Got a bit over confident having felt in tiptop condition for as long as I 
could remember and decided to sack my last remaining med, the MTX.

All was fine for about 3 weeks but then I began to feel a bit stiff so I 
resumed it on a lower dose than previous.  Now I've got a bit of a knuckle 
and a bit of an ankle: nothing like as bad as the old days, but still a 
little bit dispiritng.

Still - anyone who's just been diagnosed with RA and is feeling despondent 
about the future: don't fret.  The meds *can* work for you.

Cheers

AF

I get like that, and wonder if I could do without all the treatments.  But 
then I remember what I was like when I had to give up Enbrel and mtx for 4-6 
weeks for both my knee operations.

First op, I have them up 3 weeks before, and when I went into hospital I 
thought "hey, this is okay - I feel fine".  However it has a delayed 
effect - you give up and it takes a few weeks for it to clear the system I 
think.

Then, when I started taking the meds again a couple of weeks after the ops, 
it took 3 to 4 weeks before they started working again.

I think  you can get a bit over confident when you feel quite well.  Sorry 
to hear you've been through a blip!

Jayne
"Alan Fisher"  wrote in message 
news:r4ednfbi07FhfhrXnZ2dnUVZ8kydnZ2d@brightview.com...
> Got a bit over confident having felt in tiptop condition for as long as I 
> could remember and decided to sack my last remaining med, the MTX.
>
> All was fine for about 3 weeks but then I began to feel a bit stiff so I 
> resumed it on a lower dose than previous.  Now I've got a bit of a knuckle 
> and a bit of an ankle: nothing like as bad as the old days, but still a 
> little bit dispiritng.
>
> Still - anyone who's just been diagnosed with RA and is feeling despondent 
> about the future: don't fret.  The meds *can* work for you.
>
> Cheers
>
> AF
>

"Alan Fisher"  wrote in message 
news:r4ednfbi07FhfhrXnZ2dnUVZ8kydnZ2d@brightview.com...
> Got a bit over confident having felt in tiptop condition for as long as I 
> could remember and decided to sack my last remaining med, the MTX.
>> CheerAF

Hope you are feeling better now. :)

I have the weekly enbrel injection and 17.5 mtx a week. I would like to 
take less Mtx but have accepted that I need that dosage .
 alison

"Alison"  wrote in message 
news:7g6qoeF2mhd75U1@mid.individual.net...
>> Got a bit over confident having felt in tiptop condition for as long as I 
>> could remember and decided to sack my last remaining med, the MTX.
>>> CheerAF
>
> Hope you are feeling better now. :)
>
> I have the weekly enbrel injection and 17.5 mtx a week. I would like to 
> take less Mtx but have accepted that I need that dosage .
> alison

Thanks Alison, yeah I'm fine.  There wasn't any pain or anything: it was 
just that as I hadn't felt even the slightest twinge in as long as I could 
remember I hoped I could quit the last remaining med and carry on with no 
ill effect.  I suppose I was hoping to be able to think that I'd beaten RA. 
However, this is not the case.

All was fine for about 10-14 days and then my body started giving me some 
hints.  The signals were small but clear enough: I went to pick up something 
fairly heavy (I work at a leadworks) and as I spread my hands to grasp the 
weight I felt the little warnings in my wrists that all of you know well 
enough; another day I went to the pallet stack, picked one up and lofted it 
overhead as usual, but this time I could feel every bone and muscle 
beginning to complain.  "Aha", I thought, "I recognise this".  So I resumed 
MTX, on a lower dose than previous, and all's well again.

It's not much of a story, I know, but I decided to tell it because I'm sure 
newly-diagnosed people must look in here and I hoped to reassure them that 
things needn't be as awful as they imagine.

