Rheumatoid Arthritis Community

Hi, I joined today and no one in my family or any of my friends have ra. They seem understand to a point, but then either they get angry that I "always dont feel good" or they make jokes. I wish one day, they could walk (or try to walk) in my shoes and see how this feels. I was diagnosed 3 years ago with ra, and my rheumy aggressively medicated me. Folic acid, methotrexate, enbrel, prednisone - everything worked great at first and it was as though the ra had disappeared. I did not care about side effects or health problems from any of these medications, I was just happy to be me again. But then, the flare ups started. It felt like I had a broken wrist, ankle and fingers. The only good thing about this disease was losing weight. But then my rheumy increased the prednisone which helped but it also increased my appetite. It was funny to see who would win, my stomach that was always hungry or my legs that could not walk to the kitchen because they felt paralyzed. A couple of months ago my doctor switched me from enbrel to cimzia because the enbrel seemed to stop working. I guess its too early, but i dont feel any benefit from the cimzia. I stand on my feet all day at work and do not want to quit and collect disability because of this. Even though some days its painful, I enjoy being out of the house and being around people who make me laugh. The flare ups come back more often than before. Right now, my ankle is swollen, my knee is so swollen that I cant bend it, and my fingers, three are swollen. Also feeling like I have the flu never stops. I dont sleep well because its hard to find a comfortable position. Has anyone been on cimzia or what medications have helped? I am 53 but feel like I am 103.