Arthritis Help Center
Rheumatoid arthritis?
I have a heart condition 3 heart stents and rheumatoid arthritis. Because of my heart they say they cant give me anything but pain medicine. I take a pain pill every morning before i can get out of bed plus steroid shot once a month. Is there anything safe out there to take besides pain pills.
Public Comments
- Do you suffer from Marfan syndrome, a hearth condition often associated with a rheumatic disease?
If you could avoid steroid injections (cortisone), it would be better for you as there are severe adverse effects to cortisone.
NSAIDs like Voltaren, COX-2 inhibitors like Celebrex, DMARDs like Azulfidine EN-tabs (sulfasalazine) and Methotrexate, acetaminophen like Tylenol, and codeine are all used to relieve the pain and inflammation of arthritis.
Regular exercise like walking, biking and swimming are also helpful for most patients. Make sure that you are not overweight as carrying too much weight can only increase your pain.
I would ask for a second opinion from an Orthopaedist. I don't think that steroid injections are good for anyone. An Orthopaedist will order blood tests, joint scans and X-Rays to confirm his diagnosis.
Lyme disease is a possibility. Ask your doctor to test you for the bacteria causing Lyme disease.
Are there any other cases of arthritis or rheumatic diseases among your relatives? Chronic arthritis is usually prevalent in families where a defective gene is passed on by parents to their children.
There are a few hundred types of arthritis and rheumatic diseases. The good news is that science is progressing rapidly in its understanding of rheumatic diseases.
Antibiotics are now used to achieve full remissions for at least 40%, if not 65% of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Other rheumatic conditions are also treated with antibiotics. For more info, please join our group at:
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ant... - Have you tried Glucosamine joint food?, it comes in tablet or powder form and you can buy it from the pharmacy or health food shop.
- Yoga and Pranayam are very promising to cure pain even in cancer patients. u can surely do pranayam which are breathing exercises , without any ill effect. Yoga u can do under proper guidance and just doing selected asanas will help you for sure. People have experienced relief of pain caused due to many diseases. And there are no side effects. Only you have to take care while doing yogasanas.
Lot of information is available on Internet . India is best place where you can learn the proper and original technique .
You can give it a chance.
