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...
I've read on several posts different digestive issues that can accompany RA? My issues started about 2months ago. My wife had severe stomach flu, so once she got over hers I just figued maybe I caught hers. She got over it in 2 weeks total so let this go on for about 3 weeks before seeing a doc.
Was going through the headache & stress of a move so I just figured maybe I had some small peptic ulcers going on in there. So did my doc so he gave me protonix & said if I didn't feel better let's take the H. Pylori test in like 2 more weeks. Well those 2 weeks came & went & I took the H. Pylori test & it came back negative? I was happy yet disappointed because I really wanted to figure this out.
I have slight nausea, overall feeling of being bloated or like I just ate a little too much, gassy. There was pain early into it but no more just that feeling of "blahh, queezy, sour stomach feeling". Feel slightly better after eating but definitely better after having bowl movement & better upon wakening but gradually gets worst during the course of the day.
Is this just part of my RA? I've been back on MTX now for almost 3 months @ 5mg a week + folic acid. I thought it was the MTX so I stopped that for 2 weeks & digestive issues really didn't get any better or worse.
Thanks for the info. I'll go take a look today & see what's out there. Uhhgg the last time i took a probiotic & had one the of the meanest migraine's I've ever had (as an adult). But if there were any correlation between them I'm sure it was probably because I've never taken them before & my body just needed time to adapt.
When I got on a good med combo, I managed to sort of heal my stomach, to the point of not talking Prevacid anymore for about 7 years. Then, I went on Actemra, which is an infusion. The first infusion I was sick to my stomach. But it went away the next day. The second infusion the sickness lasted for days. The third infusion, in 2014, it has never gone away! And I continue to take enzyme pills and probiotics and probiotics, but no luck! I guess I was not back to square one, and Actemra was the end for the possibility of healing my stomach and intestines.
I hope you figure out a solution. It's only been a few weeks. Try pharmaceutical probiotics, especially the planetarium one. And Plant Digestive enzymes and Glutamic Acid helped me, although we are all different. And do see your doctor if it continues, it may be something more, or hopefully not!
Hey Marlene thanks for the info. I thought I replied to you yesterday but I guess it didn't save. Yeah it seems like this is the norm so far for us. I have a Gastroenologist appointment set for this coming Monday so we'll see what he has to add. But in the mean time I'm going to go check out a couple of the probiotics you suggested!
504 GATEWAY ERROR.
It takes about 4-5 attempts to save for it to stick
Ohhhhhh wow you're actually bringinng up old memories because I KNOW I've had this before which didn't go away until my doc (at the time around 1994?) said, "I want you to take Metemucil for a few days & see how you feel"! And you know what? It went away in like 2 weeks. Geeez I gotta go tot the local CVS & get either Citrucel or Met. Wow! I totally, totally forgot about Metimucil. Well, I only have 3 more days before I see the Gastroenologist but I'm going to get this tonight. Maybe I can feel better in a few days. I 'll still go see him just in case, might as well. I've waited a full month but in the mean time I'll try this.
Thanks nonightshades2!
I hear ya Marlene, but I hope you change your mind because you always bring A LOT of good info & straight talk to the forums.
No problem. Well today is my first visis with the Gastro so we'll see what he has to say. Hopefully it's not an instant, "We need to do some type of oscopy"! But whatever it takes to feel back to normal at least for the stomach. I hope after 30+ days of waiting for an appointment he won't brush me off with, "It's your RA......nexxxxxt....."!
Anyway, I've been taking the metamucil now since Friday now twice a day & I know it can take a while before it kicks in & helps if it does at all in my situation.
He DID ask if i'd be open to possibly changing from MTX to another DMARD or maybe even a Biologic. I said, "Sure if THAT'S truly the issue then of course if I want my stomach to feel better then I guess I'd have no choice, but not at the sake of my joints. I'd rather have bloated sour stomach then painful deforming joints any day"! I'm sure I'm not alone on that.
Oh well, another 2 weeks now I have to wait for the endoscopy to figure out what the issue is.
So I had my endoscopy for my stomach issues & everything came back normal/negative. No H. Pylori, no cancers, no ulcers. Labs were done with some biopsies & all came back fine. I gradually started feeling better over the course of almost 3 months. As of my follow up gastro visit I felt 95% fine.
So, the only thing I changed on my med routine was my MTX. I was taking 2.5mg during my stomach issues & when I started feeling better I increased it back up to 5mg where my normal dosage is. I increasd just this pass Sunday.
Well, now I'm starting to feel those stomach symptoms pop back up very mildly & it's only Friday? Uhhgg I hope the issue isn't the MTX, I actually like the effectiveness of MTX but it's starting to appear that it could be the MTX. But after all this time on MTX, (I know I've been on & off again over the past few years) but would you all think that "out of the blue" it would affect the stomach like that?
I can't take oral MTX either. It usually happens at a higher dose, but the injectable version will either solve the problem or show that it isn't MTX. I take 25 ml and the injection still makes me nauseous the next day, but nothing like the pills did. I am grateful I can stay on the MTX because it is still working for me. I know I am lucky.
Hope this helps.
Kim
Thanks Kim! There are other pill options maybe I can take like Avara (I think that's how you spell it) & Plaquinel which didn't seem to do much when I was on it before? So if it ends up being the MTX hopefully I can just take another pill. I don't look forward to any self injectibles. I'm not afraid of needles I mean we all have to get blood work down typically several times a year so that doesn't bother me. Just seems a little weird giving it to myself though? LOL!
I totally understand. I can't give myself the MTX injection either. I try; my hand hesitates. I just can't do it. I fully acknowledge that I am a total failure in this department and don't foresee it changing. I pray I never become diabetic.
I am on Plaquenil in addition to MTX. I'm not sure it does much on its own. I also take Xeljanz pills.
Some docs add to MTX, some increase MTX, and some change to something else entirely. I guess it is just the doctor's preference, I don't know. Mine said he wanted me on MTX as long as possible because there are a limited number of meds and he didn't want to burn through them. I guess there is also a lifetime max of MTX your body can handle.
I hope you find what the problem is and get to an easy solution. RA is hard enough without dealing with medication side effects.