Diagnosed with RA at the age of 12.

Hi guys,

As you can read from the title, I was diagnosed with RA at the age of 12, and I’m currently 18. It has been a Long and tough 6 years for me living with this shit. When I was first diagnosed, my parents were very worried and started to find the best medication to suppress the inflammations. In the end we started using Embrel. I was taking it twice a month for 4 years. A jab costs $700SGD ($534USD), I decided that this was not what I want Long term considering the price and side-effects(possible cancer). I stopped the Embrel jabs and seek new medications. I then started taking Arava and sadly the effects of it is not as strong as Embrel and my wr-CRP (inflammation reading on blood reports) was at a staggering 21.

Right now I completely stopped western medications as my liver profiles wasn’t that good either over the past years of taking Embrel and Arava. Currently I’m having some Canadian brand supplements. After having it for about 2 months or so, I definitely feel better. My wr-CRP is currently 6.10 but right now 9 out of 10 of my fingers have already been damaged( over the 6 years), my right knee and lower back are inflamed as well. I really do not know where do I go from here and would like to hear suggestions from the community as I’m sick and tired of waking up to Super stiff joints Everyday. Are Western medications better considering the side effects such as liver damage.

Thank you and hope there were not much grammar errors as I’m still in college.