Cheers

AF

In article , Alan
Fisher  scribeth thus
>
>"Alison"  wrote in message 
>news:7g6qoeF2mhd75U1@mid.individual.net...
>>> Got a bit over confident having felt in tiptop condition for as long as I 
>>> could remember and decided to sack my last remaining med, the MTX.
>>>> CheerAF
>>
>> Hope you are feeling better now. :)
>>
>> I have the weekly enbrel injection and 17.5 mtx a week. I would like to 
>> take less Mtx but have accepted that I need that dosage .
>> alison
>
>Thanks Alison, yeah I'm fine.  There wasn't any pain or anything: it was 
>just that as I hadn't felt even the slightest twinge in as long as I could 
>remember I hoped I could quit the last remaining med and carry on with no 
>ill effect.  I suppose I was hoping to be able to think that I'd beaten RA. 
>However, this is not the case.
>
>All was fine for about 10-14 days and then my body started giving me some 
>hints.  The signals were small but clear enough: I went to pick up something 
>fairly heavy (I work at a leadworks) and as I spread my hands to grasp the 
>weight I felt the little warnings in my wrists that all of you know well 
>enough; another day I went to the pallet stack, picked one up and lofted it 
>overhead as usual, but this time I could feel every bone and muscle 
>beginning to complain.  "Aha", I thought, "I recognise this".  So I resumed 
>MTX, on a lower dose than previous, and all's well again.
>
>It's not much of a story, I know, but I decided to tell it because I'm sure 
>newly-diagnosed people must look in here and I hoped to reassure them that 
>things needn't be as awful as they imagine.
>
>Cheers
>
>AF 
>
>
Bloody hell a Leadworks!?, that stuff is seriously heavy with a big H!..

Take it the old back is OK?. Saw someone heaving a very large UPS
Uninteruptible Power Supply around the other day. Mind you bloke was a
body builder and weightlifter made my poor old back twinge more than a 
bit just seeing it!..


Now you mind how U go with that stuff;!..

Cheers..
-- 
Tony Sayer

"Alan Fisher"  writes:
>It's not much of a story, I know, but I decided to tell it because I'm sure 
>newly-diagnosed people must look in here and I hoped to reassure them that 
>things needn't be as awful as they imagine.

i'm pretty well controlled (celebrex and azathioprine), but one of my
knees started swelling yesterday while i was driving back from my
mother's place (about 100 mile trip).  since i also suffer muscle
spasms in my buttocks while driving, my wife was concerned at my
tetchiness when i got home.  (and the fact that i was double-limping
with aching right buttock and painful left knee.)

i've got to do a lot of this, too: mother (rising 87) is really
rather ill, and at a mere 100 miles i'm equal nearest offspring.
fortunately an able-bodied friend is in for an extended visit later
this week so my next trip won't be until the end of the month.
-- 
Robin Fairbairns, Cambridge

"tony sayer"  wrote in message 
news:FaiSoXAQ$koKFwy$@bancom.co.uk...
> Bloody hell a Leadworks!?, that stuff is seriously heavy with a big H!..
>
> Take it the old back is OK?. Saw someone heaving a very large UPS
> Uninteruptible Power Supply around the other day. Mind you bloke was a
> body builder and weightlifter made my poor old back twinge more than a
> bit just seeing it!..
>
>
> Now you mind how U go with that stuff;!..
>
It is, by-our-lady heavy, but here's something you might not know about 
lead: it also by-our-lady hurts when you knock yourself against it, and then 
it hurts again, a bit more.

Like this:

a) man bumps his knee against a wooden table: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
SSSSssssssss. Damn!" (rubs knee.)

b) man bumps his knee against metal-but-not-lead-thing: (see [a])

c) man bumps his knee against thing made from lead: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
SSSSssssssss. Damn! (rubs knee).(pause) OW!  (rubs knee again). OW, sodding 
OW OW AHHHHHH!! (rubs knee again, muttering bad words and glaring at lead 
thing).

and so on.  It's possible that you didn't really need that little 
exampley-type-explanation, I suppose, but I thought it might add a little 
colour.

I took a temping job at the leadworks in 2003, which was my first year back 
in employment after nearly four years on disability.  Previously I'd always 
worked in offices, but was struggling to find a job, especially with RA on 
my CV.  It was my fifth tempy job in about eight months and when they asked 
if I'd consider signing up permanently I jumped at it, thinking that a 
couple of years in a leadworks would reassure any future employer that the 
RA couldn't be seen as a problem any more.

