Went to the doctors today, and cried my way through my whole appointment.
I'm now taking 25mg of methotrexate (the highest dose), and reviewing my blood tests and inflammation markers it seems to be working.
But, hence crying through my appointment today... I am still in lots of pain and the fatigue is unbearable.
Does anyone else have experience of this?
Is this still RA?
sorry to hear about what you are going through Izzy. I really hope you find a way to manage your ra. I know for me the best thing I ever did was have a positive attiude and realise that even ra can be very damaging it can be a way for me to get rid of all the stress, and the bad lifestyle I was living at the time.
Have you thought about seeing a councillor and trying to find an alternative therapist.
If you need to talk you can always message.
Dear IzzyLane,
I was diagnosed with RA 2 years ago, methotrexate took about 16 weeks to worked for me. My blood markers were very much reduced after the mtx was working, however, I continue to have great pain but it reduced slowly.
May I know how long have you been taken your medication? You need to be patience because the recovery process takes time.
Below I found very good videos to know and I think it helps.
I am the same my bloods are low and yet i suffer with pain.xxxx
I asked my Rheumy about this as my blood tests were ok but I was still tired and sore.
He said it was a strange phenomenon that they don't quite understand but that it would slowly ease if they could keep it controlled.
So maybe you are on the right path after all! Patience is a virtue in this game isn't it!
To me the treatment of RA is really a riddle. Many on this forum complain about pain and fatigue and have normal markers. They are adviced by the forum to start right away with the toxic aggressive treatment and they are told perhaps even by the doctors that RA does not always show up in the blood. Then others with high markers and pain after being are meds have good blood results but are still in pain and have fatigue that is unbearable, like you Izzy, they are told that their RA is under control(!?!) This really does not make sense.
maybe things have changed in comparison to when I was first diagnosed but I know I was always told even if the inflammation markers are low if your still not feeling great the drs will look at that and treat you accordingly.
I guess were all different but for me my inflammation markers were high and I was not in pain. I don't know why this is but I do know one thing my functional health dr said was whilst I was putting even a small amount of medication into my body no matter what I did my body was still in a toxic and had to find a way to eliminate all that toxicity in my body. Even now if I am in stressful situation or feel anxious I have to walk away and give myself a break cause It won't do me any good.
The thing is were all different but for me the best thing I ever did was change my diet and start going to the gym at least five times a week. Also I eat a lot of carbs and I do believe this is why I have never suffered from fatigue but were all different and need to do what is best for us.
It takes a while for the RA meds to work in my case the LEF hurt more than the RA ever did for nearly a fortnight. Ice packs, heat packs, painkillers then like magic I woke up and no pain at all. So my point is be patient and we can get other stuff as well I've had a high count and the Doctor ring me to talk about adjusting the meds, I felt fine said no leave alone and promised to call him back later in the week if feeling horrid. Next day a dreadful cold so please not everything is down to the RA but if in doubt ring your RA nurse and discuss things it might be a case of another med needed, or trying something else if you've been on the MTX for a while.
Blood test results - best practice
Starting methotrexate when feeling rubbish
Blood test results and help needed please
Finally had blood test results - all normal
