I don't know what to do

[littlelara]

Try those tissue salts, BW.
Seriously.
pm me your add and I'll send you some!

[melsa31]

I know this thread is a little old but I just came across it and wondered how you're doing Butterfly_Warrior?

I can empathise with your situation somewhat as I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and take a number of medications to attempt to manage the pain. I had a rough time with the process of having my DS from the 'wash out' period of the MTX to waiting to conceive while on no meds, to enduring pain during the pregnancy and ending up in hospital and on crutches due to issues with flareups in my hips, then more flare-up following the birth and so on. I was told by my rheumy that he wouldn't put me on Arava until we're done having children because of the risks of it staying in my system....I'm on 3 different drugs at the moment and they aren't very effective but I didn't think I had any more options right now.

I know how difficult it is to live night and day in pain and for the smallest of tasks to be such huge challenges. It is easy to feel very sorry for myself and wish things were different. Facing the reality that if I want another child (which I do) I will have to endure a minimum of two years of agony is difficult and scary and I still haven't decided what to do. Hugs to you and I hope you've been able to get the solutions you've been after.

[butterfly_warrior]

Hi Melanie. I see you've also got a Samuel.

I still haven't really decided what I'm going to do. I've now been on 20mg of mtx long enough for it to be working and I'm all but off prednisone now. On 1mg of prednisone every second day and considering dropping it altogether in the very near future. Most days I'm fine - once I get over the morning stiffness. I still have pain, but it's manageable - but at night I'm usually relying on mersyndol night strength and/or nurofen plus to be able to sleep. It also seems that the stronger the pain meds I have at night, the less stiff I am the next morning.

The downside of all of this - I'm not tolerating the side effects of the increased dose all that well. The brain fog is mostly ok, but the stomach troubles can last for days. I can't live in a situation where DH is completely responsible for the care of my son on Saturdays and I'm still prone to racing off to the bathroom at no notice on Mondays.

I'm thinking of dropping the dose of the methotrexate and adding in another drug. Rheumy is inclined towards adding salazopyrin back into the mix - I'm not so sure it will actually work. Tempted to go with the arava... I know the two years sounds scary, but there is a two-week wash out that can be done. I've heard it's pretty full-on, but I'd be inclined to take anything that reduces my drug-free time before the next pregnancy.

One small advantage we have, one small positive of having had to go through the hell of IVF... I have two frozen embryos that were stored when I was 33. I can wait until I'm 39 to go back for them and still be trying to get pregnant with the fertility of a 33 year old woman. It removes a lot of the time factor for us, but I can understand how it could be a huge issue for others.

Nice to meet you. I know it sucks that you have this condition and know what I'm talking about with the hell of the drugs that come with it, but it is nice to find someone who understands.

BW