Hello!! I'm 25 and I've been taking Rituximab every 6months for the last 4 years. I don't recall why I made the switch from Humira or Enbrel to Rituximab but I've enjoyed the freedom I get and I don't get any severe reactions to it. Anyway, my mother is finally seeking treatment for her arthritis and her rheumatologist rudely asked me why my doctor would ever allow me on it given my age and how much it "takes" from you.. Her words.. I didn't think Rituximab was a heated topic, my doctor told me it's always an option. I've also come across someone who asked me if I really knew what I signed up for? And someone else who said they'd never touch a chemo drug. It's been such a God send for me, not dealing with CVS specialty clinic delays and the weekly needles. I want to hear what the RA community thinks.

I have been doing really well the last year or so. Most days I don’t have pain. I can walk 3 plus miles. I can work out. (I’m not exactly strong but I’m progressing). The temperature where I lived dropped from 83 yesterday to 53 now. It is supposed to be in the mid 30s tonight. It stormed last night. I feel every joint it my body today. Hugs to everyone else going through this. It sucks!

lol I would have to get In contact with literally like 50 different doctors some not even in the same state. Or do you think she will listen to me and my symptoms and do blood work and go from there

My mom has been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and prescribed methotrexate a few months ago ago. Every time she would take the pill once a week, she would feel nauseous the whole day. Then two weeks ago, after taking methotrexate, my mom had nausea that wouldn’t go away for a whole week. It started getting better, but then she developed a 100-101 degree fever that hasn’t gone away in a week. What’s even more worrying is that she lost a lot of weight and can hardly keep any food down. She feels nauseous and tired when eating and a bad / sour taste in her mouth. The general practice doctors have been no help - telling her this might just be a viral infection, and her rheumatologist isn’t available to help via phone. Has anyone had experience with these side effects? Trying to figure out how to help her in this situation

Hi all, just had a question about a slightly positive rheumatoid factor. I have Hashimoto hypothyroidism, which already causes me quite a big deal of joint pain and swelling. But I had a slightly positive rheumatoid factor and no additional follow up has been conducted to continue to monitor it. Has anyone experienced positive are a factor in the past and then within the upcoming years been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis? I know in some healthy individual individuals. They can have a rheumatoid factor that is positive but I was just curious if anybody had experienced this. Thank you.

Two months into 10mg MTX (seroneg 55M) and my rheumatologist has told me to stop taking MTX for a couple of weeks because of weightloss (12 pounds, 6ft and now 172lbs) and loss of appetite. See if improves things. What are the downsides to this? Will I start from zero again when I pick-up treatment and would I be better off with injections? Tx!

I have had RA for a few yrs and Ibwas pain free until a few months ago, taking hydroxychloriquin. A few months ago I had pain coming back in my hands, same as where the pain existed upon dx. Now I. The last few weeks, progressively worse, I've had fatigue and pain all over. It isn't joint specific (I don't think but maybe it is) but it hurts to sit in my hips, it hurts to use mouse. Bottom of my feet feel a bit on fire. Are these things RA related? I have an appt with my rheumatologist next week. Hoping it leads to answers. Thanks for any insight in meantime.

Hey all.

Just recently started on hydroxychloroquine, and one of the side effects that the doc warned me about was stomach pain.

And man, she was not kidding.

I read that this gets better, but it can take months — and right now, the stomach pain is more debilitating than the arthritis.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to counter this? I’m up for anything at this point.

I take my mtx around 3pm on the same day once a week, then around 10pm I start getting a headache, often it turns into a migraine that last for the next 2 days. Does this happen to anyone else? And how to you treat it? Tylenol does nothing for me.

One of my students father is a Chiropractor and every one says he is great. I have always been afraid that the chiropractor would cause damage or pain. I also sometimes wonder if it could help with inflammation. Has anyone tried it and if so did it help or hurt?

Thanks everyone for talking me off the cliff. I will follow my gut and your suggestions and not go. Sometimes in the middle of a flare you are just looking for relief.

I'm being treated for potential inflammatory arthritis and fibromyalgia.

I have been experiencing recurring fever of 99-100°F (or ~38°C). It comes on 2-4 times a day, starts with chills, leaves with me feeling hot, and generally lasts 1-2 hours.

I also get really significant pain in my forehead during the fevers (around 6-7/10 on a pain scale). This whole this thing is really affecting my day to day life as I'm incapacitated several hours of the day.

Can arthritis cause this? Could it be because of methotrexate/follitrax?

Wanted to put a post together of all the gadgets I currently am using for all those who want to helpful list. I don't use all of these all the time, usually just on bad days or flares. Some I use every single day. Most of these things are budget friendly because we all know how expensive having a chronic illness is. I make a lot of these things myself because then I can customize it to what I need. A lot of the things in stores and online are you get what you get and they don't work for me.

