All posts tagged: RA attitude

RA Hip Replacement

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I am hopeful that my summer long saga of pain and futility are drawing to a close. My surgery is two weeks away. I am grateful to Ruth and her practical approach to problems. It is reassuring to me. After all my worry and anxiety,  I know I will be fine. I have only one more item to check off my list. It is an appointment to see my surgeon’s PA. My dentist gave me a pass. I had no oral infection. My primary met with me and did his part. I participated in a two-hour hip class which was informative but also made me anxious. I met with the anesthesiology nurse. I passed all my labs. My worries My RA will become a worsening problem as I will be off Medrol and meloxicam starting Sunday. My RA feet are badly affected as are my ankles. My tendons in my legs are also a problem when I walk. My hands, wrists and shoulders are also problematic. After taking the hip class, I became concerned that …

The Gut RA Connection

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By now  most of us know  that our intestinal system is home to trillions of  bacteria busy doing their job populating their ecosystem in the lining of out intestines. Collectively they are called the gut microbiome or gut flora. The beneficial bacteria in the gut have names that we see on the list of ingredients in a good yogurt such as  lactobacillus acidophilus. These bacteria help maintain a consistent environment, protect the body from foreign invaders, communicate with the immune system and the brain. The gut microbiome is complex and gut imbalances have been implicated in the development of RA as in other inflammatory diseases.  “Larger-than-normal populations of  specific gut bacteria may trigger the development of diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and possibly fuel disease progression in people genetically predisposed to this crippling and confounding condition,” according to Mayo Clinic Researchers. An imbalance in the gut microbiome coupled with a genetic predisposition to RA may be the initiating factor in the RA disease process. There is a lot of research being done. Using probiotics  medically as …

RA feet and orthotics

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My RA started in my feet. About 20% of patients are introduced to RA via painful feet and about 95% of RA patients eventually do have feet involvement.  RA struck my poor feet first.  Diagnosis was slow as my primary doc, an internist, later said I was too old to have RA and that the pulses in my feet were strong so my feet were fine. Once I was diagnosed. Methotrexate (MTX) was my first RA drug. The dose was gradually increased until I reached the max of 25 mg/week.  I tolerated the nausea and diarrhea which eventually passed.  MTX helped me but by this time my feet were in a lot of pain and I walked with great difficulty. I was sent to a podiatrist who declared right off the bat that he didn’t do foot surgery for RA. Fine, I thought. I had read about the horrors of RA foot surgery and I wanted none of it. I did need to know what would help. He did three things for me. He ordered …