Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) - Introduce yourself and meet others

My name is Jan, l am 78 years old living with Spondyloarthritis and
RA. I have Chronic Kidney Disease so l am not able to take NSAIDS. I survive on Tylenol and Voltarin. I tried Celebrex for a few days and it made me feel awful so l stopped. My physical therapist wants me to use a heating pad when l’m in my chair and it does help. My rheumatologist mentioned maybe using a biologic, but l take one for my asthma and she doesn’t think my insurance would like me taking another one.
It’s frustrating that l can’t take care of my house the way l like. Anyone have something that helps. My rheumatologist is open to anything l suggest.

I wa diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 10 years ago. Started with methotrexate and hydrochloquin and celebrex. Absolutely no change in swelling of joints after 6 months and itchy skin and dry eyes all the time. Doctor switched me to pre-filled Orencia syringes. Self administered every week. When I turned 65, Medicare refused to py for the syringes even though I had really great relief and labs were showing no side effects to the Orencia. Medicare okayed a monthly infusion for the Orencia once a month in the hospital. Thankfully I have great insurance! Medicare was billed $12,500 the first month and cost continued to increase every month for the next 10 years. With my supplement, I paid nothing.
I turned turned 72 in January. The doctor changed my med fro Orencia infusion to Xelljanz XR . I have been on it just two month. I just got my labs done last Thursday and am now diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis. This is listed as a side effect to the Xelljanz XR. I have no idea what my future holds at this time.

I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis 10 years ago at age 62. Rheumatologist started me on methotrexate and hydrochloquine and celebrex. Absolutely no change in swelling of joints after 6 months and itchy skin and dry eyes all the time. Doctor switched me to pre-filled Orencia syringes. Self administered every week.
When I turned 65, Medicare refused to pay for the syringes even though I had really great relief and labs were showing no side effects to the Orencia. Medicare okayed a monthly infusion for the Orencia once a month in the hospital. Thankfully I have great insurance! Medicare was billed $12,500 the first month and cost continued to increase every month for the next 10 years to my December 2024 EOB og $16, 570. With my supplement, I paid nothing.
I turned 72 in January. The doctor changed my med from Orencia infusion to Xeljanz XR . I have been on it only two months. I just got my labs done last Thursday and am now diagnosed with Autoimmune Hepatitis. This is listed as a side effect to the Xeljanz XR.
I am considering just walking into Mayo Clinic in Rochester for a complete workup to help sort this out. I am also diabetic and my numbers have increased since January. I have congestive heart disease which has been really going well until this past lab results also. All my meds (there are many) have worked well together until this January when I started Xeljanz XR11
Basically, I have no idea what my future holds at this time.

I received Orencia IV infusions for 7 years. Started to wane and developed swelling in my hands and joints. By November of 2024, every joint in my body hurt. Rheumatologist put me on Prednisone to relieve swelling and pain for 3 months then started me on Xelljanz XR11 on January 6 of 2025. Because Xeljanz requires blood work every 60 days, I just had my first labs done last Thursday, including a Hepatitis blood draw. Results are back. Labs are terrible and it now shows I am positive for Autoimmune Hepatitis which is a side effect to both Orencia and Xeljanz. My blood sugar levels have climbed( I'm diabetic and check every morning) My liver enzymes and kidney function are bad and my urine test is bad. My rheumatologist took me off the Xeljanz last Thursday, so I am on nothing for rheumatoid except Meloxicam.
I always try to stay active, but winter is my worst time for outdoor exercise, so am unsure how I will feel in a few days. My mental state is crashing and I have never been one to worry when all my labs have been good. I always watch that closely.
I feel so badly for you because I do understand your concern.

I have had RA for almost 43 years. My labs for liver enzymes have been a little raised for at least 15-20 years. Can RA cause liver cirrhosis.

Hello - My name is Paulina. Wife, mom of two boys (well guys really - they're grad students in their mid-twenties now!), I work in marketing and advertising, and I've had severe intermittent back pain for over 30 years. In late 2018 I had a very bad episode and saw multiple specialty doctors without any answers and eventually a found a great doctor who listened and ran labs - he figured out my back pain was inflammatory and referred me to a rheumatologist in 2019. I was diagnosed with RA of the hips and spine and started on sulfasalazine, then Methotrexate, then Medrol was added while I trialed different biologics (Humira, Orencia by infusion, Enbrel, Rinvoq, and Rituxan, also an infusion). Low-Dose Naltrexone was recently added to see if it helped (I don't think so, but I'll keep trying!). In addition to the RA, Psoriatic Arthritis, Non-Radial Axial Spondylitis, and Spondyloarthropathy have subsequently been added as diagnoses as I seem to have Overlap Syndrome (elements of each, but not necessarily the full diagnosis of any particular one).

With each biologic, I have waited to get to the 6th month of treatment and then started weaning from the steroid to see if that biologic is working for me. Each time my symptoms have returned, so we've started over with a new biologic. The latest is Cosentyx (an infusion I get at home), and I just weaned again to try and get off the Medrol at the beginning of March and experienced significant weakness and paralysis. It's been frustrating as each time I get to the 6th month, I hope this is "the one," but so far that hasn't been the case. I restarted the Medrol at a high dose to control this flare and am now back in intensive physical therapy to get back to walking. There is a suspicion of myopathy but so far I do not appear to have the antibodies, but I am still waiting on one final panel. I have a neurology consult in a few weeks and will do an EMG (to see if my muscles work normally) and any other testing recommended to rule out anything neurological, and that's where I'm at. My new cobalt blue, lightweight walker with matching tennis balls arrived yesterday, and I am excited to get back to walking and swimming which I haven't been able to do since January. Upwards and onwards I go 🙂