Symptoms

[mishb]

So some say if life throws you lemon, make lemonade... Well, think I will add some stevia, squeeze of ginger, crushed mint and a shot of two of bellvedere and shake it with ice and serve it to myself this evening.

I can't have lemons anymore, they cause my hands and/or ankles to swell and have days of pain, about two hours after having even a taste. Does this happen to anyone else? it is like the lemon (or any citrus for that matter) has just bought on a RA flare. Rheumy says it shouldn't do this but we have tested it and it is definately citrus that is one of the factors.

Michelle

[gwenllian111]

Interesting! When I have fluid retention, I can 99% guarantee that i'm having, or about to have, a flare up!

I will try dandelion tea - thank you very much for the tip, Gwen xx

[gwenllian111]

I have some water retention but I have even worse fat retention.

I do take a diuretic, though. Now I just need a fat-uretic.

LOL Sangye!!! Me too!! xx

[manalolana]

Manalolana, what test are you refering to about the Imuran?

Yes. And my regular blood test.

[manalolana]

[/QUOTE]
It's wonderful if you can use dandelion tea to manage the water retention--much safer than prescription diuretics. Mine is too severe for that and even prescription diuretics only remove some of it.[/QUOTE]

I use both. Also go to sauna almost every day to stretch and sweat it out. I used to go to sauna for regular stretching and detoxing but now, I try to go every day. It really helps me.

[Red]

Hi everyone i was wondering if sauna will work for weight gain pred me 45 lbs

[Sangye]

I would not recommend going to a sauna. In Eastern medicine, inflammatory diseases are considered to be due to an excess of the Fire element. Saunas or hot water might feel good but they will deepen the imbalance and can cause the disease to worsen or flare.

When I'm able to get to the public pool I love to finish by going in the hot tub. It keeps me from getting chilled on the way to the locker room. However, I can't stay in it longer than 5 mins (timed) or the joint pain goes wild within an hour. This is true even when the Wegs has been in remission. So I go in the pool, then 5 mins in the hot tub, and then back in the pool for a very quick dunk to cool off the excess fire.

[Psyborg]

I would not recommend going to a sauna. In Eastern medicine, inflammatory diseases are considered to be due to an excess of the Fire element. Saunas or hot water might feel good but they will deepen the imbalance and can cause the disease to worsen or flare.

When I'm able to get to the public pool I love to finish by going in the hot tub. It keeps me from getting chilled on the way to the locker room. However, I can't stay in it longer than 5 mins (timed) or the joint pain goes wild within an hour. This is true even when the Wegs has been in remission. So I go in the pool, then 5 mins in the hot tub, and then back in the pool for a very quick dunk to cool off the excess fire.

I definitely agree here. In fact I had a couple of very scary heat related incidents pre-diagnosis, and one was a hot tub. I imagine the sauna might produce similar affects. My issue was my blood pressure would drop so low I'd pass out. Thankfully I had 4 people with me in the hot tub

[Gator]

I have a mild case of WG. What happens if you get a flair up, in terms of what meds do they put you on if you went from Cytoxins (200mg) to Imuran for 6 months and got a flair up? Do you go back on cytoxins or can you get by with prednisone on your 1st relapse/flair up?

I stopped cytoxin in Jan. The last couple days I had pain in one of my eyes for maybe 5 mins at a time for a couple times. Not as bad as before the meds, but I hope it's nothing bc I don't get my blood/urine tested in a month. So now I'm thinking maybe I should push up that date. But also in the last couple months I started having to rinse my nose out 2 and sometimes 3 times a day when in Jan it was once (or sometimes twice for fun). Though we just had a lot of pollen in that time.

I know these are questions for my Dr but also good general Qs for the weekend. And I don't see my Dr for a while.

Well, things got worse. On (last) Friday the all too familiar joint pain started in both ankles and a lesser extent the knees, mostly in the 1st hour awake in the morning (though I have been taking advil the last couple days and it has not hurt my joints since Monday; also bc I became sedentary). To add to the joint pain, I'm now having what I believe is a sinus infection (feels like a head cold too at times), which really got bad after I went to the ER on Monday (I went to the ER bc I was telling my Dr about the joint pain and sinus changes (blood, ect in mucous) and he said to go since I was out of town).

I see my Dr tomorrow, at 3:30pm. To this point I have been reacting very well to each new stage in the treatment, but I am concerned I will be put on a strong medicine that may not be necessary. I would greatly appreciate if anyone could help me come up with some questions. Earlier JanW said something that may be helpful, "The important questions to ask when you do have a flare is the doc's rationale for treating you with certain drugs."

Also, I understand that sinus infections are bad bc they are infections and our immune system is suppressed, but does anyone have any experience with having a sinus infection while on imuran (r just a sinus infection in general)? Is it like getting a cold where it will pass after a short time? Do they use prednisone and antiobiotics? Any info is good bc too this point I have been downplaying my disease to myself and now it again has my undivided attention. Please help.

PS, my blood and urine work came back all ok, but they opnly tested for things they could there i.e., white blood cells, ect; however they could not test things like C ANCA and P ANCA.

[pberggren1]

I'm sorry to hear you are having a setback Gator.

It sure sounds like Wegs to me acting up. I have had a lot of sinus and nose crap over the last 8 years. So I know what you are going through in that respect. It is no fun at all.

I know what you mean about downplaying the disease. In the begining when I was first diagnosed back in 2003 I was kind of overwhelmed and let the docs do all the thinking. But by my first flare in 2004 I realized this disease needs more of my attention and I started to do more research.

I'm not sure what questions you should ask your doc. But it sounds as if the Imuran that you are on is not working. If I remember correctly you are not on any pred right now, right? If your CRP and ESR are in normal range and white cell count is as well then it is hard to say if it is Wegs or not. Usually with Wegs the WCC and ESR and CRP all go up, but not in all cases.

Do you irrigate your nasal passages with a squeeze bottle or something like that or do you feel you don't have to do that? But with that joint pain it sounds like Wegs.

I always know what my blood numbers are like WBC, CRP, ESR, Creatinine, ANCA, etc. I don't always get copies of everything but my doc is a 5 minute drive from my house and I live in a small city so I see my doc fairly regularly. I would suggest that you do get copies so you can track the numbers over time to how you feel. And it would also be beneficial to have a daily journal tracking your symptoms, meds, and blood work, etc. This will make it easier down the road to recognise when the Wegs is acting up. But Wegs can be so deceptive that even the Wegs Specialists can have a hard time knowing if it is Wegs or not.

I hope this helps some.