Diagnosis Unsolved | Methotrexate

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What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

By swollenmystery On April 9, 2011 · Add Comment

I just realized after describing my inflammatory arthritis symptoms for years with words, I’ve never posted a picture of how much swelling is really going on down there around my knees. All joint swelling has been isolated to both of my knees over the past few years and still remains today. As you can see in this video, my knees are quite disproportionate to the rest of my legs. So far cortisone injections and high doses of prednisone have been the only medications to reduce swelling, although only for a week or so at a time. All other medications such as naproxen, mobic, methotrexate, sulfasalazine, plaquenil and long-term, low-dose prednisone have not had much affect. I’ve lost most of the muscle in my quadriceps and hamstrings due to the inability to exercise. Three years ago at a height of 6′ 1″ I weighed 185. Today I’m closer to 150. And at 185 I’d estimate body fat was under 10%. It’s sad to see what’s lost from muscle atrophy but I believe that is why I’m so determined to find answers and to hopefully help others who are also suffering with similar issues to find those answers before losing too much ground. My goal is to recover fully from this painful condition, to send this disease into complete remission, and to live life to the fullest. With God’s healing, support from family and friends, and perseverance, I know it’s possible.

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Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

By swollenmystery On March 5, 2011 · 3 Comments

I wish I had read this book 3 years ago. It’s been 3-4 years since my inflammatory pain began, both in my upper back, left shoulder and knees. This is the first time I’ve been able to get a good grasp on what rheumatoid arthritis is, when it originated and what treatments have been successful in treating the disease. I should explain that the book mostly focuses on RA, but also delves into scleroderma, lupus, spondylitis and other rheumatic diseases. The author, Henry Scammell, includes many patient testimonials over recent years as a supplement to The Road Back, which is also included inside this book in it’s entirety. One thing that impressed me while reading is the number of times Scammell gives perspective from both the patient and the doctor. I knew there were a lot of politics involved with antibiotic therapy, but what I didn’t know was the history behind the controversy. Each chapter is brief and to the point. I believe that is why I found it so engaging and hard to put down. In addition, the history behind medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis helped give me a better understanding of why certain drugs are used to this day. From the origins of cortisone over half a century ago to the introduction of methotrexate, I can now understand where these treatments began and the seriousness of their effects on the body. Many instances throughout the book describe how dangerous corticosteroids and other DMARD’s can be [...]

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Stressing the Side Effects

By swollenmystery On September 1, 2009 · Add Comment

By now, our wedding was only a little more than one month away. Since we decided to plan the wedding ourselves, it was up to my future wife and I to make sure everything came together on that magical day. Overall, I felt some stress from the planning, but was more excited than ever for the day to come. Day to day, I put the pain in my knees aside and focused all my attention on my fiancee and our wedding. This meant working out less and researching less. But I never gave up my quest for answers. I would still visit the rheumatologist or the lab every other week. Meanwhile, the doctor suggested increasing my dosage of methotrexate while still taking Mobic. So I did. He even happily invited me to the clinic a week before the wedding to get steroid injections and drain the fluid out of my knees to help numb the pain and make the next few days a little easier. I did this too, but the pain would not cease. An amazing amount of joy kept me from even thinking about the pain in my knees at our wedding. To this day, the thought of my wife and her love for me extinguish even the slightest bit of discomfort I may have. In the days following the wedding I religiously swallowed a daily dose of pills, hoping that the methotrexate would soon take effect. I was told that it can take months to really start [...]

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The Rheumatologist: Part II

By swollenmystery On September 1, 2009 · 1 Comment

As the responsible googling Internet citizen that I am, I scoured the web, searching for the good and bad on this new drug I was about to introduce to my body. Not surpisingly, I found loads of info about the anti-inflammatory drug, Mobic. It did have the usual list of side effects that ranged from nausea and stomach pain, to blurred vision and fever, but I didn’t see anything long term. Both the doctor and pharmacist did not show as much caution with this particular prescription either. At first I felt like for the first time in almost a year, my outlook on a pain-free life was looking pretty bright. Swelling in my knees as subsided and I was feeling optimistic. The pain was still there, but I still wasn’t sure how my body would react. A couple more weeks went by and the pain would come and go. After a month I had another visit with the rheumatologist and my pain level felt about the same as the month earlier. At this point the doctor increased my weekly dosage and sent me back into the world with a scheduled appointment a month later. Again, the Mobic didn’t seem to help. When I first visited this specialist, he explained that if some drugs did not have effect I would need to increase dosage and then possibly try stronger, “more effective” pills or even injections. Upon my next visit, I began to grow weary my unsolved diagnosis and was ready and [...]

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About Me

I'm a freelance web designer with a background in graphic design. I'm also a part-time nutrition student. When I'm not creating or designing, I'm studying nutrition. When I'm not doing either of those I'm usually eating or talking about food. I've been interested in health and fitness for a long time but it wasn't until I became seriously ill with a mysterious chronic autoimmune condition in my early 30s that I realized how intricate and complex the human body is.

Along my journey to healing from chronic illness and Lyme disease, I discovered that eating healthier has improved my life the most. This blog is not just a journal of my progress but is also intended to help anyone that might be suffering from an autoimmune illness. My goal is to learn how to support the body's natural healing process holistically so that it has the resources to fight off illness the way it was designed. As I learn more every day, I write about my journey here at Diagnosis Unsolved. Read more about how all this started and my story here.
-Brad Linberg-
Now Reading
Planned books:
- The Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America’s Favorite Health Food by Kaayla T. Daniel
- Recipes for Repair: A Lyme Disease Cookbook by Gail Piazza, Laura Piazza
Current books:
- Nutrition and Physical Degeneration by Weston A. Price
- Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin
- The Salt/C Plus Protocol for Lyme Infection by M. Fett
- Seamus Mullen’s Hero Food: How Cooking with Delicious Things Can Make Us Feel Better by Seamus Mullen
- The Candida Cure: Yeast, Fungus by Ann Boroch
Recent books:
- The World’s Healthiest Foods, Essential Guide for the Healthiest Way of Eating by George Mateljan
- Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dict by Sally Fallon, Mary Enig
- Accidental Cure: Extraordinary Medicine for Extraordinary Patients by Simon Yu
- Cure Unknown: Inside the Lyme Epidemic by Pamela Weintraub
- The Top 10 Lyme Disease Treatments: Defeat Lyme Disease with the Best of Conventional and Alternativ by Bryan Rosner
View full Library

What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

Stressing the Side Effects

The Rheumatologist: Part II

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About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

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Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery

What Does Inflammatory Arthritis Look Like?

Book Review: The New Arthritis Breakthrough

Stressing the Side Effects

The Rheumatologist: Part II

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Categories

Archives

Good Sites about Health, Lyme and Living

About Me

Now Reading

Planned books:

Current books:

Recent books:

Lime Disease – Story of Recovery