Rheaumatiod athritis

[Alice70]

Diagnosed with rheaumatiod arthritis last March, still don't know much about it as I have had a lot going on, wondering if rheaumatiod arthritis ever goes into remission

[helenlw7]

I was diagnosed in 2004 and have never been in remission, but I have read messages on here of people who have.

[AgedCrone]

Well if you are lucky & find the drug that really controls your disease it can calm down it enough for you to lead a good life.

After 9yrs on various DMards I eventually had that for 7 years on Methotrexate..then it suddenly stopped working.So in 2016 I was put on Rituximab & with a few hiccups caused by the Covid vaccinations that is still giving me a good life.

But if by Remission you mean that you will be “cured” have no pain & need no medication, I think the answer is No. But as long as I’m mostly pain free, with no side effects on whatever drug suits me…After 26 years, I am OK with that.

[cathie in reply to AgedCrone]

I’m in much the same position. Some periods better than others but it’s worth keeping an eye on medication and not abandoning everything

[medway-lady]

Not on its own but with medications it’s controlled well. However I believe there is one type which might"

[AgedCrone in reply to medway-lady]

What type is that?

[medway-lady in reply to AgedCrone]

I can’t remember but I did read that it might be that one could wax and wain and no one knows why. Xx

[AgedCrone in reply to medway-lady]

Possibly Palindromic….I was originally diagnosed with that…& for periods of time there were no symptoms at all….then I’d wake up in agony that could last days or months but no change in bloods.I believe some people never do morph into full blown RA….But I don’t know what their blood tests look like.

[Hisue]

"It's not very common, but some people with RA—especially those with mild disease—actually do see their symptoms disappear without medication. This is known as “spontaneous remission,” says Dr. Fields. This is quite rare, and it usually occurs very early in the disease."Jul 31, 2023

healthcentral.com › rhe...

Can Rheumatoid Arthritis Go into Remission?

[AgedCrone in reply to Hisue]

Damage can still occur without medication….personally I wouldn’t take that chance.

[Hisue in reply to AgedCrone]

I answered the question posed.

I did not make any recommendations regarding medications.

Of course, it's always about benefit v risk.

[helixhelix]

If you have a non-erosive, non-persistent type of RA then it can go into remission, sometimes for a very long time. It seems that best chance for that is to start with very aggressive treatment and then taper off.

Sadly for most people they can get into remission, but only if they stay on drugs. I have had RA for 14 years now, and been in remission for probably about 10 of them. But with drugs.

[Verbena2 in reply to helixhelix]

Hi This is my first post but I have been a member for some years now. I feel so very lucky to be well as so many of you are in so much pain and discomfort. I was diagnosed with RA about 10 years ago, was put on an aggressive treatment of MX, folic acid and Hydroxy. To cut a long story short, I had breast cancer 3 yrs ago and came off all meds until after 2 operations and a course of radiotherapy. I am now only on a cancer drug that suppresses the hormone that the cancer feeds off.I have no RA symptoms. I am so lucky. Is this perhaps "spontaneous remission " that was mentioned in a post. Upon speaking to a Dr recently and asking if perhaps I did not have RA at all, he just smiled and said that if I was diagnosed then I have it !

[Stills]

note my diagnosis is Adult Onset Stills Disease which for me manifests as Rheumatoid Disease. Diagnosis made 1979 aged 17 now 61. Off steroids and RA drugs since mid 20s but always need pain relief and symptoms remain along with joint damage. I have however always worked, drive, had two children and even used to go to the gym. For me it’s been about making the best of what I am able to do, making allowance for what I can’t and coping with constipation from pain relief, afternoon fevers and the ever present sore throat. So no it’s never gone away but I could be a lot worse off and consider myself lucky.

wishing you better days.

[helixhelix in reply to Stills]

There is a new post about inflammatory disease from Hightower62 which to me seems to fit profile of Stills. You might want to chip in?

[Stills in reply to helixhelix]

Thank you very much

[AgedCrone in reply to Stills]

I think you have just the right attitude.I was & still am determined having RA is just part of my life…but not the be all & end all.

Overthinking every little niggle gets us nowhere..so let’s slap on the Lippy & enjoy what we can!

[Stills in reply to AgedCrone]

Lipstick 💄

[AgedCrone in reply to Stills]

💃👠👗👜💋

Live it up while we can…then what memories we will have!

No one should dwell on the downside!

[KittyJ in reply to AgedCrone]

Where are we all going AC 💃🕺

[AgedCrone in reply to KittyJ]

Somewhere lovely & warm…to a 5* hotel…..where a Daquiri only costs 50p!

Is that Ok?

[KittyJ in reply to AgedCrone]

😂 that’ll do for starters

[stbernhard]

Hi Alice, I was diagnosed in 2009 and am in remission since 2014. On a daily basis I hardly think about having RA. Knowing what RA is, what medications there are and learning about acceptance and most importantly self management has been a vital element in getting to remission. It was a lot of hard work, helped by the medication available at the time. I was lucky not to have to battle too many side effects.

If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend that you have a look at the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society NRAS website. You'll find so much good well researched information on there. There are also self management tools like New2RA, SMILE-RA and others.

I also use an app called MyArthritis by Ampersand. They have a 2 week online course about acceptance and self management which is free and you can dip in and out at your leisure. I found that course very helpful! I hope you get to remission sooner rather than later. There are thousand of people living with RA in remission. They just are not on this forum and usually we don't hear about them. All the best.

[Alice70 in reply to stbernhard]

Thank you for info ,

[Jakey2020]

I was in remission ten years and was amazing but flared up last Xmas so back on mtx.. hair is falling out 😩

[Stills in reply to Jakey2020]

I started shedding a lit of hair this year for the first time plus my nails have ….. dents in them at the point of growth, quite visibly and they look weird.

[welsh12 in reply to Jakey2020]

When you are in remission do you take the lowest dose of meds

[KittyJ in reply to welsh12]

Not necessarily, you are on the dose that controls your RA be it high or low or in between 😊