively. I believe MTX is a better choice, so if you're not seeing significant results with the Plaquenil, I'd check in with the rheumatologist and discuss switching to MTX.
About the diet and supplements: neither will stop irreversible damage that RA causes. Balanced diets are a good thing, though.
My advice to you would be to be totally honest when talking with your Rheumatologist. Not sure when you see him/her next, but if you don't feel better in another month, then push for stronger meds. Don't try to be stoic.
It's not necessarily inevitable that you'll be on lots of meds. Those who get aggressive treatment from the start might be on that same treatment for years....decades, as I was. [I started on MTX 26 years ago.]
Some people have to try several drugs before they find one that works for them. But most people find their drug early on.
The drugs aren't as bad as a lot of people make them out to be. Remember, most of the people on RA forums are new or are having a bad time of it. Most RA patients have found a working drug and are actively living their lives.
The first year is the hardest. It WILL get better.
don't read our horror stories. maybe your dmards will be successful. you are active now. keep moving.
i have a cervical fusion and stenosis above and below the fusion at C5. plus lumbar stenosis. my rheum doesn't make connections between what she calls my osteo degen and my sero positive ra. she just treats to target the ra. her words. i tend to like talking to my doctor.
my back and neck have been pin cushions for every imaginable steroid injection known to science. I am kind of hiatus from that crap lately but they work for a while now and then. i like the heated pool program at the Y. i also like my 4 inch mattress topper and rock solid memory foam pillow (don't let your neck sink pillow wise). x rays are useless for me. mri. even if you look like crap on the mri - my ortho's and neurosurgeon look for function. i did not do the fusion until i lost function in an arm. use your muscles around those discs. take your ra meds. listen to your rheumatologist not us (laughing).
my dad is age 90 and works full time, (really) with severe osteo, and goes dancing every saturday night for date night. i kind of look to him for my painful osteo crap. he seems happy and fulfilled with all his pain limpy gimpy stuff. sometimes I wish I had one or the other and not both.
glad you are here
depotblue
My realization today after getting off the phone with some really rude office assistants is that I will call and get my second opinion appt. lined up and if I don't get some help very soon I ll go to a different dr. I too have been on plaquinil for two years and it's not (worked ok at first) working well I have asked for methotrexate.and I'm supposed to wait til after my MRI Tired of waiting.
Hope you feel better soon!
I have had mri's up and down neck and back with the orthopedic and with the neurosurgeon who operated on my neck. ask your rheumatologist. My rheumatologist does not treat my neck or my back and my particular doctor treats to target the ra only and considers my back and neck osteo and degenerative stenosis and encourages my other treatment with other practitioners. she gets copied on everything. i have not found that any of my dmard or biologic treatment have changed the onslaught and march of my back and neck stenosis and herniations. i wish it had, but it has not. the surgery at C5 destabilized above and below which of course I knew it would (no choice left use of an arm before surgery). I find physical therapy, yoga, the hot water arthritis therapy pool at the hospital, a neck brace now and then (I know I am not supposed to but I do anyway it feels soooo good) and moving helpful. just like my dad.
I see an orthopedic separate from my rheumatologist for the back and neck stenosis.
your rheumie never moved you from plaquenil to methotrexate say after year one?. how is your function besides your osteo - like in your match joints (hands, ankles, feet, wrists) and what not? your rheumie is very conservative and slow to med changes maybe?
depot
I just started with my Rheumatologist in Dec and was diagnosed a couple weeks ago after BW..…and only on plaquenil for about 2 weeks now…so very new into the RA treatment.
Hands/wrists, feet and ankles are a daily issue. Thanks for explaining your osteo experience;)
I will stay in touch with my neuro.
and I hope your team gets cracking on your neck and/or spine stenosis if it is affecting your function.
a lot of folks have it appears craploads of herniation and stenosis but are not slowed down. i think my function is more important than my films with this disease believe it or not.
it got on my nerves (literally) because it affected holding my head up and use of my left arm. i try to stay AWAY from the neurosurgeon as much as possible (no cutting no pay for him) and S5 is enough for me - but the orthopedic does a lot of palliative stuff ( think of injections as palliative believe it or not since they don't last) and pt scripts. i have FIVE neck braces - so I have never met a neck brace I do not like in terms of figuring out different and creative ways to hold up the bowling ball above my neck other than being prone.
hang in there. :)
depot
One thing I was told some time ago: MTX works better on the axial skeleton [limbs], whereas biologics work better on the spine. [I'm referring to autoimmune diseases, not to degenerative, non-autoimmune diseases.]
But it is very important to realize that if you are not hurting, you may not need to treat it, seeing as spinal solutions can be very invasive. If you need it, then do it. I remember my physiotherapist and I were chatting one day, and he talked about the most important lesson he learned when he was in school training. There was a guest speaking, an orthopaedic surgeon. He put up the X-rays of a very damaged back, and asked what the treatment would be.
After a very long and heated discussion, he finally stopped everyone from talking. He said the X-rays were of his back, and his back didn't hurt at all. He said, not to treat something that was causing no problems. I am not saying this is your case. but sometimes we worry about something that has not happened.
My neck and back hurt everywhere. But when I had total X-rays of the whole back last year, the only thing that came out abnormal was the osteo damage in the first rib, the affected whiplash joint. I'm glad I don't need surgery, but I wish the pain would stop! And my car accident was over 10 years before RA, so no involvement for me!
Cross the bridge about what to do with the back, when your meds are working fully. As for Plaquenil, it might work if you are extremely mild. But, I know very few people it helped, including the two years I was on it - one year at the beginning and one year two years ago when my meds failed. It was totally useless. In fact, I don't know why they even prescribe it these days. Methotrexate is a much better DMARD, although some people do have side effects from it.
And welcome to our group, but not to RA!