RE: Re: couple o' questions

[Guest guest]

Hi Analia,

Your husband needs to realize that he will probably now never be drug free.

All you can hope for is to lessen the medications he will have to take

between flareups.

When the flareup settle down, he may be able to do light stretching,

exercises, and have light medications, instead which will may him happy. I

don't know if you have the option like I did to go to a pain management

clinic.

Your husband is really in denial, hoping if he really does not face these

problems they will go away. My husband was like this for a long long time,

it took a lot of patience, and counselling for him to realize the true

picture of my illness. This was not overnight it has been years bit by bit

reaching him.

He was always looking for a cure for me. Finally I explain to him without

his support it was impossible for me to fight the everending problems I face

everyday with my Arthritisis.

We had couple counselling sessions and a lot of communication needed to be

between us, he has finally come to know that the fight is hard and we need

to be strong holding together to cope with the health concerns.

I did not get my husband to this stage alone, I had counselling on my own,

which I think you need yourself to help you work out ways for you to cope.

The one watching has just as bad a path to follow, watching your love one in

pain is the most terrible thing, and not knowing what to do. You need

stress relief, (you always needed looking after) and have methods to help

you too, otherwise your health can be at risks.

Please try and get him of some kind of pain relief. Methotrexate is only to

fight the inflamatory and does not help with the pain. With your husband

going without pain relief he is only making the recovery harder. A body

under very high levels of pain is at risks of other health concerns.

The fatigue and fogging is not coming from the Tramadol but the flareup.

>You wrote:He figures that his temperature changes and itchy-twitchies are

>due to

>his weaning off the Tramadol and that they will go away in time.

The temperature changes are the flareup, they would get better when the

flareup is under control.

I know what I say to let your husband for a while decided what he whats to

do, you will not help him unless he whats to help himself. Pain will push

him to the limit. Sometimes in the early stages of Arthritis, some people

get the (I can cope alone............. but he will realize that he needs you

and other professional people to help him.

My support on e-mail is there whenever you need to vent, to talk, ask any

questions, this path for me has been a long journey of thirty or fourty

years trying so many methods and if I can be of any help at all.

You wrote:Which has more long-term health risks? Prednisolone or

Methotrexate?

This is a hard questions to answer, Pred. was no good for me. So far 20

months down the path Meth. is working for me, but things can change at any

time. I had no choice but to go on Meth. no other method work for me. For

your doctor to prescribe Pred. and Meth. your husband Arthritis is not in

the early stages, these are not the usual starting medications, so they must

think he needs them.

If you husband does not like the options the doctors have given him, he

needs to explain his fears, about medications, or doing it without

medications, I am sure they will explain to him when in a flareup,

medications are needed to stop future health concerns.

Bye Lyn