Kitchen: electric potato peeler, attachments for my KitchenAid mixer that slice and shred, electric french fry maker (obviously only necessary if you really love french fries), an under the counter mounted jar/lid opener (It spins in one direction and tightens 3 teeth down on the lid so you can use both hands to twist the jar. Literally all the other ones are garbage and hurt my hands too much), and it should be obvious but lightweight cookware! As much as you may love cast iron, those heavy pots and pans will kill your fingers and wrists. (Obviously a decent dishwasher so that you can minimize the repetitive motion of washing dishes, fyi dishwashers are far superior in the last 5 years than ever before).

Bathroom: natural whole loofah so I can cut it to size instead of using the tiny ones they sell in stores, bigger is better for grip. Loofah on a bamboo stick to get my back and on bad days to do everything. Electric toothbrush. Disposable floss toothpicks. Towel robe. I buy shampoo and conditioner in hand pump style bottles so I don't have to squeeze.

Living room: lots of pillows of various sizes and densities. Reclining chair. Daybed for laying down while watching tv or reading. Blanket.

Car: 1" memory foam mattress topper cut to size and shoved under seat covers on seat & back (protip: cut them large enough that they fold over the edge of the seat on all sides). Lumbar pillow (sometimes I take these out of their case and cut them how I need them). Memory foam neck pillow. Memory foam steering wheel cover is my favorite because it makes the steering wheel 3 to 4 inches wide so I don't have to close my hand in a fist to drive, more of a crescent moon shape instead. 3 ft long ice scraper/snowbrush that is curved and extendable to 50".

Make my own flaxseed microwavable hand warmers, really easy: so fabric together and insert flaxseed inside leaving just a little empty space for contouring. Nuke 1 to 2 minutes. Works better than any heat pads I've ever purchased.

Buy extra large freezable cold gel packs and sew pouches for them out of old hand towels, then put about two feet of elastic attached to it and velcro on the end and on the pouch so that I can wrap it around a joint and keep walking around the house like normal. This works exceptionally well for knees elbows wrists etc.

Small purse with long adjustable wide strap so I can adjust to whatever comfort and makes it impossible to lug around a bunch of crap in my purse I don't need but just weighs me down. I put extra stuff in all my vehicles in a cute tote box so I don't need to carry it everywhere in my purse.

Lunch box. Sounds strange for adults to carry around a little lunch box when visiting people but sometimes you need to eat and take your pills and those pills need to stay cold and so does the food. This should be accompanied with ice packs in there obviously. I take snacks and sometimes meals depending on how long I'm going to be out, or take it anyway if I don't know how long I'll be out, with extra meds just in case. This has been a lifesaver!

Pool noodles and electrical tape are great for anything that needs a wider grip and they're wicked cheap.

Treadmill, elliptical. These things aren't generally cheap but you can find good second hand ones everywhere. You may only use it a handful of times a year, but it sure beats going outside when the weather's crummy. Or going to the gym exercising for 5 minutes, only to find out you just can't do it today. At home you can jump on when you feel good and never feel bad for jumping off 5 minutes later if you need to. I get a lot more exercise this way. Pro tip: get a Kindle or your phone and watch documentaries, or flip through social media while you do it and it's amazing how fast the minutes go!

And lastly: pardon the grammar errors but I use talk to text A LOT. This saves my hands a ton. I also use speakerphone a lot so I can set the phone down while i talk instead of holding it. All these little things individually may not sound like much, but they save my hands, wrists, elbows, etc a lot.. A LOT.

Feel free to comment with more helpful gadgets or tricks!

I (32F) have had fatigue in the past. It would last maybe about two weeks. This was prior to my diagnosis of RA this March when my pain symptoms got a lot worse. My fatigue and nausea has been unending for about a month. I have almost no energy and working (vet assistant) takes a lot out of me. I’m sore and exhausted. My joints throughout my body hurt and I’m just so tired of feeling this way. I don’t want to hang out with friends anymore. I work, I spend time with my boyfriend and dogs, I sleep. I’m just venting I guess. I just had hoped that methotrexate during this time would help me a lot but I’m noticing a rapid decline over the past few weeks and it’s making me very depressed.

As the title suggests, my rheumatologist just increased my dosage of Yusimry (Humira Biosimilar) to weekly instead of biweekly. I’ve been on the Yusimry since October last year and it was working relatively well with only some minor flares until around August this year. I started getting more pain and had to add prednisone back in almost daily to get functional again. Started Arava, in addition to the Yusimry and had awful stomach side effects with no reduction in pain over the last two months. So now stopped the Arava and doing the weekly biologic dosage.

Anyone taking their biologic weekly, success/no success, etc?

We're supposed to have storms tonight and for the last two days my joints have been aching like crazy. Especially my knee and ankle that I had surgery on earlier this year. Are there ways to lessen the impact of pressure change on our bodies or is this something we just deal with?

I literally feel like I’ve got this weighted blanket on me all the time. Im on half term which is like a mid term one week break from school and I have so much homework to do but I literally cannot bring myself to do it. Also stiffness isn’t helping at all I literally feel so uncomfortable when I sit at my desk and I’ve tried to do things from my bed but I can’t find a comfortable position to do things I’m thinking about getting one of those bed tables but my family will probably call me lazy for it. Im literally typing this from my bed and my lower back is killing me I literally can’t even fathom making it to my desk but I really need to complete my homework.

