I have been hurting very badly in my knees and hands so today I went on my first visit to a Rheumatologist today. He said I have the following:
Osteoarthritis
Patello-Femoral Syndrome
Mild Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
He prescribed me some medicine and it is called Relafen 750 mg. Has anyone ever taken this medicine and does it help.
Please Take Care.
Soni Gordon
Claremore, Oklahoma

Soni, I was prescribed Relafen for a bursitis that popped up in my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm past my waist. Within a day I had relief and within 2 I had no pain whatsoever. I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, but have been medicine free for 5 years. I don't know how Relafen works for any of the things you have but my paperwork said it is used in the treatment of arthritis. I took the medicine for a week and didn't have any side effects. Good luck to you.

Mattsmummum,

I assume prior to your RA remission 5 yrs ago, you had been on numerous meds. With all those meds, how did you know when you were in remission and didn't need them anymore?

Ann

Ann, when I was diagnosed with RA I was in GREAT pain. Both knees were disasters and had to be drained and shot with cortizone. I could hardly use my wrists and sometimes my fingers would actually freeze up. The bottoms of my feet felt like they had huge bruises on them and my first few steps were extremely painful. My husband had been paralyzed in an accident 4 years before and the physical and mental stress of taking care of him and everything else was taking a huge toll on my body. I was so afraid of not being able to take care of him. I was referred to a rheumatologist that told me my RA was very aggressive and he was going to treat it accordingly. I was put on Voltaren, Prednisone and Plaquenil. I got some relief from everything but the Plaquenil took about 8 months to really take hold. Then he started slowly backing me off everything else until I was only on the Plaquenil. I remained on that for 2 full years and then 5 years ago he took me off everything. I've been doing great since then, as far as my RA goes. I've got some spinal stenosis in my neck and osteoarthritis. I see a chiropractor and take no medication still. Hope this answers your question.

Mattsmum,
When he took you off the meds, had your symptoms changed or something in your blood tests?
Also, you said you had your knees drained.....is this a water build up from the inflamation? I'm trying to figure out some of my pain cause I have several diagnosises. My joints aren't hurting so much now, but I have this burning pain behind and above my knee, in my calves, and ankles. Ann

Yes, Ann, my symptoms had disappeared and all my subsequent checkups showed extremely low sedrate on my blood work. But even when my sedrate was "sky high" the meds were doing their job. My knees did have fluid, which I didn't know, but they were very tight and hurt like the devil. I've always made a point of exercising and my rheumatologist said that's the problem with a lot of arthritic people when they give into the pain and don't move. I found and still do, the more I move the better I feel. Hope this helps a little.

Hi Soni, I also just recently saw a rheumatologist, he diagnosed psoratic arthritis, and prescribed Vioxx for the pain and swelling. Previous to that, my family doc had prescribed Relafen 1000mg before we knew exactly what was going on. He had thought perhaps fibromyalgia (and I'm not so sure but what it is both!). Anyway, I found that the Relafen did a decent job for managing the pain, without many side effects, however, I didn't take it long before my rheumatologist put me on the Vioxx, but told me I could use both, just not on the same day, and I have been trying out the Vioxx. Interesting to see you are from Claremore as I worked at Claremore Regional Hospital at one time, but now live between Stillwater/Ponca City. My rheumatologist is Dr. McKay in Tulsa, may I ask who you see? Sorry I'm not more help, I wish you luck with the Relafen, Take care!!!

Bellestarr,
My doctor is also Dr. McKay in Tulsa, it is a small world isn't it. I also have an appointment with him tomorrow at 11:15 because of this knott that has came up above my knee. I hope you don't think I am wierd but my name is Soni Gordon and I would like to know your name so that I can tell Dr. McKay that I met one of his patience online. I really think he would get a kick out of knowing that we met through the health board. How long ago did you work at the Claremore Regional Hospital. He told me on my last visit that I would probably knee joint replacement on my knees in the near future. Thank You so much for replying to my posting. If you have aol I would like to put you on my buddy list so that we could IM each other. I would also like to hear from you again. It has been nice meeting you.
Soni Gordon