Sorry to hear you are loosing your rheumy. Hopefully you will get one that you really like. I tried the mxt and it helped me but changed my personality so much that I was angry all the time so I told my rheumy I wasn't going to take it any more. I started on Remicade and it worked for a short while and am now on Orencia by infusion. It has helped me. I hope you find relief soon. Good luck!
Wendy

Sounds like the Methotrexate isn't your drug. I would jump at the chance of starting a biologic, if your insurance covers it. I've used both Humira and now, Enbrel. Both helped me significantly. I had relief after the first shot with Enbrel. It made a "night and day difference" in my entire life (pain, energy, quality of life).

The only side effect I have had is itching and redness at the injection site, but taking Benadryl 30 minutes prior helps. Alcohol swabbed on top of itchy area works wonders for hours, too.

On a teasing note-perhaps your rheumo will take you with them :)

Good luck with the new rhemo-keep us informed

My rheumy was very quick to start me on a biologic after metho alone did not work. I was/am very grateful for that. Agreed; if your insurance approves, why not? You are just delaying the inevitable. I see my new rheumy on Tuesday, I'm interested to see what her opinions of care are.

Well i have only seen my rheumy 4 times total. I really like him even though i havent had any sucess yet on the treatment. He always took time to listen and answer all my questions. Ill see him this time and maybe once more before he leaves. I feel he has me going in the right direction. But anyway im optimistic about the change as everything happens for a reason. There should be another qualified rheumy there at the same center to take over right where he left off. You people have made me feel a little better about the biologics. Im just afraid ill be one of the fatal infections or cancer statistics. Im sure everyone has some degree of fear when taking new meds but ill admit im a big coward when it comes to my health. Im having alot better pain day today and feeling better. Thanks for the upbeat mood and support. Hope everyone is having a decent day. God Bless.

My doctor waited four months to see how the methotrexate helped. I was about 70% good but he added Enbrel at month six.

Well figured i would update after my rheumy visit that i had last week. He asked how i was feeling so i let him have it. No improvement with the Mtx and its been over 4 months now. He said that my dose of Mtx was still to low from what i should be taking. I was lowered from 6 pills down to 4 a couple months ago due to stomach issues. He raised me back up to 6 pills again and i actually started the added dose yesterday since monday is my Mtx day. He also discussed an interest in going to the injections instead of the pills if the stomach problems return. He asked if i thought i could do the injections and i responded was i could probably learn if i had to but felt uncomfortable with it. I had also brought up the discussion of biologics and he seemed open to it but he said he thought it was to early at this point. He wanted to wait and get the Mtx back to where he wanted it and maybe try a different dmard or combo before going to the bios. I was fine with this. I only want to take what is necessary and i like the idea of taking it slow and only taking what meds that i have to but its hard to be patient when your putting up with daily pain. He also removed me off the etodolac 400mg and changed my nsaid to Diclofenac. The etodolac just didnt seem to be helping any. He is leaving to a new location in feb so i will see him once more in 6 weeks before he is gone and im left into the hands of another rheumy.

Here lately i have even been doubting my diagnosis. I thought a while back that i had finally accepted it but now im just not so sure. I guess the failure of the treatment and no results is helping me feel like this even though i know its still early on. Maybe its just normal for people to try to find other things that could be causing their symptoms in hope of finding out that they have something not as bad. I know that i have become far more educated with autoimmune diseases and the treatments. I feel i have learned a wealth of knowledge over the last few months.

Just wondering how many of you have been tested for lyme disease or other slow growing bacterial type infections. It would seem to me that rheumys would test for this more regular when trying to diagnose Ra in the beginning. I know that this may be the case for many of you that have tried antibiotic treatment and failed. I read a story somewhere about a lady that was diagnosed with RA and took all the regular ra drugs for 9 years and eventually found out that lyme was the problem. She got onto antibiotics and got her life back. With where i live and my career being through the weeds at times it isnt uncommon for me to remove a tick or two on occasion. What got me thinking about all this is i was cleaning out an extra bedroom that never gets used here at home (junk room) and i found a ziplock. Inside the ziplock in a desk drawer was a tick. I had to think hard since it had been probably over a year since i had put it in there. I remembered getting the tick from my leg a long time ago. Im sure i didnt have a bullseye rash cause the way that i am im sure i watched the spot for a couple weeks. It came off fairly easy and was not embedded or anything. Saving the ticks i would find was just kinda something i would do cause thats what they always say to do. Lol. I was thinking of asking to be tested now since all this is coming back. I have read that Western blot is the test to ask for. Another odd thing is looking back in the summer of 2013 I came down with a headache and stiffneck that went on for a few weeks that was unexplained. A trip to my gp and a methlypridnisone taper pack and my pain eventually felt better and the pain went away. Then in Jan 2014 both shoulders flared unexplained. Another trip to the gp and a steroid shot to the hip for my shoulders and it eventually subsided. The funny thing is the steroids didnt alleviate the pain as quick as what you would think which had me still wondering. June 2014 is when it all hit the fan and its been on like donkey kong every since in multiple spots at once and constantly moving around my body

Its kinda funny looking back how Ra was affecting my body for the last couple years here and there and i had no clue of it. Sorry about writing so much but its 3 am and i cant sleep due to multiple spots hurting at the moment. What better time to get up and read about some others thats there with me and share a little or alot in the process. Haha. Hope everyone has a good tuesday!