Hey, is anyone here using Iguratimod or had any experience with it?

It's not always the case, but I've noticed that showering and soaking in hot water can make my pain feel better, but it makes my entire body feel exhausted. I have a hard time just finishing washing in the shower and toweling off.

I live in Texas and have always been sensitive to the heat/sun outside (I get majorly overheated and feel like my heart is gonna leave my chest), but even when I'm just inside air conditioning and try using hot water, it is so exhausting.

Do other people experience this? I always thought it was my depression making it hard for me to want to shower (sometimes it feels like I'm dreading having to go through the motions of it).

How has it affected your career, were you able to continue working? What kind of work did you do (waxing, facials, lashes, brows, etc)? I know treatments have come a long way but I’ve only started my career about a year and half ago and with this being the most likely diagnosis I would love feedback on the reality of what the future could hold. I’m 32 and started having issues a couple months ago to the point where I haven’t been going in to work for the past few weeks while I got into a rheumatologist and tried to get it sorted.

Does anyone have a mallet finger deformity? My index finger became deformed a few years ago and over time is getting worse, the joints in that finger give me the most grief too.

Does anyone know if this deformity can be reversed or how I can prevent it from getting worse?

I see a lot of boutonnière deformities on here but never see any mallet fingers, I think they are usually from injury but mine is definitely associated with my arthritis.

Im 23 and hate the fact that my hands are already beginning to look (and feel) like an older persons 😭

I started my new meds (sulfasalazine) 3 days ago. Been taking half a pill in the morning and night until I can get used to a whole pill.

I know I won’t feel a difference for most likely a month or so but it seems like i’ve been having worse pain. Is this normal? Could it just be because I’m so stressed and anxious from starting new meds (I have health anxiety / ocd so I worry chronically about any new medication)

Thanks for your time!

How to differentiate between Rea and RA? Does Rea subside on its own? What are the blood tests we need to get for rea? Also, does it cause bone erosion?

How long did it take for people to see improvements on kevzara for rheumatoid arthritis? I took my first injection 1.5 weeks ago and am worried it’s not working because my knee is still very swollen and stiff

I have fairly well managed RA. It usually affects my knees, but I’ve also had some hip issues in the past, and x-rays have shown some wear and tear on my left hip.

I like to do hot yoga and swimming for exercise and have done so for several years. It always helps me to keep moving.

However, I had a knee flare up over the summer that kept me near bedridden for about a month, and since, when I exercise, I get really sore in my hip. I end up limping around in pain for like 3-4 days after until the hip calms down. Then I’m fine. But when I do one of these exercises, the hip issue returns.

Seems like it’s my hip flexor that’s the problem, especially when my leg gets lifted really high or maybe from frog kicks when swimming breast stroke and even straight kicks from crawl.

I’ve done PT in the past for the hip, and have been trying to work on some hip strengthening exercises in the past few weeks, and while I feel ok doing them, once I get back to yoga/swimming the soreness returns.

Any tips? It’s driving me nuts, as exercise has been so important to me recently and makes me feel so much better overall, but with this hip thing, I’m scared to do it, and then I’m feeling all sorts of aches and pains from not exercising, and then my hip gets all sore when I do. Thoughts?

My monthly Simponi shots weren't working for my RA so we're onto weekly Tocilizumab shots (how do you even pronounce that???)

Anyone else on it? Successes or failures? Noticable side effects? I'm very nervous but desperate for some relief.

Finally. After about 12ish years, I finally have a diagnosis. I was told today that I have RA. I've been through multiple GI doctors and rheumatologists over the years and it has been so fucking frustrating. Over the last year or so I have been on a downward spiral with my health problems escalating to levels that have been unbearable. My rheumatologist that thought it might be lupus or sjogrens, up and left the practice and I was transferred to another doctor. Initially I found his demeanor a little off-putting but he seemed to believe me and started over again with tests (yay/boo?). He is the first doctor to ever think to run an RA panel. Surprise! I have RA. It feels weird to be "happy?" I feel like finally there is a path forward to feeling better. I also feel vindicated. SO many doctors have told me it's anxiety or stress and sent me on my way. I'm also angry because I suffered for so long because no one took me seriously. I'm sure a lot of people here can unfortunately relate. This sub seems like a helpful place and I am glad that I found it. <3

Every time I sit or hold something, I feel like I’m doing it with my bones. as if there’s no tissue there, and when I’m sitting, I can feel my hip bones against the seat, and I haven’t really found much online about what I’m feeling.

Hi all! I’m a 22 year old with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, hyper mobility, and some developing connective tissue disorders. I am struggling to find boots/shoes that will be sportive of my arch and good on my knees. I end up buying fancy runny shoes, but I keep longing for something cuter and comfortable. Does anyone have any brands/companies they recommend??

Hello community, thank you in advance for always be there to help, I’m curious did anyone have dry eyes and mouth also stuffy nose, I’m been having that for a while since my diagnosis and is like is always something coming out of my sinus, what do you guys do to deal with it is driving me crazy another thing is anxiety what do you guys do to deal with it any help will be appreciated../ Thank you