I was diagnosed with RA 3 weeks ago and am currently taking 4, 2.5 mg tablet of methatrexate at once, one day a week. I will be taking my 4th dose tomorrow. It has helped a lot although I didn't start to feel any effects til this week. I had 2 flare ups before this and took the 6 day pack of prednilisone. That stuff was wonderful because nothing hurt, not even my knees that I have osteoarthritis in. I see my RA doctor this coming week. Had my blood work done this past week so I hope everything is good so I can continue with the MTX. By the way, I didn't experience any of the side effects, thank God.
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mickeysmom34472
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At least the Prednisalone halted your flare enough to give the Mthx a chance to kick in.
You are just starting out on this journey so I will give the advice I give everyone and that's get as informed about your disease and the treatments as possible.
Oral steroids are wonderful indeed as you describe but they are not the answer long term as they have serious side effects after even a short time. It's worth getting clued up about these too before any reliance sets in.
Good luck Mickeysmom and best wishes for a great response to the Mthx
just an update. I went to my RA doctor thos past week and my bloodwork looked good although she said I still have some inflamation. You can tell that from bloodwork? Anyway, she has incresed it to 6 tablets once a week.
Absolutely you can tell inflammation from blood tests.
Two in particular are useful
ESR and CRP
ESR stands for erythrocyte sedimentation rate and is a non specific measure of inflammation.
CRP stands for C -reactive protein and is also a test of inflammation. It is a substance produced in the liver in response to inflammation.
Most GP's or hospitals will have a normal range for these markers and an abnormal scale.
I would ask to see results of your blood work Mickeysmom and then you can start to plot your own progress alongside what the doctors tell you.
Mine here in Berkshire in the UK are done every eight weeks and plotted on a graph . It's excellent to see in black and white how the rheumatic drugs and Biologics have taken over from the steroids and kicked in over time keeping my inflammation levels regular.
Good luck with the increased Mthx let us know how you get on.
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