Hi, I am waiting for Insurance Approval, (RNY) and therefore do not yet have a date. I was just wondering if anyone has had a problem with Gout? I am hoping after the surgery, and get my weight down, it will calm down a bit. I believe I have had it for quite awhile, and just didn't know it. With every pound I gain, it gets worse. I was told that Gout is the first step to Arthritis. The doctor prescribed 30mg a day of allopurinol, and it helps, but boy is it still there. My toes sometimes are almost unbearable. I am just hoping someone out there has had my problem, and can give me some insite.....Thanks, Judy

I've had surgery on my right big toe. What I thought was a bunion was actually arthuritis. The surgeon I had, put me under, broke my toe, scraped the arthuritis, then put two pins in criss cross. 6 weeks later, I went in and had the 2 pins removed. Gotta admit that it was kinda painfull, and I admit to living off of percocet for about 3 days there, but boy am I ever gratefull now. I couldn't even walk before no matter what kind of shoes I wore. And now I don't have any pain what so ever now in my right foot when I walk. Now I am looking forward to having my left toe done. My surgeon told me that is how arthuritis starts, usually in the feet and travels up. I did not want to have knee replacements like my mom did, and she also had what she thought was bunions. Another word of advice if you choose to have surgery. Go to the chiropractor a few weeks before and tell them what you are having done, I found that by working the muscles in the back and legs, sure speeded up the recovery.

I take a combo of Palquenil and Azulphidin(enteric coated). It takes about 3 weeks to fully kick in, but it works great for me. Also, warm water movements in a therapeutic pool, keep my aunt, who is much worse symptomatically than me, going.

Well I am going to have WLS at UCLA if they can ever get their act together. However, I have gone to the preoperative classes and they are very emphatic about ANY NSAID including aspirin. As in NEVER CAN TAKE IT AGAIN! I am not sure how I feel about that. I know my OA hurts like bloody hell when I don't take my Vioxx. And I happen to know a number of folks who have had their surgeries done at Methodist Hospital in Arcadia, CA and that particular group of docs has said to one gal anyway wait until you are completely healed and then take Vioxx and Pepcid with your lunch. That sounds sensible to me. Arthritis doesn't go away just because you lose weight, just doesn't hurt quite as much at times. Soooo, I'm gonna have to have a chat with a rheumatologist/pain management type person. As soon as I get a date from UCLA I will have to stop taking the Vioxx until after the surgery which means I will be taking more narcotic pain medication...I have to take both in order to have a quality of life. Soooo, I don't know if I have given you hope or not. There is a very interesting pain management board at Harvard Medical School Neurological Forum. You might learn something juicy there. Good luck Grace

Hi, I am pre-op for Lap band. I wanted RNY but due to my RA meds it was not an option at this time. I have RA/OA/fibro. I am on Methotrexate injections, Enbrel injections, Bextra and occasionally prednisone. I started on Arava and it worked great for the first year after Dx and then my RA got worst....so doc added MTX. Its the MTX which is a chemo drug. It robs me of B-vit leaving me with all the side effects, nausea, vomiting, mouth sores, eye sores and diarrhea. I don't know what the answer is but long term pred use it not it!!! You will become dependent on pred. this is one of the reasons I stay away from it. Has your doc tried to control your RA with one of the Biologic DMARDS such as Enbrel, Humira, Kinert or Remicaide. Enbrel has made a big difference for me though it needs the help of MTX. I take Enbrel injections twice weekly and take my MTX injection once a week. I am hoping once I am post op and get some weight off I will see some improvement. Prednisone is good when things get out of hand and you need to calm it down but not for long term use. My doc and I argued about this and I won! Not to mention it does rob you of bone mass over long periods of time. Even if you take calcium/vit D suppliments! Antoinette