And I'm still there, and I do believe it's played a part in my recovery. 
When I started there I'd test myself a bit, seeing what I could lift and 
paying close attention to any signals my body might give out, and as it 
never gave any, I kept doing it.  And you know how it is - you have to move 
something from A to B, and you can either wait five minutes to borrow the 
overhead crane or you can just pick it up yourself: you often just pick the 
damn thing up, don't you?

So I'm a bit butch, nowadays.  (Flexes muscles, women swoon).

:oD

Cheers

AF

"Alan Fisher"  writes:
>"tony sayer"  wrote ...
>> Bloody hell a Leadworks!?, that stuff is seriously heavy with a big H!..
>>
>> Take it the old back is OK?. Saw someone heaving a very large UPS
>> Uninteruptible Power Supply around the other day. Mind you bloke was a
>> body builder and weightlifter made my poor old back twinge more than a
>> bit just seeing it!..
>>
>>
>> Now you mind how U go with that stuff;!..
>
>It is, by-our-lady heavy, but here's something you might not know about 
>lead: it also by-our-lady hurts when you knock yourself against it, and then 
>it hurts again, a bit more.
>
>Like this:
>
>a) man bumps his knee against a wooden table: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
>SSSSssssssss. Damn!" (rubs knee.)
>
>b) man bumps his knee against metal-but-not-lead-thing: (see [a])
>
>c) man bumps his knee against thing made from lead: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
>SSSSssssssss. Damn! (rubs knee).(pause) OW!  (rubs knee again). OW, sodding 
>OW OW AHHHHHH!! (rubs knee again, muttering bad words and glaring at lead 
>thing).
>
>and so on.  It's possible that you didn't really need that little 
>exampley-type-explanation, I suppose, but I thought it might add a little 
>colour.
>
>I took a temping job at the leadworks in 2003, which was my first year back 
>in employment after nearly four years on disability.  Previously I'd always 
>worked in offices, but was struggling to find a job, especially with RA on 
>my CV.  It was my fifth tempy job in about eight months and when they asked 
>if I'd consider signing up permanently I jumped at it, thinking that a 
>couple of years in a leadworks would reassure any future employer that the 
>RA couldn't be seen as a problem any more.
>
>And I'm still there, and I do believe it's played a part in my recovery. 
>When I started there I'd test myself a bit, seeing what I could lift and 
>paying close attention to any signals my body might give out, and as it 
>never gave any, I kept doing it.  And you know how it is - you have to move 
>something from A to B, and you can either wait five minutes to borrow the 
>overhead crane or you can just pick it up yourself: you often just pick the 
>damn thing up, don't you?
>
>So I'm a bit butch, nowadays.  (Flexes muscles, women swoon).
>
>:oD

i larfed at that (quietly, as you do when there's someone else in the
room).  then i read it to my wife.  she laughed out loud.

tell me, mr fisher, would i be as funny as you if i had ra rather than
mere pa?
-- 
Robin Fairbairns, Cambridge

