Pregnancy and post pregnancy flairs

From my experience talking with other patients and friends over the thirty plus years of my own RA, I learned that many times during pregnancy they take the person off most of their RA meds. That is definitely something that could have impacted her pain levels and disease activity level. Unfortunately RA is a game of trial and error that can take years and years to find the right medicine combination. It took me and my doctors two decades to find a biologic and med combination that works to control my illness so I can only say that I know it's difficult but don't give up. You can find the right combination, it just takes a while sometimes. In the meantime if there's anything we can do to help, let us know, and let her know she is not alone! Keep on keepin' on, DPM

Hi . First, let me say that it is great that your daughter has you advocating on her behalf at this time. Second, it is actually not rare for women to experience a sort of remission during pregnancy, but, as our patient leader Mariah discusses in this article and your daughter experienced, it does not always happens: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/the-pregnancy-chronicles-the-magic-r-word. There is also, sometimes, a post-pregnancy flare and Mariah followed that earlier article with this one on dealing with the post-pregnancy RA: https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/ra-pregnancy-chronicles-post-birth-ra-flare. Hopefully, that post-pregnancy flare will dissipate and she can get back to a more normal treatment routine. Hopefully others will chime in with some thoughts and ideas. Please know that this community is here for you and your daughter and feel free, if you like, to keep us posted and to ask further questions. Best, Richard (Team Member)

Hello ! I am so sorry to hear about your daughter's pain. Pregnancy and adjusting to a new baby has it's own ups and downs, but to add uncontrolled RA pain on top of that is a very unneeded added challenge! Hopefully things will continue to improve, but in the meantime, in addition to the excellent information already provided, I wanted to share about pain management specialists. Some of our community members here have found these specialists helpful in managing their pain from the RA. I am linking an article with more information, https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/living/pain-management-specialist. Also, of course, here is information about types of treatments in case there is something mentioned that she would be interested in (and hasn't already tried), https://rheumatoidarthritis.net/treatment. It is so wonderful that she has you advocating for her. And please don't hesitate to reach out here anytime. Sending you both gentle hugs (and congratulations on the new grandbaby!)! -- Warmly, Christine (Team Member)