Newbie with Rheumatoid Arthritis

I too have RA. I went on the Steriod pack about 8 months ago which lasted a few weeks. Didnt do anything. Now I just work out very hard which as you know is difficult and I also eat very well. Mostly organic and no fried stuff. Although I have a huge problem with portion control which keeps my weight up, this all has helped me. As far as the pain, I take half a pain pill in the morning and a whole pill before dinner and that's how I live. So hang in there and the most important thing is excercise. Let me know if I can help.

Hi Debra,
I also have RA. I struggle with the weight gain that seems to be systematic from my unwillingness to exercise when I hurt, which is nearly everyday this time of year. I can't wait til summer! I've not had to go down the steriod route, but I've been on biologic agents (humira), plaqunil, a variety of NSAIDS (none of which work as well as good old plain advil), and tramadol for the pain. I'm sick of drugs!!!!
I'm doing low carb this time around, since I've done it before and always feel better when I'm doing low carb. My joints ache less, and I have more energy. I need to get all the sugar outta my system, which is going to be a minor withdrawal (watch out family...I'm gonna be moody for the next few days). Anyway, welcome and hope you do well with your goals.
S

Hi!
I'm a newbie too suffering from RA. I was diagnosed with RA 16 years ago. It took my becoming crippled with pain and swelling, to the point I could not even open a door knob or walk without a severe painful limp for me to go to the doctor to figure out what was wrong. That was then. Recently I had a severe nearly overnight flare that made it impossible to brush my teeth, let alone my hair. I was put on prednisone for over a month and of course put on over 10 lbs. I joined MFP to track my food calories and exercise to better stay on a healthy diet and exercise regimen to get back into shape because I feel the extra weight aggravates my joints, thus my RA. I had no idea I'd find so many others with RA on MFP dealing with much of the same. The community support looks so phenomenal.

I am currently on Humira and I add in Mobic and Advil (only one that helps in between pain [Tylenol and naproxin sucks for me]) during flare ups. Because of my last flare up I suspect my doctor will have me take Humira injection weekly instead of every other week for a few months to see if it helps. Has anyone else done this? I visit him in a week and am a bit anxious over this type of change in dosage. My RA was controlled using Plaquenil but I came down with bad hyper pigmentation from it. So they tried Methotrexate which caused severe stomach pain. I thought my ulcers had returned. They couldn't put me on any of the sulfa based medications because of my allergy to sulfa. So we went to the biologic Humira.

I am slowing building up my exercise regimen by slowly extending walks and getting on my rower for short sessions so as not to aggravate my joints and bring on another flare. I have not been able to run without my feet having a painful flare for a week following. I live in the hills of Berkeley, CA and running up by my house would aggravate my knees as well. It's hard enough for me now just walking with my dogs. We presently do a 2 mile circuit daily.

Fatigue from the RA has been a battle for me as well and it got even worse when I was diagnosed with severe anemia, which is now being treated with monthly Venofer (iron) infusions. I try to eat enough carbs and protein the maintain my energy. I have recently heard that too much red meat can aggravate RA. Which is scary for me because I need more of it for my iron. I eat piles of deep green leafy vegis and always have. I also take lots of daily vitamins that do not seem to be helping much. But I keep taking them. Does anyone have flare ups with particular vegetables?

I hope you find a good mix of drugs to get your RA under control. Best wishes to all my fellow RA sufferers and cheers to getting all our RA under control and to painless exercise.

Kindly,
P-