Frustrated and mad!!

[Carebear]

Well, some good news here.  The water went back on around 2 PM.  That was the best shower I've had in a long time!

[harlin]

Hi my friends,
Our water came back on but had to boil water until Saturday. All is well on that front.
Spoke with Rheumy's nurse on Friday and she said I could start the Methotrexate. Scares me to death. I don't want to loose all my hair. Has anyone else experienced this?

I had a great weekend with family and friends. The nights have been rough from pain but I am managing. I sure hope the Methotrexate kicks in before long. I don't know how much of this I can take. We walked around a craft show on Sat and boy oh boy did my hips and legs hurt. I guess I don't know my limits. I hate to think that I can't do a simple thing like that. My hands are so stiff in the morning that I can't bend my fingers. I didn't realize that that the Lyrica helped so much until she took me off it. I can't believe I am getting so much worse.
If summer hurts this much what will winter bring. I am so much worse in the cold.

Thanks my friends for all the kind comments, It is so nice to know people who actually care.
Love you all, harlin

[navydad]

My fingers lock over at night,, I dont know whats up with that,, but they jsut bend over at the knuckles and I cant get them straight,,, and my legs just dont work,, and to think I used to run up and down my hills without even thinking about it,, now i;m lucky to walk across a flat yard

[navydad]

I think our dove season opened up on the 1st of Sept,,, I never got into that,, I have a hard time shooting them when I  feed them all summer, or rather they take what I put out for the other ones,, thankfully my Doxie doesnt go after birds, just chipmonks mice and otehr four legged creatures,,,
Our fall season usually comein at the end of Oct for turkey,, deer comes in always the first monday after thanksgiving,,
Truthfully I dont see myself hunting this year,,, I cant hold up a gun,, my hands wont wrap around it and my fingers just dont work that well,,,, My oldest sonloves to flyfish and does hunt deer and fall turkey when he gets the time,, I was alwys in the woods from turkey season till the end of deer season,, Last year my brother had to drag out the 2 deer I shot,, along with the 2 he shot,,, we dont waste any of it,, I make ground meat out of the whole deer and make jerky,,, but its going to be tough,, I had to turn the furnace on this morning,, it was only 50 degrees and I felt like I was in the artic,,, its not fair,, the things Ilove most slowly being taken from me,, Iloved being a electrician,, running conduit,, pulling wire,, hooking up stuff,,, working with high voltage,, doing side work for friends,, and sleeping good at night knowing what I did was done right,, I was and am very anal about that kind of work,, I wanted it right and wanted to be proud of my work,, now I cant even hook two wires together,, its just not fair

[Lesleybird]

  Hi,  Why did the doctor take you off the Lyrica if you are in more pain without it?  Can you get the Lyrica back? Did you make a list of concerns and talk to your doctor? Why don't you call the office back and ask to be placed back on the Lyrica? No need to suffer with lots of pain. I take Lyrica and tramadol also for pain.     Lesley

[puccini914]

Harlin, I would reccomend that you call your PCP for some kind of pain meds to help for the next few months.  I've been taking MTX since last March.  It took a good 2 1/2 months for it to really kick in for me.  For some people it may take longer or shorter.  About the hairloss, again it varies from person to person.  I was already losing my hair to begin with, I can't say I've had any more or less since starting MTX.  As far as the overall effect of MTX, it does have to build up in system.  You may have no side effects at all for the few weeks, when it starts to build up in your system, depending on your dose you may have some nausea.  I did post my entire experience with both plaquenil and MTX in a separate post in case anyone was interested.  So I won't drag this out too long.  I will say it's worth it, but you may still need something for pain and don't be afraid to ask for it.  Pain medication is there for a reason, it has very few side effects, I take Lortabs and they actually seem to give me a little more energy.  You can start at a low dose of 5mg, 7.5mg or 10mg.  There are others as well, I know many people here are happy with Ultram, but I'm highly allergic to it as well as all NSAIDS. So that also leaves out Vicodan which has Ibuprofen in it.  I don't like Percocet or oxycoden because I get horrible night terrors with those and refuse to take it, plus it makes me way to dopey to manage two young kids.  I also refuse to take morphine or any of it's derivatives because of the severe constipating effects.  There is no reason to suffer with pain and it will sap your energy very quickly.  If your pain is better managed you will find you have more energy and MTX does take a while to start working and for me I still had to take pain meds, only less of them.  Hope this helps and I hope you're feeling better soon.

[harlin]

The doctor took me off Lyrica when she put me on the Methotrexate. I didn't know how bad I was until the Lyrica was out of my system. My GP put me on Ultram the other day but my pharmacist daughter said not to take it with the Savella. It could kill me. I called the pharmacist back that filled the prescription and she said it would be ok to take. Is she nuts?? I am not taking something that could kill me!!! I called the doctor back today and have not heard from her yet.

Navydad, I feel so bad for you. You are so much worse than me but I can see myself following in your footsteps. The only difference is I have a dx of RA and Sjogrens. My hands hurt so bad in the mornings. I cannot bend my fingers. I usually have to run them under hot water or get into a hot bath to be able to move. I am still fighting with SS for my disability.

It is cold here today. I am about to freeze. I need to go to the store to get some sweat clothes. I am not looking forward to winter. I handle the hot weather much better.
Hang in there. We are all in the same boat without a paddle.

harlin