I just had to get my thoughts down. I’ve recently had a flare with my RA and have made the decision to start taking medication. Which means I must stop breastfeeding my beautiful 7 month old boy. I have now been weaning him for a week and every day rips my heart out. I am down to one feed in the middle of the night but will have to stop that on Wednesday when I take my first dose of methotrexate. I have been telling anyone who will listen how much I don’t want to wean. But it’s not making it any easier. I’m sitting here writing this with tears streaming down my face. I never thought it would be this hard.
The only consolation is that maybe in a few weeks I will have reduced pain and be able to actually get down on the floor to play with my boy and my 3 year old girl. But the urge to feed him will still be there.
I can’t believe this is happening to me. It never occurred to me when I was pregnant that I would feed my baby any other way. Has anyone else gone through this?
Hi Everyone, I stumbled across this forum when goggling RA. I aqm 35 have 3 children 8 5 3. I have started seeing a spec regarding my sore wrists. It all started about 3 years ago when one knuckle on my left hand was a bit sore. It never bothered me just played up now and again.
Now for the last year or 2 I have had sore wrists. Went to doc in Jan and wss told I had a positive Rheumatoid Factor. Off to see the specialist I went. One the first visit he was not too worried basically said we would repeat test in 3 months and to come back then.
I saw him for second time this week. My sysmptoms are basically the same, sore wrists, one owrse then other. Mainly feel it when I pick up heavy things. Never had any evident swelling. My hands feel stiffish sometimes at night or if I have been using them alot. In the morning I think they are best.
I notice they (my hands) go red when holding things like mopping or sweeping or even sometimes when driving. In summer they itched a little.
On the second visit he suggested I go for a MRI with a dye to be injected. This will give him more clues. He doesn't know if this is the start of RA or not. He said one blood tests suggests it the others don't. If it is the start he would like me to start medication, which scares the hell out of me.
I have PCO too so I am already at risk of getting diabeties and also heart problems. What do I do? Do I get a second opinion. He said if I start med now it would only be for a year or 2 and we would stop it now. Or of we wait it would mean med for a life time.
This is all depending on what the MRI shows.
If anyone has any thoughts that would be great as I am really worried and scared.
I have both PCOS and the weird RA thingy... I'm fairly sure that the RA medications aren't going to impact on the PCOS in any way, unless you can't avoid prednisone. Prednisone is a steroid that does impact on blood sugar levels - it has created some problems with my PCOS, but we are able to work around that with a strict low-carb, low-GI, high protein diet.
If you are not actively TTC you have many more options in terms of arthritis treatment than I do. I hope you find relief soon.
Hi Everyone,
It's nice to see this thread continues even though there is a lull every now and then. I hope everyone is well and not in any pain!
I was just reading over some of the old posts and realised how far I've come since I started medication. I remember being quite scared to start the medication, but the impact it had on my life was almost instantaneous. Best decision I made.
(T - I can't comment too much on how medication will affect your other conditions. But I can say that the medication is so effective at relieving the pain. Your doctor should be monitoring you closely when and if you start any medication so they should pick up ay problems straight away. I hope you can get some relief without any problems.)
I've been on MXT since before Christmas. I'm now on 20mg once a week and I don't get any side effects from it. I used to feel a bit "hung over" the next day, but that doesn't happen anymore. I'm still on Pred (reducing to 1mg/day tomorrow) and I will hopefully be off that by July. I hate the weight gain and skin problems with Pred. Can't wait to finish it. What I'm worried about is the pain coming back when I do stop it. I do still get some break through pain in my hands and feet (nothing like it was before the medication though), but I'm scared that it will get really bad. BW and Babyjoy, I know that you both have been on Pred. Are either of you on it now? Have either of you stopped and had all the pain return?
My little boy turned 1 in April and is now walking. Stopping breastfeeding didn't effect his relationship with me. He's such a mummy's boy. I love it! Maybe he has some memory of breastfeeding. Who know's! My daughter still asks me if my arms are sore, but it's so lovely to say that I'm fine and can pick her up for a cuddle. The best thing is dancing and jumping around in the loungeroom with both my kids. I was honestly at a point where I thought I would never be able to do that. But we do it most days!
I love reading about how you're all doing. I hope everyone's well.
Rachel, I'm still on prednisone, and I'll be on it at least until I'm 12/13 weeks pregnant and then I'll start to wean off... maybe... I was able to stop it completely after the first time I used it, and I have to say that I was without pain for quite a while. I did eventually need to start using NSAIDs again, and then eventually back to prednisone once we began IVF, but I did have quite a long time without needing the drug at all.
In case people haven't noticed the subtle change in my sig... I'm just over 7 weeks pregnant from our first ever fresh transfer... was our 5th IVF transfer all up. that this one is super-sticky!
Fantastic news!!!! BW - I am so happy for you . Am sending you lots of good vibes to get you to the magical 12 weeks. I hope all the RA pain goes away soon with the pregnancy.
Thanks for the info on your experience. It's good to know that I hopefully won't go back to the level of pain I experienced before medication. The niggles are there, but hopefully won't get worse. At least I might be able to lose some more weight with the reduced dose of Prednisone.
Hope you're feeling well BW and giving into any cravings!
Hope everyone is well and not having any horrible RA pain.
Newly diagnosed with potential RA and breastfeeding
Hi All
I am over in the UK and have developed an artritic condition sice having my second child. In short at 6 weeks pp I got a severe pain in my hip, next day it was my shoulder, then my wrist and the list goes on...4 weeks later I have seen a rheumy who has confirmed it is arthritis...at this point don't know if it is viral or rheumatic, but I have a significantly high RF.
I developed Hashimoto's disease with the birth of my first daughter, so it looks like I may have a prevalence for autoimmune diseases (!) - no more kids for me!
Anyway, I am taking diclofenac and have had a steroid injection. THis is managing the pain, but it is still pretty bad (at least I can move, I was unable to pick up my baby or get downstairs for a while).
My question is - has anyone found that giving up breastfeeding can actually ease the flare of the illness? I have read the prolactin is inflammatory and could therefore be a contributing element to RA?? My daughter is 9 weeks old and whilst I would HATE to give up feeding if it didn't help - I am at the moment not a v good mummy to both my daughters as the pain is quite limiting (and making me v grumpy!)
Hope you are still posting here - it is one of the best threads I have found, and it is so nice to find people who actually understand the level of pain this can cause.
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that this one is super-sticky!
. Am sending you lots of good vibes to get you to the magical 12 weeks. I hope all the RA pain goes away soon with the pregnancy. 
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