I was diagnosed with RA/Lupus 2 years ago. Most of my severe pain has been in my knees, and I have handled it by taking over the counter meds, except for a severe flare 2 years ago which was taken care of by a round of Prednisone. Well, it flared up again a few weeks ago in my knees and I finally gave up and went to the doctor and he gave me a prescription for ibuprofen (stronger than OTC), which really hasnt helped much. My problem is this---I now have severe pain my my right lower back, right under my ribcage, and sometimes after I get up in the morning (if I MANAGE to get up) its so painful I have to hold on to the wall to walk, and it hurts even to take a deep breath. Can this be arthritis related? I thought you only had arthritis in your joints, but this does not seem to be near a joint. Just wondering if the RA is "travelling", or if it could be something else entirely. Thanks for any information in advance.
Vicki in Houston
I think that RA is all over the body. I have it mainly in my hands/fingers/wrists at the moment. But, also, knees and back and shoulder and elbows. It is just that the part that hurts the most at that particular time, gets the most attention!
I take much stronger meds than that. I do not see how you can stand the pain, on just ibuprofen. Do you use a lot of heating pads/socks and ice??? That is the only other thing that helps me. Of course I am going thru a bad flare at the moment.
I am on the outskirts of Houston - South. I think you need to go back to your rheumatologist (of course, that may take 2 mo.) and get more meds if you need/want them and or get more thoroughly checked out.
I also have RA and the pain is very severe, I have it throughout my body it can be unbearable at times and can be worse in some parts of the body than other parts at different times. I finally had to begin to take pain medication that is stronger than over the counter meds. I was reluctant at first but I am so happy that I did. I take humeria injections weekly along with methotrexate
(9 pills) weekly. I also take darvocet and when the pain is really severe I take
1-2 percocet. I also found that water therapy is helpful which I do 2X week.
This is a disease that has its ups and downs and for the quality of life we must try everything available. These boards are so wonderful for support
and great information that we can use to help us. I hope that you find some relief soon.
Deb
If you do not mind answering, do you give yourself the humeria injections, or do you have to go to your rheumys office? My insurance, may not pay for something like that. I just started the methotrexate last week. My rheumatologist only started me at 4 per week and I go to 5 per week after 4 weeks. I cannot tell if it is working. I am still taking Prednisone, after other things, for my RA. She will probably cut that at least in 1/2 after the 4 wks of 5 pills of methotrexate?!
Have you had any trouble with your eyes or liver or any other body parts because of the methotrexate? I have to go to the eye dr. and get blood tests often.
Thanks for your advice to Kadybear - and to me by eavesdropping!
Hi,
I am to chicken to give it to myself so my husband has been giving my the injections. The injections BURN like crazy and I hate doing it but if I don't take the medication I have trouble getting out of bed. The methotrexate
hasn't hurt my liver but I do notice that my eye sight is getting worse.
I have my liver enzymes checked each month. There is a new drug that I have been reseaching that is now available called orancia, it is a monthly infusion that only takes 30 minutes and has minimal side effects, I am going to discuss this with my doctor this month, I will let you know what I find out.
I take the max dose of methotrexate you can take and I will tell you that I do experience alot of fatique but this could be caused from the RA, I really am not sure if the drug is really working so I might (after takling to the Doc)
try coming off the methotrexate and see what happens. Also my hair has thinned from the drug. I hope this info helps.
Deb
Thanks to everyone for all the information/advice on my question about back pain. I don't go to a rheumatologist, I go to my GP and so far he has been able to keep me going, as a matter of fact I have an appointment this morning for a follow up on the medication he gave me 3 weeks ago---which by the way doesnt seem to be helping all that much. I did a round of Prednisone a couple of years ago during a bad flare, and after about 4 months I was able to wean myself off of it and havent had a problem up until now. He is hesitant about putting me on it again because of the side effects, but I may have to insist on it since it seems to be what works for me. He has also stopped prescribing Celebrex, which is what I took last time and it helped tremendously. Anyway, thanks again for the info! I'm grateful that I found this board and all you nice people.
Vicki in Houston
Do come back Kadybear. We would like to know what happend with you.
Vicki, I would probably throw up if I took a lot more of methotrexate! The 4 at once, that I am taking now, do make me a little naseaus. Do you ever get sick?
I am not making a whole lot of sense right now, because of the lateness, take care and I will write more later.
I think that you meant that question to me, The methotrexate can make me a little nauseated so I take compazine right after I take the methotrexate and that really seems to help. I only wish that the combination of the meth
and Humeria was working better to control these horiible flair ups. Have a great day!
Deb
I appreciate your answers. I am going on not much sleep here lately. I just cant seem to go to sleep or keep sleeping. What is Compazine? Some kind of anit-nausea pill? Hope that you are feeling well.
I think that my Rheumy will just lower my Prednisone and slowly up my methotrexate.
We will just see how that works.
Have you tried Melatonin for sleeping, or Flexeril (muscle relaxer) or Valium which many people think is just a tranquilizer but is also a muscle relaxer. I usually just take a melatonin 1/2 tab, but sometimes when I am in a flare I take 1/2 a Flexeril or a 5 mg valium. Just one of the three, never all three! Ha! You might talk to your doctor, sleep is very important if you suffer from ra or fibro. I am a chronic insomiac but these have helped. Also, in an above post, I agree that this lady is not on strong enough pain meds. I take a strong pain medication, not that I want to, but if I did not have it, I don't know if I could survive this. I have ra, fibro and 2 herniated discs.
