Just diagnosed very confused

[Chocnbags]

Hello I was diagnosed last week after months of pain , I have palindrome RA and early aggressive RA , I had a shot of steriod so am not feeling to bad as I am going on holiday soon .I have to start Methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine as soon as I get back. My consultant said with the right medication I will be the same as I am I 10 years time and most people with RA can forget they have it ,when it's under control is this true ? I would live to hear some positives of the medication

[Philip]

Wow I wish I could forget it lol, somehow I don't think it works like that but you'll get lots of answers from some of the victims who have suffered many many years and give great advice.

[helixhelix]

I wouldn't say that I can forget it completely, but certainly the drugs have given me my life back. The only side effect I now have from the drugs is a slightly woozy Wednesday morning (I inject Methotrexate on Tuesday evening), and apart from the RA I'm probably the healthiest I've ever been as I now look after my diet and exercise regularly.

I was very scared when first diagnosed, but that was 4-5 years ago and nothing awful has happened.

[hatshepsut]

It's certainly not the end of the world, although for all of us this diagnosis is often devastating. I think the most important thing to realise is that it's the start of a journey, which can be long. Most of us do get relief, but nothing happens quickly. Nearly all the meds take time to work, and sometimes it takes a while to find the right ones.

But we are so fortunate that these days there are a wide variety of meds, it's just a matter of finding the right ones for you.

I hope you have a good holiday, and that when you get back, your treatment goes well. M x

[Hidden]

Hi Chocnbags

We often say to callers on the helpline that this is usually the worst time and the hope is that with the right treatment things will get better for you. Sadly there is no one particular medication that works for everyone with RA - it would be wonderful if there was! It is rather trial and error, one particular medication that works well for one person may not work so well for another. Hopefully the combination of MTX and HCQ will work well for you. As hatshepsut mentioned though they can take a little while to work, so it could be up to 12 weeks before you feel any benefit, although that's not to say the medicine won't have begun to work, you just might not be aware that it is.

I hope you have a lovely holiday and that one your return your treatment works well for you.

Please do give us a call on helpline if you would like further information or just want to talk!

We are here Mon - Fri : 9.30am - 4.30pm . Our freephone number is 0800 298 7650.

Alternatively if you would like to talk to one of our trained telephone volunteers we can always arrange that for you. I have put a link here for you as to how the peer to peer service works:

nras.org.uk/speak-to-someon...

With best wishes

Sally ( NRAS Helpline)