at least it's not lupus

[phaballa]

Now I'm sad that I refuse to give LJ any money, because I no longer have my House "It's not lupus" icon, which is finally appropriate! Oh well. The good news is, I don't have lupus. The bad news is, I definitely have rheumatoid arthritis

Comments

[dmlpacker]

I don't even know what questions to ask. This all sounds highly complicated and stressful O.O

[phaballa]

:/ It's not as complicated as it seems! It's actually a relief to have a diagnosis, finally, because I've been dealing with this shoulder pain for 2 years now, and my old doctor was so incredibly useless about it I had nearly given up until my new doctor was like, "Hmmm, I've had RA present as shoulder pain in a patient before, we should test you..." I'm very happy to have my new doctor, as he is awesome. And my rheumatologist is okay, too. But basically, now I have a treatment plan and I probably won't end up disfigured, so that's cool.

[eyesfullofhope]

I'm so glad you finally have a definitive diagnosis and can decide where to go from there. I feel like that's so much a part of the battle, you know?

Thinking good thoughts regarding the methotrexate.

[dersprokkett]

Er, a certain Mom takes MTX and drinks daily. Lots. 1-3 drinks, at least, with hard stuff like rum and vodka. Either....it's okay to drink or she's fucking herself unto the lord. Sigh.

[phaballa]

I don't think mom is on mtx right now, actually...

[quiet000001]

If she's getting her blood tests as per appropriate scheduling, they should be able to keep an eye on her liver and see how it's doing. (There's some kind of liver protein test they do, in addition to liver functions. I dunno exactly.)

So while it's probably not a great idea, they will hopefully notice if a problem actually turns up. (Or send her for a liver biopsy to make sure everything's okay, if the results start looking a little questionable. From personal experience - liver biopsy? Not fun.)

[wutendeskind]

Oh, *hugs*. I'm glad you saw someone about your symptoms though and that it was diagnosed now instead of later. I hope the methotrexate works well for you. My mom was on prednisone for her asthma on and off for almost a year and it had a lot of negative effects--I think it's a good decision not to take (even though you'd be on it for a shorter period of time, it still has a pretty impressive--and frightening--list of side effects).

I'll be keeping you in my thoughts.

[phaballa]

Yeah, I'm glad I decided not to take it. I can still take it if I want to, but I don't need it and it's not my treatment, it's just pain management, so I'd rather just avoid the side effects!

[crazylilly]

Sorry to read this. But at least you finally know what the problem is. Sometimes this helps.
My best friend had to take MTX as well. And she couldn't take it for long. The sideeffects were to much - the blood pressure was so low she almost couldn't leave the bed the first days after she had to take it. She is on a different medication right now that has almost no side-effects at all and helps really well. BUT it's more expensive (a lot more) and even the German health insurance only pays for it after you tried MTX first. I don't know what you have to pay for your medication. But if you want me to, I could ask her what it is.
And Cortisol is good for the appetite ;). I take it since Christmas now (I have another Autoimmum-disease). It's nasty if you have to take a lot of it. But it's no problem at all in a low dose.

[phaballa]

So far I'm not experiencing anything near as bad as your friend did on mtx. And yes, I have to take it first, before I try other things. Some people have really bad reactions to it, but so far just my appetite isn't that great. But my appetite is never that great, since I'm on Adderall as well.

My medications have like 3 levels of cost. Generics are $10, plan preferred brand name drugs are $35, and non-preferred brand names are $50. MTX costs me $10, or I can get 3 months' worth for $20. Some of the new drugs are not only way more expensive, but they also have a lot of side effects as well, and a lot of as yet unknown side effects. A friend of mine was on a drug for RA that ended up being recalled because it was giving people heart attacks. At least mtx has been around long enough that we know all the side effects :/

[quiet000001]

You have nailed exactly why I keep kicking out dermatologists who come in with shiny brochures from drug companies about the latest and greatest. I'm all for improving the treatment options, but I do not approve of this "move to the newest thing first!" business when there are known options that might work to start out with, and the new stuff is basically still being tested in widespread use

[phaballa]

I don't have the whole "new shiny!" problem with my current doctor--in fact, he even switched me to regular adderall instead of the XR because there's an official general of regular adderall but there's not really an official generic of XR and he wanted to save me money!!--but I definitely have it with my gynecologist. She's awesome, like I've never had a pap smear go so easily, but she's always wanting me to try other birth controls besides ortho. Like the ring. I don't want the ring! Nothing you have to insert. I take 5 pills a day anyway, I don't have trouble remembering to take the one that keeps me from getting pregnant :P

[dont_panic4242]

Glad to hear you have a diagnosis and a plan now, yay! :)

[phaballa]

Thanks!! Me too. It's a big relief.