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A whole new journey

Posted , 8 users are following.

Dublin,_Ireland
Dublin,_Ireland

Hi all,

I had a review with my rheumy this morning....not a good one :cry: .

Truth be told, I haven't felt great for the last month and I DID limp in as my right knee has been sore for over a week :roll: , but I thought I could cope and at least I was down to 9mgs RIGHT,:? :wink: .

WRONG.....Esr was back up to 22 (4 in Feb) and CRP was 34 (had been 5).

He drew 30mls of fluid from my knee before giving me a steroid injection...I think I had been denying that it was swollen :shock: .

Anyway, the bottom line is that he thinks that PMR may be the wrong diagnosis and that I have \"Inlammatory / Rheumatoid \" arthritis.

He said my best chance of getting remission and not causing long term joint damage is the Methorexate, as the steroids at an acceptable dose simply will not work, so with a heavy heart, I accept that I will have to give it a shot. I have to get base-line blood test results before I start on it so will probably have my first dose sometime next week, then tests every 4 weeks to make sure all is well.

I was not at all enamoured with having a PMR diagnosis, but was hoping that it would clear up in its own good time sad .

This is a different challenge, and I know it is one many others have to live with, but I just feel like I am going backwards instead of forwards.

Sorry for moaning, but feeling very sorry myself right now :cry:

Hope everyone else is having a better day,

Love, Pauline

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  • Dublin,_Ireland
    Dublin,_Ireland

    Posted

    Hi Nefret,

    Poor you :cry: ....I can barely keep track of the meds for the osteoporosis and PMR, not forgetting the lovely injection for the pernicious anaemia :roll: :wink:

    I had a dreadful day yesterday sad, and at one point thought I would have to get my son to bring me to hospital as |I couldn't move my arms without excruciating pain....but I couldn't get dressed to leave the house :oops:

    I couldn't have breakfast because I wasn't able to reach up to get a mug for my coffee or fill the kettle :shock: .Lesson learnt...dishes for my use to be stored at waist level :idea:

    I eventually felt a bit better after my pills kicked in....took some Arcoxia and it did relieve the pain...but I really felt weepy, frustrated and miserable all day :cry: .

    Some of my blood results may be back later today and if so I will be strarting on the MTX and hopefully it will work for me.

    Her Majesty seems to be enjoying her visit and is apparently really looking forward to her visit to the National Stud today. Our president and her husband are extremely nice people who manage to make everyone they meet feel as if they are lifelong friends, and from the Tv coverage HM seems to be very comfortable in their company.

    As for our Portugese visitors....they will probably go home thinking that we never have traffic jams on our main streets, as there were so many of them closed for the Royal entourage :lol:

    Hope everyone has a good day.

    Love, Pauline.

  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey

    Posted

    Pauline

    Thank you for your wishes that we all have a good day today but my goodness I do so hope that it is you that has the better day too. It is obvious isn't it that the present steroid dose is not controlling the inflammation as it should and if an increase hasn't relieved the flare then no doubt you can't wait to get the extra medication now. Meanwhile, hang in there and let's hope this \"whole new journey\" will prove successful for you. Chin up, Pauline.

    Lots of love,

    MrsOxx :goodluck: :love:

  • Mrs_G
    Mrs_G

    Posted

    Hi Pauline

    Sorry to hear you are in such pain Hopefully something will be done today I am off to have blood taken today followed by the Dentist !!!! Great

    I am then off to lunch with friends which is normally a 3 hour session so that will be better !!

    Yes The Queen seems very happy with MM and husband She will be very happy today We went to the National Stud and it is definately \"horse heaven\" so she will really enjoy that Its lovely to drive through Kildare and just see beautiful green fields full of beautiful horses The one thing we were going to do was get up early while we were there and go and watch them on the early morning gallops but the great Irish breakfast stopped us ! couldnt miss it !

    Hope you feel better today

    Mrs G

  • Dublin,_Ireland
    Dublin,_Ireland

    Posted

    Hi all,

    Had a much better day today....Kleenex shares plummetting :roll: :lol:.

