Arthritis Update

I was feeling good before my Doctor's appointment on Wednesday. It's been two months since I had the flare-up in my shoulders (a week of having pain everytime I lifted something), so it seemed to me that the Methotrexate I started 2 1/2 months ago must be working. But I'm still on 7.5 mg of prednisone. I tried to cut down to 5 mg two weeks ago and it did not go well. It wasn't horrible pain, but for two days I ached in every single joint in my body. I think that's over 30 points altogether, 10 fingers and toes, wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, hips, feet, hands and neck. I could get through the day fine, but when I tried to sleep, each of those points throbbed slightly as if someone was driving small tacks into the bone.

Patty, the nurse practitioner, did not see this as a success. "We're going for perfection" is what she said. Patty, by the way, is great. She saw me at the first appointment and spent more time listening to me cry over the lost job, lost house and lost apartment then most doctors spend talking about the disease. So, we've added leflunomide (or Arava) to the mix. It might not last, because the side effects are pretty unpleasant for 30% of the people who try it. But if it works, it's been shown to boost the effectiveness of the MTX by 20%. And in the win-win column, if it doesn't work, then I'm one step closer to getting my insurance to approve the newer, hopefully better, drugs.

Meanwhile, I'm wondering if the old wives tales of knowing when the rain is coming based on the pain in your knee have some merit. Because it's been raining all day, and rained two days ago, and I've been feeling worse than I have for weeks. Yuck!