RE: ReItrivia but something to pass the time

[Guest guest]

I am sorry that you are having so much

trouble getting your RA (or whatever) controlled and diagnosed. I do

believe that control is much more important than diagnosis but the diagnosis

helps to determine what is needed for control. Many of the possible diagnoses

can be treated the same way so getting effective treatment is most important.

Minocycline is an effective treatment for

many people with RA, but no treatment is successful for everyone. Minocycline

often takes longer than other RA medications so if you were on it for less than

six months it may still work for you. I’ve never been on it but I’ve

read a lot about it and am quite impressed with it. Also because of the

Herxheimer effect you may experience more trouble when starting antibiotic

therapy before the benefits set in.

I can understand your reluctance to take

Plaquenil but I do think you should call the doctor who prescribed it to see if

you can get some other prescription instead. Part of the diagnostic

process is often finding out how you react to certain medications so it is

important to let your doctor know if you are not taking medications as

prescribed or if a medication is not functioning as expected. Plaquenil

is often the first medication given for RA because it has fewer and milder side

effects than some other medications tried for RA.

RA Criteria (Any 4 qualify for positive diagnosis)

1. Morning stiffness, lasting for at least an hour, present daily for

at least 6 weeks

2. Arthritis of 3 or more joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

3. Arthritis of the hand joints, lasting for at least 6 weeks

4. Symmetric arthritis, lasting for at least 6 weeks

5. Rheumatoid nodules

6. Positive rheumatoid factor (blood test)

7. Joint changes on x-ray

The above criteria were developed by the American College of Rheumatology for diagnosing

RA. As you can see it is sufficiently variable and hard to diagnose that

there is no sure test to either diagnose or exclude RA. If you have four

or more of them then it is likely that you have RA but you could have other

things in addition. Unfortunately when our immune systems get out of

whack they can lead to a variety of diseases.

I’m not medically trained so the

above is only my opinion and it all needs to be checked out with your

doctors. God bless.

From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of eileen lavin

Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006

9:02 AM

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Subject:

ReItrivia but something to pass the time

I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor. I get so many

of those kinds of jokes or trivia on my regular email. Like I said I am

new to this. I am not even sure I have RA. I am scared. I

have seen so many doctors and yet I don't have a definite diagnosis. My

family think I am a hypochondriac. So when I see that other people are

dealing with this, it helps me. I won't always respond but I check

when I see the Rheumatoid_arthritis@,.com

on my email and when I see the same stuff that I can get from trivia.com

I am disappointed. I am going to see a Dr. Rosenstein in

Livingston NJ ... on Oct 17. I am hoping he can

tell me what I have. If it is RA then I will have to deal with

it. Right now the rheumatologist tried giving me minocycline which did

n't help me and now he is prescribing! plaquenil but i didn't fill the

prescription because my eyes are bothering me and one of the side effects is

vision problems. My two favorite things to do in this world are dancing

and reading which are both being affected by this whatever it is .. At first I

was told Fibromyalgia, Chronic fatique, Epstein Barr, Allergies, Sinusitis, or

and even " Menopause " . All I know is this is taking over my life

and I guess yes my sense of humor. Thanks for your response. Again

I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor , or at least I used to.

Get your email and more, right on the new

.com

[Guest guest]

Dear Eileen- Dry eyes can be a side effect of RA. Plaquenil if prescribed might actually help that, not hurt it. I have taken plaquenil for over 12 years now and have never had a problem. You should have your eyes checked by an eye specialist once every few years. It took almost a year for my RA to test positive. I was told I had lupus and was given prednisone and plaquenil right away and while it helped for a bit, I realized I didnt have lupus but my bodys sed rate or inflammtion rate was so high because of the RA they thought I had. If your ANA titre is testing positive and your sed rate is high and you are having severe joint swelling, it doesnt take a magician to know you probably have either RA or another immunological connective tissue disorder similar to it. Keep hanging in there. Hugs, Deborah RA Since 3/94 diagnosed 2/95

On 10/1/06, eileen lavin <eileen_lavin@...> wrote:

I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor. I get so many of those kinds of jokes or trivia on my regular email. Like I said I am new to this. I am not even sure I have RA. I am scared. I have seen so many doctors and yet I don't have a definite diagnosis. My family think I am a hypochondriac. So when I see that other people are dealing with this, it helps me. I won't always respond but I check when I see the Rheumatoid_arthritis@,.com on my email and when I see the same stuff that I can get from

trivia.com I am disappointed. I am going to see a Dr. Rosenstein in Livingston NJ ... on Oct 17. I am hoping he can tell me what I have. If it is RA then I will have to deal with it. Right now the rheumatologist tried giving me minocycline which did n't help me and now he is prescribing plaquenil but i didn't fill the prescription because my eyes are bothering me and one of the side effects is vision problems. My two favorite things to do in this world are dancing and reading which are both being affected by this whatever it is .. At first I was told Fibromyalgia, Chronic fatique, Epstein Barr, Allergies, Sinusitis, or and even " Menopause " . All I know is this is taking over my life and I guess yes my sense of humor. Thanks for your response. Again I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor , or at least I used to.

Get your email and more, right on the new .com

[Guest guest]

Eileen,

I have taken plaquenil for almost two years too. It took a while to work, but I have had NO side effects. Although the doctor has added sulphasalazine this last month, I have still had no side effects. I am quite grateful that I am able to be stabilized at this level for now. I have eye exams, but no problems. They told me I would not notice any eye differences, that is why you need to be checked, because it is not noticeable. T

-----Original Message-----From: Rheumatoid Arthritis [mailto:Rheumatoid Arthritis ] On Behalf Of Deborah BargadSent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 4:28 PMRheumatoid Arthritis Subject: Re: ReItrivia but something to pass the time

Dear Eileen- Dry eyes can be a side effect of RA. Plaquenil if prescribed might actually help that, not hurt it. I have taken plaquenil for over 12 years now and have never had a problem. You should have your eyes checked by an eye specialist once every few years. It took almost a year for my RA to test positive. I was told I had lupus and was given prednisone and plaquenil right away and while it helped for a bit, I realized I didnt have lupus but my bodys sed rate or inflammtion rate was so high because of the RA they thought I had. If your ANA titre is testing positive and your sed rate is high and you are having severe joint swelling, it doesnt take a magician to know you probably have either RA or another immunological connective tissue disorder similar to it. Keep hanging in there. Hugs, Deborah RA Since 3/94 diagnosed 2/95

On 10/1/06, eileen lavin <eileen_lavin > wrote:

I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor. I get so many of those kinds of jokes or trivia on my regular email. Like I said I am new to this. I am not even sure I have RA. I am scared. I have seen so many doctors and yet I don't have a definite diagnosis. My family think I am a hypochondriac. So when I see that other people are dealing with this, it helps me. I won't always respond but I check when I see the Rheumatoid_arthritis@,.com on my email and when I see the same stuff that I can get from trivia.com I am disappointed. I am going to see a Dr. Rosenstein in Livingston NJ ... on Oct 17. I am hoping he can tell me what I have. If it is RA then I will have to deal with it. Right now the rheumatologist tried giving me minocycline which did n't help me and now he is prescribing plaquenil but i didn't fill the prescription because my eyes are bothering me and one of the side effects is vision problems. My two favorite things to do in this world are dancing and reading which are both being affected by this whatever it is .. At first I was told Fibromyalgia, Chronic fatique, Epstein Barr, Allergies, Sinusitis, or and even "Menopause". All I know is this is taking over my life and I guess yes my sense of humor. Thanks for your response. Again I am not offended and I do have a sense of humor , or at least I used to.

Get your email and more, right on the new .com

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