In article , Alan
Fisher  scribeth thus
>
>"tony sayer"  wrote in message 
>news:FaiSoXAQ$koKFwy$@bancom.co.uk...
>> Bloody hell a Leadworks!?, that stuff is seriously heavy with a big H!..
>>
>> Take it the old back is OK?. Saw someone heaving a very large UPS
>> Uninteruptible Power Supply around the other day. Mind you bloke was a
>> body builder and weightlifter made my poor old back twinge more than a
>> bit just seeing it!..
>>
>>
>> Now you mind how U go with that stuff;!..
>>
>It is, by-our-lady heavy, but here's something you might not know about 
>lead: it also by-our-lady hurts when you knock yourself against it, and then 
>it hurts again, a bit more.
>
>Like this:
>
>a) man bumps his knee against a wooden table: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
>SSSSssssssss. Damn!" (rubs knee.)
>
>b) man bumps his knee against metal-but-not-lead-thing: (see [a])
>
>c) man bumps his knee against thing made from lead: "AHHHHHHH - OW OW OW. 
>SSSSssssssss. Damn! (rubs knee).(pause) OW!  (rubs knee again). OW, sodding 
>OW OW AHHHHHH!! (rubs knee again, muttering bad words and glaring at lead 
>thing).
>
>and so on.  It's possible that you didn't really need that little 
>exampley-type-explanation, I suppose, but I thought it might add a little 
>colour.
>
>I took a temping job at the leadworks in 2003, which was my first year back 
>in employment after nearly four years on disability.  Previously I'd always 
>worked in offices, but was struggling to find a job, especially with RA on 
>my CV.  It was my fifth tempy job in about eight months and when they asked 
>if I'd consider signing up permanently I jumped at it, thinking that a 
>couple of years in a leadworks would reassure any future employer that the 
>RA couldn't be seen as a problem any more.
>
>And I'm still there, and I do believe it's played a part in my recovery. 
>When I started there I'd test myself a bit, seeing what I could lift and 
>paying close attention to any signals my body might give out, and as it 
>never gave any, I kept doing it.  And you know how it is - you have to move 
>something from A to B, and you can either wait five minutes to borrow the 
>overhead crane or you can just pick it up yourself: you often just pick the 
>damn thing up, don't you?
>
>So I'm a bit butch, nowadays.  (Flexes muscles, women swoon).
>

Might try throwing some lead around before long if it has that sorta
effect;))..
>:oD
>
>Cheers
>
>AF 
>
>

-- 
Tony Sayer

"Robin Fairbairns"  wrote in message 
news:h841vs$3v2$1@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk...
> "Alan Fisher"  writes:
>>"tony sayer"  wrote ...

snip
>>When I started there I'd test myself a bit, seeing what I could lift and
>>paying close attention to any signals my body might give out, and as it
>>never gave any, I kept doing it.  And you know how it is - you have to 
>>move
>>something from A to B, and you can either wait five minutes to borrow the
>>overhead crane or you can just pick it up yourself: you often just pick 
>>the
>>damn thing up, don't you?
>>

I've had that problem for years, and have two grabber thingies in 
strategically placed positions. It's finding the blasted things that cause 
the problem lol

Splodge

"tony sayer"  wrote in message 
news:z7OPgEInN3pKFwPZ@bancom.co.uk...
> In article , Alan
> Fisher  scribeth thus
>>
> Might try throwing some lead around before long if it has that sorta
> effect;))..
>>:oD
>>

Yeh, I do that too!  Only little bits, mind, offcuts and rejected pieces 
etc.  No more than 20kg ish. One *could* carry them safely to the scrap 
bins, or one could look around to make sure nobody's around, and then chuck 
them instead.  Massive elfun safety issue if you're caught, obviously.

There's a point to what I'm posting here, by the way: like everything else, 
it's all about confidence.  When I started work there, although I was in 
decent physical condition considering what I (like all of us) had been 
through, I couldn't lift anything heavy.  I remember one day we had to 
restack some pallets with boxes of weathering slates, and I joined in with 
the tedious task.  As I heaved a box on to the top of a stack, someone asked 
me while I was smiling, and I said "a few years ago I couldn't open a jar of 
coffee - this is brilliant fun!", and he said I could stack his boxes as 
well if I liked, so I told him to go forth and multiply.

I haven't actually got ripply muscles, I should say.  I've just put on two 
and a half stone, most of it across my shoulders.  The downside is that in 
some clothes I look like I have man-boobs - small and perfectly-formed ones, 
of course - but they're muscle.  Yes they are.  They ARE. Honest.   :o)

Cheers

AF

"Robin Fairbairns"  wrote in message 
news:h841vs$3v2$1@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk...
> "Alan Fisher"  writes:
>>"tony sayer"  wrote ...
>
> tell me, mr fisher, would i be as funny as you if i had ra rather than
> mere pa?
> -- 

I wonder how many people read that and thought "O God Rob don't encourage 
him!!"?

Heh heh.

Cheers

AF