managing ra flares
i just recovered from ra all my inflammations had gone and medication had stopped until two days a go my inflammation reappeared on knee guys i am so worried about it . What should i do? will these flares come for the rest of my life?
I understand your worry,
. First thing, it's very important that you reach out you your doctor as soon as possible to discuss your flares and symptoms. As a condition that doesn't have a cure, RA is a unique condition that has the ability to strike at any given moment, no matter how long one has been able to manage their flares. And the thought of being in remission is too gray can seem unrealistic. Everybody's different when it comes to living a life with RA so seeing your doctor would give you a greater opportunity to come up with a plan that best suits you. I hope others can at least chime in and share their experience with you and give some insight. Hope you can get everything under control. -Latoya (Team Member)
Hi
. You ask a great question with no easy answer. As Latoya noted, every case is different and whether remission is sustainable without continued treatment is a difficult question. This research found that "Reducing antirheumatic drugs in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in stable remission is feasible, with maintenance of remission occurring in about half of the patients. Because relapse rates were significantly higher in patients who tapered or stopped antirheumatic drugs than in patients who continued with a 100% dose, such approaches will require tight monitoring of disease activity. However, remission was regained after reintroduction of antirheumatic treatments in most of those who relapsed in this study:" https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2665991321002204. If you look at the section titled "Evidence this study" you will find a summation of other research on this topic. Your doctor should be able to provide further guidance on whether continued treatment is necessary to maintain remission in your case. Best, Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team) Hi
, Thankyou so much for this insightful information though its JRA my doctors think remission might be a achievable for a very long time though she seems to think it would take another year to reach remission. Thank you so much for the support during this difficult time.
Best, Community1234Hi
. Glad the information is helpful. Also, I want to let you know that you are not alone here with JRA. My wife, Kelly Mack (a contributor here), was diagnosed at age two, 45 years ago. Here is her bio, with a link to her articles if you are interested: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/community/experts/kelly-mack. In addition, here are links to a couple of our other patient leaders, Kat (https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/community/experts/kat-elton) and Daniel (https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/community/experts/daniel-p-malito) who were also diagnosed as children. I do want to note that all three were diagnosed before modern treatments and have the damage to show for it, but treatments have come a long way. Kelly found a treatment six years ago that brough her inflammation numbers into the normal range. Wishing you the best and hope you do reach remission and please feel free to keep us posted on how you are doing. Richard (RheumatoidArthritis.net Team)