    My wonderful Gp phoned an hour ago....well after surgery closing hours, to let me know that my Rheumatoid factor had come back negative, but that it did not necessarily mean that I did not have R.A as , similar to PMR ,normal blood results do not always reflect the clinical picture sad

    He agrees with my rheumy that giving the MTX a shot is appropriate at this stage, and I trust his judgement so will be starting on it Sunday as I have things to do in next two days and want to \"Trial\" on a day that the decks are free as I don't know how it will affect me :cry:

    Will let you all know how i get on.

    Love, pauline.

  • Nefret
    Nefret

    Posted

    Good luck, Pauline. I'm hopeful that it will all go well for you; but the only way to try these things is to [i:56ef7cbd13]try[/i:56ef7cbd13] them!

    Nefret

  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey

    Posted

    Pauline - good luck from me to. At least, even if it turns out not to be RA in the end, the MTX is also given for PMR and will hopefully tackle the pain:wink:

    MrsO :goodluck:

  • fiftiesgirl
    fiftiesgirl

    Posted

    Wishing you all the best on Sunday and hope that it does the trick and you are comfortable and painfree..... lots of virtual hugs .... smile
  • EileenH
    EileenH

    Posted

    Pauline - don't be expecting miracles from the MTX will you? It does takes some time to work.

    With regard to you having a negative rheumatoid factor (had he not checked it before?) there is a very interesting paper from a group in Leeds in the north of England about indicators that can be used to differentiate between patients who have PMR or RA - I wonder if your doc has read it?

    Fingers crossed MTX likes you

    Eileen

  • Lizzie_Ellen
    Lizzie_Ellen

    Posted

    Pauline, just sending a hug :hug:, hope you're having a good day today and wishing you good luck for Sunday.

    Love from Lizzie xxx

  • Lizzie_Ellen
    Lizzie_Ellen

    Posted

    I think I'm losing it (or lost it already :? ). So impressed was I with Mrs O's heart emoticon I guessed she'd found a way of importing them (you all know how obsessed I am with emoticons!). So I tried: cut and paste - nope! <3 (works on Facebook and MSN) but still - nope sad . I then Googled emoticons and tried importing them - still nope! So I just posted the :hug: Then I go back and have another look and there, lurking for the past 20 odd months is a :love: Who put that there when I wasn't looking :yikes:

    Love from Lizzie :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: :love:

    PS: If anyone finds my brain, pleased return it NOW!!!

  • MrsO-UK_Surrey
    MrsO-UK_Surrey

    Posted

    :nahnah: :nahnah:

    \"Losing it\"? You and me both, Lizzie!! :lol:

    Just remember in future, if you're \"impressed with anything I've done, then it can only have been the easy way - I'm not clever enough to \"import\" anything! :doh: :roll:

    MrsO :love:

  • Dublin,_Ireland
    Dublin,_Ireland

    Posted

    Hi all,

    Lizzie-Ellen....you are not alone as often feel my brain has gone walk-about :lol: :oops: .

    I am delighted that you managed your trip to London with Jake so well...he has made a remarkable recovery and that must be such a relief to the whole family 8) smile .

    Eileen...I tried responding earlier but the computer froze and message didn't get through :roll: . I did have my rheumatic factor checked last year when I first developed PMR and it was negative then too.

    I could not find the paper you referred to on google, but will keep searching.

    Her Majesty nearly finished her visit to us now, and President Obama arriving on Monday....so the streets will be closed again :roll:

    Love to all, Pauline

  • EileenH
    EileenH

    Posted

    Pease C, Haugeberg G, Montague B, et al. Polymyalgia rheumatica can be distinguished from late onset rheumatoid arthritis at baseline: results of a 5 yr prospective study. Rheumatology 2009;48:123-7.

    I think this is it - I'm sure it was Pease et al. Took me a while to find it again too! About 30% of LORA patients are Rh factor -ve. That's one of the things I've had tested every so often for about 30 years.

    It all seemed so strange - a state visit and all those empty streets! Hope she enjoyed her horsey interval. I don't think I've ever seen One looking quite so smiley on a visit - she must have been anticipating the gee-gees!

    Have a nice weekend!

    Eileen

  • mrs_k
    mrs_k

    Posted

    Pauline

    Good Luck with MTX and also hope you have been given Folic Acid and also your recording book.

    Fingers crossed for you

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