Rheumatoid Arthritis

Man, does it suck, RA that is. I had a blood test back in Jan. and my RA# was really high, 898. The RA# is your Rheumatoid factor. Basically tells your Rheumatoid Arthritis level. From all the reading I've done since Jan. a normal RA# is below 20. People with average RA will have numbers between about 30-70 or so. 898, man that is high.

My Dr wanted to re-test just because the # was so far off normal. Well they drew some more blood and the new RA# was 692. Yes 106 points lower but still way high. There have been days that I hurt so bad, if they drew blood that day, my RA# would probably be over 1,000, well over.

I have an appointment Friday with a specialist. I hope to be feeling better soon. I've lost ~20 lbs. or so in the last few months, probably more. It just hurts too bad to have to go in the kitchen and fix something to eat, even if only to heat a bowl of oatmeal.

I do have some Arthritis from a motorcycle wreck in 1996. I had between 72 and 96 fractures then but this new pain...I am convinced it is not related to the wreck in '96. Most of it is in places that was not damaged in the wreck. I think the Arthritis from the wreck has mutated and spread to my other joints.

This has affected me in another way that I find very hard to deal with. Usually I'm a fairly even tempered, easy to get along with kinda guy. I've found myself getting really short with people. Especially the people that are rude, obnoxious jerks. I used to be able to 'bite my tongue' so to speak, with those folks. Now it is as if the words that proceed from my mouth never went through my thought processes. Down right mean things to say to someone, even if they did deserve some talking to.

Friday, that's when I go to the Rheumatologist. Maybe I wont be hurting soon. I sure do hope that's the case.

Sorry for such a long post. Would appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for the prayers, they help. Today my pain is only at a 5, as long as I don't move something in the wrong way. But I can deal with that. A 5 is way better than an 8+. That's what Saturday and Sunday were.

I'm not used to that kind of pain on an almost daily basis. It's days like this last weekend that make me grateful for days like today, where pain is only a 5. I'm so looking forward to Fridays' Rheumatologist appointment.

My appointment with the Rheumatologist is tomorrow. I can hardly wait. There is a storm front north of us here and I think it is trying to kill me.

Reckon I'll update with any improvement in the next day or so.

Got to the new Rheumatologist, filled out the new patient paper work and was then told that "This office only accepts so many new patients with your insurance, sorry."

Called my insurance and my guy is trying to find another one near me. No idea how long that will take.

Talked to some lady at my insurance company yesterday and she gave me 2 Dr's that she said I could go to. Had an appointment with my Dr that afternoon and when I got there they saw the 2 names and knew they did not accept my insurance, in fact one of them had retired. My Dr's office is working with a guy at my insurance, they have worked with him for a while and trust him, to find a Rheumatologist I can go to.

My Dr said that if we can't find one soon he may just start treating me himself. In the meantime he upped the dosage of Hydrocodone to deal with the pain. So now I hurt still but not as bad as before and I just wait.

Well, my primary care doctor decided to go ahead and start treating me himself, since it was so hard to find a rheumatologist that accepted my insurance. He wrote me two new 'scripts last Thursday, for Plaquenil and Etodolac. I was able to get the Plaquenil filled last Thursday and the Etodolac was filled Monday afternoon.

Since then each day seems like it is a little bit better. There is still a lot of pain, especially if I move wrong and I have to find another way to type because of the pain in my hand and fingers.

I just hope it continues to get better each day, maybe by this time next week I will be feeling much better. I hope so, I am sick of being in this much pain all the time. I am so ready for even a little relief.

Went riding on my pedal bike for the first time in months yesterday. Looking forward to doing some more riding later today. Feeling better than I have in a long time. Still not pain free, far from it, but no where near as bad as just a few days ago.

My Dr started me on a steroid last Friday and I started noticing an improvement Sunday. Each day since has been a little better.

Thanks for your support. I've been looking forward to feeling better for a long time. I hope it lasts for a while.

O.k. so I've been riding my bike for about 4 weeks now, pedal bike. I've lost over 20 lbs so far. Last night I did a 6 mile round trip ride and felt like my old bike riding self for the first time since I started riding again.

Back when I was in shape, I didn't know of another bike rider that could drop me on a ride. I used to ride a LOT and I was fast too. I had riding buddies that loved to ride with me because they got a good workout trying to keep up with me. The owner of the bike shop and I used to race back to the shop on the bi-weekly rides his shop had.

I'm not trying to brag about how I used to be. I'm just saying that if I get half way to what I used to be I will be very happy. I'm still pretty sore first thing in the morning, A couple hours after morning meds and I'm feeling alright and wanting to ride. I wish I was more pain free first thing as that's when I really like to ride. Just as the sun comes up is my favorite time of the day. To be riding as the sun rises is something I truly miss.

Figured I'd update this thread with the latest. I am more active than I was when I started this thread. I've lost about 35 lbs. since then. While I do still hurt it isn't as bad as it was back then. Some days are better than others and some are not.

I am my own weather station. I can forecast a storm several days in advance and can tell you when it will be here within 48 hours of its arrival. The day it arrives I can tell you if it will be this afternoon or that night, almost to the hour. The relief when the storm passes is... remarkable to say the least.

Some folks have suggested a new medication, Methotrexate. I asked my Dr. about it several months ago and after lots of blood tests he finally gave me a 'scropt. It's now been 2 weeks, I take it once a week. Sunday I will take it for the 3rd time. I am hoping for more improvement than I've seen so far.

I guess that's about it.

Thanks folks. Ludwig II, not on anything except the meds to treat the RA. All my life I never took prescription drugs unless I absolutely had to. Now I take 6 different meds, 3 of them twice a day, 2 once a day and the newest once a week. Every morning it's 5 pills and at night it's 3, once a week it's 8 pills in the morning. And I have to make sure I've eaten recently or the meds will make me sick. The meds also mess with my memory, not that it wasn't already messed up thanks to a colorful past, but now I forget stuff like never before.

I just hope that things hurt less, and soon.