Date: 08.12.2010
From: athena
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Subject: flares
hi, ive still quite new to rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed in october with seropositive RA, have been in pain everyday since july,started on sulpha in october and it was helping to a degree but have been really hurting since last night,everywhere is hurting and was up most the night in pain that painkillers dont really touch, is this a flare on top of the normal pain,tenderness,redness and swelling? or is it just hurting more then usual,im still a bit confused as to what a flare is as ive never actually been painfree yet,any advice would be great thank you, athena x
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Date: 08.12.2010
From: dolly
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Subject: Re: flares
hi athena, my name is dolly and i've had RA for 41 yrs. a "flare up" is when you wake up and you can barely move at all. im on humira, prednisone[10 mg] and hydromorphone and also amitriptylene [to help sleep]. what i do is increase my prednisone to 20mg for a day or two. when you have a "flare up" your joints are "hot" to the touch. it's hard to make a fist or bend your knees. when you take more than one medication for RA it's called a "cocktail". it seems to me that you need a different cocktail. sometimes it takes quite awhile to find the right one that'll work for you. if you have any questions i'll be happy to try and help as best as i can. talk soon. dolly
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Date: 08.12.2010
From: athena
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Subject: Re: flares
hi dolly thank you for your reply, ive had hot red swollen painful joints since july and even tho i hurt all the time sometimes its just so much worse then others,my CRP and ESR do go up and down quite a lot so does that mean that even tho im flaring constantly im flaring more on extra painful days? hope that makes sense :) im only on sulpha at the moment but due to start MTX in january along with the sulpha. also im getting a lot of pain in my lower back (well its more in my butt cheek to be honest) and going down my leg,its worse when im resting and just cant get comfortable in bed,at the moment its in the right side and the worse its ever been but do get it in my left aswell,ive also got RA in my hips aswell as in feet,fingers,wrists,elbows and shoulders. thank you again for your reply,41yrs is a very long time to have had RA and im sorry to hear that,ive read a few of your posts and you are so strong,speak soon, athena
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Date: 08.12.2010
From: tinkpink1
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Subject: Re: flares
Hi I was diagnosed 6 years ago seroneg too. I was on sulpha for a while but it didnt do the job. Now on MTx and Prednisolone. That cocktail seems to do the trick but I still have the odd flare- especially with the cold weather. Hope that you are feeling ok.
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Date: 09.12.2010
From: dolly
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Subject: Re: flares
hi athena. there was a time i had that same pain from the butt and down the leg. well i was told it was what was called the sciatic nerve inflamed. my doc increased my prednisone, it is a very good anti-inflammatory. the benefits you get from prednisone outweigh the side affects. another drug that i take for sleeping [can't get comfortable from pain] is amitriptylene. it helps control pain and helps you sleep. talk soon. dolly
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