Bah ... it's just a crap shoot ain't it?

General Support
1

Maybe not the right forum as I'm really just having a bit of a rant.

I started MTX two weeks ago after having put it off due to fears of side effects. To my great relief I didn't have any of the nausea or day-after stuff but now have developed a persistent, dry cough. Knowing that resperatory stuff can be bad on MTX I called my rheumy and he said to quit taking it (too bad I just dosed up yesterday) and see if it goes away. He said I might just have a cold and if I did to see my GP. Well, I don't have a cold and don't have any other symptoms other than the annoying cough.

So, I guess I quit taking the MTX and see what happens with the cough. Then, I suppose, to be sure it wasn't something else I'll have to go back on again and see if the cough comes back. If it does then I suppose it's on to something else. In short, the docs don't really have this thing down and don't really know all that much; they just have a box of tricks and they grab one and if it doesn't work or you get side effects that aren't acceptable then they just grab the next trick and you start over again.

Having read a lot at this and a number of other sites it seems like the medication/side effect merry go round is more than common. Seems to me if treatment wasn't a crap shoot they'd have it down better by now. I'm very unhappy that I am in this boat and have met with a medication failure right off the bat. Unfortunately, I can see that a number of joints are being damaged (fingers mostly) and that I can't just do nothing or I'll be crippled.

So, bah humbug. And you're damned right I'm going to have my glass of wine every day; maybe even a vicodin now and then. If you've got a problem with that then you and all the rheumies in the world can just eat my shorts.

OK, back to your regularly scheduled program.

2

You’re in the right place! Oh yessiree! Crap shoot describes it perfectly: there’s no sure-fir medication which is going to stop this disease. It’s trial and error. Orthopedic surgeons have it much easier. It’s broken. Fix it. Doesn’t work with PsA.
Ok, so now you’re on the medi-go-round. MTX is a problem. Your rheumie will work through the others in succession until you find something that works and doesn’t give you nasty SEs. Depending on how bad he/she judges your disease to be, sooner or later, the question of biologics will come up. That’s the big league.
Rant on. This is the place.

3

Ditto !

I've said and complained about the same things. It is a crap shoot. That's what makes it so difficult, right ? It's not like anyone knows what will work...it's a trial every time we try a different medication. It's very frustrating. I keep saying, it's obvious to me the doc's really don't know that much. I believe we the patients know more than the doc's do. Sure they know the medications but we know our bodies and how PsA effects each of us. Sometimes differently.

Rant away :)