RA for 18 Months, Tampa

[dlgrogg]

I was diagnosed with RA in Sept, 09. Funny, as I had gone to a Rheumatologist for my left knee. I had previously been diagnosed with OA and the pain was so bad, I was overdosing on advil. She did a complete work up which showed that my RA Factor was 97. I think that I have actually had RA for about 5 years previously because my PCP had also found that my RA factor was high. The Rheumatologist I saw then didn’t notice anything though and sent me home. I thought I had dodged the bullet!

I was put on Plaquenil but developed an allergy. My Rheumatologist then put me on Methotrexate in March, 10. A couple of months later, in May, I was started on Enbel. I had MRI’s of my hand, wrist, and knees in May also. I have had 3 flares since starting Enbrel. The pain from this is terrible. I felt like I had the flu. The last flare motivated me to look for answers. I am only 56 and can’t see myself living the rest of my life this way.

I found a lot of information on ap and and am going to follow up with this. First step is to find someone in my area who believes in this. My Rheumatologist is fairly entrenched in the medical model so I am not thinking that she will be receptive of this approach, however, I am going to present evidence to her at my next appointment in April. In the meantime, I will be reading and preparing my evidence.

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