I cut my MTX in half--that along with the Enbrel is still working fairly well for pain control. It is really a bummer that one day you are healthy and bam-----along comes a ton of meds--a ton of appointments--a ton of pain---no energy, no ambition---sometimes life can seem rather moot. Have to sched an appointment to have another CT of the adrenal gland to see if it has changed at all..and more labs....and on to another day. Does anyone know if the enbrel prescription card will pay for the enbrel if I go on medicare?
I apologize as I am new to sure and do not know your history and am learning more each day about our disease… Does it affect the adrenals? Or is it from prednisone? I too have pain … It is poorly controlled at night and my sleep is always disrupted leading to constant exhaustion? I am looking for advice from anyone who has tips for pain management/sleep at night and how to battle fatigue. I am a nurse and have been for 23 years…do you know anyone who is still working the long hours with this and how they balance life? Thank you in advance for any advice you may have.
I am an RN also--and still work 12 hour shifts---weekends only..not due to health but because I only want to work on weekends for the time and half pay. It does not affect the adrenal glands that I know of--but I do have issues with my adrenal gland as well as dealing with the arthritic pain. My pain is well controlled right now with MXT and Enbrel. What are your medications? It took 8 months to get relief for me--I still get pain--but nothing like the sever shoot me now pain that I did have. Please talk with your Doc about better control--I also take Celebrex at times--usually when I work---and that helps too. I don't encourage that all the time but PRN works well. And, of course Tylenol.
Moxie… I am in mtx and remicade. Mtx was added 6 weeks ago. My doctor thinks the back pain is from damage to spine which is not reversible. I feel great for about 4 weeks following infusions and then gradually my joints start swelling and hurting. I’ve had time off of work but am returning this week and looking forward to it. My hope is that getting back to my old routine will help me. I’m glad to know you are still able to work as I’ve seen some are too sick to work… The doctor thinks facet hint injections will help but the ortho wants me off my other mess first which I’m not inclined to do as I don’t want the other joints to flare up. So I live with moderate pain and pretty significant back pain …I feel if I could get better sleep it would all be better. I don’t take anything for sleep and don’t respond well to medications for sleep. I want to take less medications versus more. I’m getting a lot of support from this site as before I really had none or did not feel anyone really realized the impact this has had on my life which was very busy, very joyful and lots of smiling. Now those days are rare but I continue to fight to get back to life before I got sick. Reminding myself how much better I am, how lucky I am to be able to work, and seeing all of you enjoying a full life helps me know that once the medication takes full effect I too will have my life back…