Hi Everyone I have osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and they say rheumatoid arthritis (elevated sed rate, high RF). I am in the process of trying to see a surgeon for RNY Lap. My concern is that I have to take motrin occassionally and I'm worried about my little pouch after surgery. Just curious if the surgery improved your conditions or they stayed the same or became worse. Thanks Cherylynn

Hey there, my name is Renee C. from NJ and I have OA/ Fibro. I'm waiting to have a RNY in February. Sound like you're having the typical fibro set of problems with Dr's that do not acknowledge it as being a "real" syndrome. I was able to find a Dr. (Rhuemy specialist) that follows the protocol begun by Dr. Amand - He wrote a book "Everything you wanted to know but your Doctor did tell you about Fibromyalgia" (I think that's the title or close to it). You can get a read on line copy of it at Amazon.com. There are 3 of us suffering from fibro in the same church and 2 of us have used the protocol sucessfully. It includes taking guaifenesin daily at a dosage a Dr helps you to establish. I had great results with this for awhile and then as the pain increased I had to add celebrex, then vioxx. Now, I'm not taking anything but the guai again, becuase of the "x" scare. You also don't mention what you're eating. You might want to get to a nutritionist to learn about holistic eating (in small qty's lol) which also may help reduce your pain. I'm taking natural enzymes and Curcuminoid, which is a form of tumeric these are also helpful. Hope that helps some. Hang in there and wean yourself off that predisone.

Hi, I am pre-op for the Lap-Band and have suffered with RA for about 18 years. I presently take a low dosage of Prednisone and know you must be weened off or you can experience the feeling of set-back. Yes, it is very dangerous and you can bleed internally if you're not careful (I was in the hospital about 6 years ago for loss of blood and had to have 5 units of blood). If you're going to take medicine like Prednisone or Celebrex, make sure you eat something or drink milk to coat your stomach before taking. I also take Enbrel injections 2x/wk., Plaquenil at bedtime, Methotrexate 1x/wk., Celebrex 2x/d (I cut myself back from 3x/d to 2x/d on this about 8 mos. ago) & Folic Acid. As far as Humira or Enbrel goes I believe its what works for some, may not work for others. I wish I had an answer for everyone taking Celebrex, Vioxx or Bextra. I need one myself. I hope this was of help to you. Good Luck! Shahidah

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I was on Humeria for 3 months but the reactions got so bad, I had to stop, there was danger of me going into anaflactic shock, too bad, It sure did make a differance. So now its just prednisone, plaquinel, celebrex and methotrexate self injections..did I say Only?? The loss of 77 pounds is a big help too..JeanB