All posts tagged: Rheumatoid arthritis

RA flare warning signs

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Many of us who have RA have premonitions before the onset of a flare. For me, I start feeling chilled. Occasionally, I will check my temperature to see if I am coming down with something and my temperature will be 100.4 F. or maybe 99.6 F. It is a Rheumatoid Arthritis temperature. Additionally, my skin becomes itchy over joints. They are not always the same joints. Sometimes it is the knuckles and sometimes it is the wrists. I am also energetic and have several irons in the fire at the same time. As a flare draws nearer, I start losing my energy reserve. I feel like my battery is draining to a very low level. I knit more, and my baking becomes less creative. I feel duller. I would rather spend more time watching the Great British Bake Off and less time working on research for my current book. I am sinking. For me, it is time to start a Medrol dose pack and let myself slow down. I will still need to go to …

Too old to have RA

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Thank God for my rheumatologist. She has been supportive through thick or thin.  Originally, she said she thought I had Polymyalgia Rheumatica because of my age and shoulder involvement. I didn’t have it. I have elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) which occurs in those over 60, frequently has an acute onset and includes shoulder involvement. My inflammatory markers at the time were sky high. That was me. I proceeded to become symmetrical and have  followed the classic RA pattern. I am also RF negative. My RA seems to confuse the other doctors that I have seen recently.  Some think I am just too old to have RA. Some think because my inflammatory markers are not elevated that my RA is under control. Some think I can’t have RA because I am RF negative. Many otherwise well informed doctors do  have outdated information about Rheumatoid Arthritis. I have sero-negative RA. My RA has never been under control although since my hip replacement I do feel better. My RA is under 5 years old. My feet are …

Living with RA

On becoming the bionic woman

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I wonder how many of us are walking around with replacement parts. Joint replacement has become common and it is successful surgery. I have several friends who have both knees replaced or both hips replaced and they are fine with it. And now, I am about ready to embark on my first joint replacement. My left hip will be first on the chopping block. This is a bad visualization. I am trying hard not to think about what the surgeon will be doing. It is scary and gruesome. A Frankenstein thing. Instead, I am focusing on the bionic woman thought. I will be in much better condition once I complete the rehab process. I will have a fabulous new joint. Won’t I be lucky? I will. I have spent the summer in extreme pain. My doc had a tough time identifying my hip issue. After all, my hip had good range of motion without pain. An MRI revealed my hip deteriorating badly plus a bad labral tear with pieces loose in the joint. My pain …

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 …

RA Fog

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Last month I finally filled out the form for the Arthritis Foundation, made out my $20 check and mailed it in. A few days ago I received my first copy of Arthritis Today. I was surprised and impressed. It is a small magazine, not cluttered by pages of ads.  The focus of the magazine is to be helpful to those with arthritis. It is. There are interesting and helpful articles. I enjoyed the article about Clark Middleton. He was the DMV guy on the series the Blacklist. Funny character. He had juvenile idiopathic arthritis as a child. He had many joint replacements and continues today with methotrexate and a biologic. His is the story of a man who has accomplished a lot while coping with a debilitating disease. The article on Brain Fog reminded me of methotrexate fog. That was a hurdle for me as I settled into methotrexate treatment. I was a sharp business woman. I had to be in order to stay in business for over 25 years. I had always done my own …

RA and Yoga

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My first yoga experience was about 15 years ago. I belonged to Riverpoint, a sports and wellness club in Albuquerque. All classes were included in membership price. The evening I was at the club, a yoga class was just starting. I thought I would give it a try. I knew nothing about yoga. No mat and no clue. I walked into an advanced class. I was so very fortunate to have an excellent, progressive teacher. She welcomed me. I was also welcomed by her class.  I took classes with her for about four years before she headed off to Costa Rica. She believed people should start where they are at. She said yoga is not competitive with yourself or with any one else. I learned good form. I bought a yoga mat and thanks to her I still have a yoga practice. The first two years after my RA diagnosis I tried classes and just couldn’t do it. My feet and my wrists hurt too much. So I stopped. Looking back I could have done …

RA treatment in the 1920s

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In the early days of the twentieth century very little was known about rheumatoid arthritis.  It might have been called chronic infectious arthritis, proliferative arthritis or atrophic arthritis. Rheumatology was not a specialty. There were no rheumatologists. It was not a good time to have RA. Arthritis treatment at the Mayo Clinic  included bed rest. Patients were admitted to the hospital and put on bed rest for several weeks. They were given a balanced diet. Physical therapy was an important therapy. It improved range of motion, strengthened muscles and prevented deformities. Heat and massage were used  to improve circulation and to remove toxins. Bracing and casting were used to support joints and reduce contractions. Canes were prescribed. Shoe corrections were prescribed. Vaccine therapy, fever therapy and sympathectomy were popular treatments at the Mayo Clinic based on the theories of the time. As medical knowledge grew these therapies fell out of favor. Salicylates were drugs of choice. Remember this was before sulfa, penicillin and cortisone. It a was long time before ibuprofen would be formulated. Any …

Purging, Bloodletting and Algorithms

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At the beginning of the twentieth century, the old remedies of purging and bloodletting were left behind. Lister’s concepts of cleanliness had finally become widely accepted. Human anatomy was documented. The culprits of bacteria were identified. Medical knowledge base was growing beyond imagination. Yet doctors were stuck. There was no cure for a bacterial infection. There was no cure for a strep infection. If you were stricken with a strep throat, there was a good chance that you would die. Doctors had no solutions and people of all ages died from pneumonia, wound infections, meningitis, and more. Infection was feared. Today all this is unimaginable. But then, Ehrlich’s ‘magic bullet’ was yet to be discovered. The world changed forever with the discoveries of sulfa in 1936. Penicillin was refined and put into production in the 1940s. There were many more ‘magic bullets’ to follow. Doctors finally had new tools for their toolbox. It became the age of knowledge plus tools. Life became much better. Lifespans became longer. Today, in the twenty-first century, our doctors have …