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Flare up

So I have officially been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis for a little over a year now getting the medication under control was a nightmare from the very beginning and I believe as of five months now I have been doing pretty well on Humira. But for some reason, I will have one good month and I’ll have two bad months or vice versa. I’ll have two good months in one bad month and what I mean by bad I have a flareup towards almost debilitating.
I bring it up to my rheumatologist. She says I should talk to my primary care doctor and make an appointment to my primary care doctor. He says to me why haven’t you discussed this with your rheumatologist? Is there anything that anybody does to help them deal with their flares because I’m still new in learning because as of before I didn’t even know what a flare was until I was almost crawling into the doctors office crying and the nurse actually says oh sweetheart, you’re having a flareup… I had no idea. I tried small yoga. I’ve tried sitting on the couch. I can’t sit too long because it hurts but they say oh relax rest but don’t over relax and don’t over rest. Try sitting out getting some sun try going for a small slow walk. I’ve tried all of these and they do not work for me. I’m going to be going back to work in a couple months and if I have a flareup like this at work, I’m pretty much gonna be fired because I can’t perform my daily tasks of work. Sorry for this long message everybody but I’m reaching out cause I don’t know what else to do. I feel very alone.

  1. Unfortunately, you are exactly where most of us are for a long time with rheumatoid arthritis. Ironically, you are closer to normal with the illness than not, I know that offers little comfort. So many of us spend years trying to find the right medication and also what our triggers are. For me it took 20 years to find a biologic that works and that my triggers are sugar and, to a lesser extent, carbs. It takes time, lots of it, and in the meantime it sucks and it is painful. It may be time to try another drug if this one isn't keeping flare ups to a minimum. Talk to your RA doc! Let us know if there's anything we can do to help. Again, you are not alone! Keep on keepin' on, DPM

    1. Hi . Just to follow up on what was saying, figuring out when to pull the trigger and change meds is tough, but the point of treatment is to get the RA under control and recurring debilitating flares is not control. My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here) was, like Dan, diagnosed as a child and has a lot of experience trying to get the elusive control. She wrote this article on how to know when it is time to change medications: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/when-to-change-medications. Don't hesitate to advocate for yourself with the doctors that the status quo is not acceptable. Best, Richard (Team Member)

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