New RA patient

Hello all,

I was diagnoised last month with RA and I'm feeling overwhelmed and angry with the bad news!  I also have OA for 7-years and Fibro for 30-years, so I know all about suffering with PAIN and FATIGUE .  Prayer/Mediation, Exercise/stretching and Eating Gluteen Free has helped keep the OA and Fibro pain manageable and I've had a couple of good years of remission.  So, I was shocked, disbelief and furious to learn that I now have RA - I cried for 3-weeks - started to feel depressed - why me?!?!

I refused to take the meds (Plaquenil) due to the side affects.  My RA doc was very direct (cold) telling me that I would loose my hair and loose weight, so off I went to the Health Store to take natural supplements.  After 3-weeks with my knee swollen and difficulty to walk and swollen OA/RA fingers.  I gave in 10-days ago and started taking Plaquenil - 200 mg once a day.  So, far no hair lose and the knee swelling has gone down - very little pain. 

I know this too shall pass and I'm going to keep trying and not give up - added Juicing and supplements to help inflammation: Omega 3-6-9, Cherry Tart, Alive once Daily for 50+, Matcha Green Tea. 

However, the only problem I have is the last 4-days i'm having severe constipation and nothing seems to be working- Miralax, prune juice, grapes, and teas. I'm going to try Probiotics tonight - hope this helps.  Thanks for allowing me to vent!

Mia's Grandma

 

For info for drug interactions go to www.drugs.com it's not the plaquernil that causes the hair loss, but methotrexate. However the hair loss can be prevented with biotin a supplement and folic acid and you'll want to be on a prescription grade of folic acid once you get on methotrexate.

However, that doctor was very rude to you, no you don't have to tolerate hair loss or to get used to it by any doctor! get another RA doctor and as soon as possible! What you don't have to get used to is rude doctors! never...you can fire him/her...plenty of good doctor's out there.

Yes, it is very scary getting a RA diagnosis, and the medications can be even scarier, but with plaquernil you do need to see an eye doctor as it can cause vision problems and you do need to keep ahead of those. Vision problems are the worse, RA can also cause vision problems thats why you do need a very good eye doctor.

With a good team of doctors and the right medication combo you can have a good life, depending on the type of RA, no it's not great to hear and it is very scary. I hate it, but we do what we can and it sounds like you got a good lists of items for healthy foods, ginger can help with pain for some people, tart chery juice is a plus, but go slowly on the tart cherry juice as it can cause diarrhea...1/4 at bed time as it will make you sleepy...Omega's 3's are a plus...B-12 might be a worthy look and have your doctors check to see if your low D as low D's can cause pain to be worse...
Also, check out a good CoQ10 vitamin...

Many well wishes to you and you can still have a good life...