Hi Stacey,  I too found out last September that I have RA. The rhumy put me on 5 mg of prednisone.. I take that first thing in the morning and it does work-actually they say its the drug we love to hate-its because it does work but some of the side effects are bad.. and its a bit of a reason that I have put my weight loss on the back burner. I gained about 1 lbs with this drug but boy does it keep the pain at bay! He also put me on plaquenil, I noticed that if i dont take it at my scheduled time, I start feeling a bit achey and once I take it, I feel better. There are lots of  meds out on the market.. its up to you if you want injections, pills or rather go the natural route. Are you on any meds? Irene

in getting SSDI for your arthritis? Mine is just showing up and my hands and arms hurt like mad!! I use my arms and hands in my trade but this is making it impossible for me.

There are so many choices.  They depend on how severe your RA is, how early it was caught, how much pain you have, AND what surgery you had.  i have had Psoratic Arthritis, a rare form of RA, for 15 years.  in that time i have taken a plethura of drugs that either stopped working after a time, had side effects i couldn't handel any longer, or I developed life threatening allergies to after having taken for 10 months.  My current combination is Celebrex, Immuran, and Enbrel.  I am still pre-op however, and know that i may have to make changes again when i become post-op, but all my Dr's work together very well, so i am not worried about that. The best advice would be to get a Rheumatologist who will work with your surgeon and PCP to find the right drug or drugs for you.

I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.  My doctor put me on liquid vicodin.  It only seems to work for a couple of hours and then the pain has returned.  If you have Rheumatoid Arthritis what do you take for long lasting pain medicine?


Thanks
Stacey

I live in Colorado, and have had Psoriatic Arthrits for 15 years.  YES!!!!  weather plays a huge role in the pain levels.  When the berimetric pressure, humidity levels, and temperatures are unstable you will feel more pain in your joints.  In my case the two worst seasons are Spring and Fall.  that is when the weather here is the MOST dynamic and changable.  I was in massive pain the other day because a front came through and the temp droped from 70 to 45 in 1 hour.  The best thing you can do is ensure your affected joints do not become cold (they hurt more when they get cold) and also force yourself to keep using the joint, even when it  hurts,.  not using it can ultimatly cause more problems than using it does. As far as not needing the meds in Florida, that is also true in my experience.  for me it was a combination of a more stable weather pattern in Florida than what was happening at home and a warmer temperature that made me not hurt as bad, but then of course I overdid the exercise because I was feeling so good and ended up in pain anyway.