Your thinking back to Lyme or how the years of yo-yo-ing is common. We've all pretty much been there. It's not denial, but trying to put the pieces together. My symptoms have never been textbook with the exception that steroids make me feel so much better.

A lot of us have palindromic rheumatism before we actually get full blown RA. You can check it out..but once you stay in pain, the real RA is there.

What is your anti-ccp. That's the gold standard. If it's positive, you have tests with 98% accuracy for Ra. You could still be negative and have it but if it's positive (and the more positive the more severe it would be expected to be without drug intervention), you can feel pretty comfortable in your diagnosis.

bcatz, Thanks for the reassurance that im thinking normal and not going crazy. I think the way the disease varies between people is what makes it so hard for us to understand and causes us to question things so much. Once some treatment begins to help it should ease my mind some about the diagnosis. I will read up on palindromic rheumatism. Im always trying to learn as much as possible.

As far as my bloodwork goes my rheumy went over it when i was diagnosed in august but at the time i wasnt as schooled in the disease as i am now. And not to mention so much going on and being overwelmed. I did however at my visit last tuesday request my bloodwork stats from july when my initial bloodwork was ran. They are supposed to be sending my results to me through the mail. Soon as i get them i will post my results so we can take a good look at my numbers. Im pretty sure i was positive for Ra factor and anit-ccp. Atleast one i know. If thats the case then it does say alot about whats going on. Thanks for the input.

bcatz was spot on with her comments and very empathetic to see it through your eyes. great comment and i agree

i have a friend who started with lyme disease and has RA and lupus now. i listen to her when she wants to just think and ruminate about the origins. her treatment is aggressive now because her function has slid down a huge slope. i often wonder why she likes to look back but we all want a catalyst and we all want to do and most have done kindler gentler treatments (antiobiotic protocol, road back foundation, minocin, et al) and you should research also if your function has not started to really pale.

keep asking keep wondering. yeah, an array of disease modifying anti rheumatic agents (i took em all except gold - i even took the old school imuran) is common and injectable mtx usually stops the stomach bathroom stuff (usually) for some and if you aint at what the doc thinks is a therapeutic level for you i can see why he does not want to bale out on this one yet.

oh, and welcome to the middle of the night club where you get up because the agony in the chair is more distracting than scene in the bed. we are a special club.

by the way etodalac or lodine did not work for me either. i'm back on naprosyn. good luck with the voltaren.

hang in there

depot

I was on oral MTX and I had so many stomach problems and such bad fatigue. My rhuemy changed me to injectable MTX and all of the side effects went away. I use an auto injector that the syringe fits into and all you do is push the button. You cannot feel it at all.
Here is the link for the auto injector:
http://www.amazon.com/AUTOJECT-SELF-INJT-DVCE-MUMFORD/dp/B004N10F7U/ref=sr_1_2?s=hpc&ie=UTF8&qid=1418764324&sr=1-2&keywords=auto+injector

Pw my journey started with them thinking of lymes. I had no tick no rash just bad joint pain and fatigue. I had 2 lymes that came back weak positive then the infectious disease doc did the western blot and that was for sure negative. More testing for RA came back positive hence the diagnosis of RA. Good luck to you

Depot- thanks for the welcome to the (middle of the night club). Kinda sounds fun if we didnt know better. Haha. I appreciate everyones posts. They are always very helpful and informative. First hand expierence is always the best and so many here are so good at putting their thoughts into writing.

Free2beme6060- Thanks for the link. I didnt even know such an item even existed. This looks like an auto injector that would work with most meds. I just thought auto inject stuff came in a pen along with the meds like humira or enbrel. I had asked my rheumy if the mtx came in a auto pen like the bios but i think he said no. Is that thing pretty easy to put together and figure out? I think i could handle the auto injections. I started back on the larger dose of mtx on monday and so far so good with no stomach problems. (knock on wood). Time will tell.

racerunner- Im not sure about the lyme thing but i do feel that i would feel more confident about my dx, and it would help put my mind at ease to be tested for it and maybe try out some antibiotics for a few weeks just to see what happens. I just have to be careful on how i deal with my doctors and relate my concerns. I dont want them to think im crazy or bouncing around all over the place. They are the experts that are trying to help me get better. I could only delay my relief if im not listening and being a good patient. I already turned the pred down he tried to give me back in august. I seem to be making it ok without it but there have been a few nights when i regretted it. The one good thing is that its not masking any of the pain and makes it much easier to detect if the Mtx is doing anything.

Another thing i find strange is i havent seemed to have any fatigue from the disease that others have discussed about. I do get just a touch of it on my Mtx day and a little the next day. I just contributed this to the med. I have had trouble sleeeping at night for the last two or three weeks. Seems like i am up every hour or two looking at the clock. Could it possible be the folic acid doing this? I always take it around 7am every morning while getting my teen up and ready for school. Thanks for letting me go on and on. Im trying not to wear everyone out.

PW

Yes PW you have to b confident within yourself on the diagnosis. But when i was diagnosed i went through the bargining period and researched everything and anything that would match my symptoms that wasnt RA. It took me a few months to say to myself....ok...i accept now what can we do about it. Good luck