Intro.

I haven't blogged in years. I lost the taste for it. I found that I stopped writing in my paper-journal when I journaled online. But lately there's been so much Arthritis Related issues that i just wanted somewhere to get them all out.

To catch you up, I have Rheumatoid Arthritis, which is commonly referred to as RA.

"RA is an autoimmune disease. This means that your immune system attacks other parts of your body. RA causes redness, pain, swelling or a hot (or warm) feeling in the lining of a joint, the place where 2 or more bones come together. This redness, pain, swelling and heat around the joint is called inflammation. " - www.arthritis.ca

They don't know too much about RA. There's a whole lot of technical jargon that explains why there might be so much inflammation, and talks about a thing called "tumour necrosis factor alpha" which is associated with RA. Lots of jumbled up stuff.

Right now I'm on a shit load of medications:

- Methotrexate: Commonly used to treat RA. Also used to treat cancer. Works by stopping rapid cell growth. Fun side effects that upset me include being forbidden to become pregnant while on this drug, due to the high likelyhood of the fetus having severe birth defects.

- Prednisone: This is also another one they use alot. And not just for RA. It's a steroid which decreases inflammation. Side effects include weight gain, hair loss, thinning skin, and therefore stretch marks, as well as mood swings.

- Enbrel: This one is a once-weekly injection done at home by the boyfriend, Tim. It works to block that tumour necrosis factor alpha that I mentioned. I think. Side effects for this one include reactions at the injection site such as itching, swelling, and general uncomfortableness.

They are currently in the process of switching my drugs. I'll still take the first two, but instead of a weekly Enbrel injection, I'll get an infusion of the new drug, Remicade, every 8 weeks.

I start the new medication on Wednesday, April 9th. I am not excited for it.