Can I Delay Treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis? part 2

Is it safe to delay treating Rheumatoid Arthritis?

If you re-phrase this question six different ways, and search using Google, you will get a lot of good information about why Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment should NOT be delayed. So, I guess that’s the Google-vote. But most of us do not make decisions based upon a Google-vote. We need more rationale than that.

So, why do some delay treatment for Rheumatoid Arthritis? Let’s examine a few reasons.

Fear:

The side effects to RA medications are startling to behold. Perhaps there is fear that the medication will be worse that the Rheumatoid Arthritis. There may also be a misconception that RA medications are all addicting and will cause lifelong dependence.

Most of the time, the best therapy for fear is information. For example, medicines prescribed for disease control (DMARDs) for RA are not considered addictive. And learning about what Rheumatoid Arthritis can do to a body goes a long way toward making the medicines sound downright safe.

Of course they are not completely safe; but neither is driving a car, walking across the street, or eating rare meat. However, all of them are safer that living with untreated Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Uncertainty:

Not knowing what to do can make any problem worse. So much is unknown when it comes to Rheumatoid Arthritis. We don’t know what causes it. And we can’t say why some fare so much better than others.

However, evidence is piling up that early and aggressive treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis may be our only hope to reduce future disability. Listen to the doctors at the University of Kansas Hospital: “Early treatment may significantly control the course of the disease…” And NIH says: “Early, aggressive treatment for RA can delay joint destruction.”

No, they can’t tell you why you have RA. They can’t tell you how bad it will get. The cause and the cure are both uncertain. The only thing that is certain is that studies have shown that for some RA-ers, early treatment can slow damage.

Remitting RA:

Rheumatoid Arthritis that remits is more difficult to track. For those who have remitting RA, the disease can lessen at times so that life seems normal. Palindromic Rheumatism (or Palindromic RA) can remit for even long periods. One can go crazy trying to figure out what brings on flares or remissions. However, if Rheumatoid Arthritis symptoms are recurrent, it is important to get thorough exams to determine whether damage is occurring.

Hopelessness:

Sometimes it seems like relief is an impossible dream. Going on the RA meds is akin to wrestling with windmills. Even the folks we know who are using DMARDs have not gotten well. Why take all the risks if it might not even help?

That’s a really tough one. There is NO promise that the medicines will even work! But, some things are sure: Hope can grow stronger if we work at it. And it is worth the trouble because God has a purpose for each of us. Your loved ones need you to survive. Every life is worth living.

Denial:

As I explained in yesterday’s post, it is actually very easy to convince yourself that you are not sick enough to need treatment. Of course, nobody really wants to believe that they are sick enough to need chemotherapy. Actually, you can get a lot of help in this: others would also prefer to believe that you are not that sick.

Denial is useful as a mechanism for managing crises. It is an excellent temporary help in times of tragedy. However, it tends to wear out its welcome… When the time has come to deal with a problem, we might have to throw denial out like bad food.

More?

Maybe you know other reasons. Please use the comment box to tell us about them.

Also Recommended:
What Makes Diagnosing RA So Difficult?
How Is RA Diagnosed?
Hope in a Spray Can

Remember: 60-2-3. That’s 60%; 2 years; 3 months
“Studies have shown that damage to joints occurs in 60% of people with rheumatoid arthritis within 2 years. Because irreversible joint damage, chronic pain, and long-term disability can occur if rheumatoid arthritis is not diagnosed and treated early, it is now recommended that a person with rheumatoid arthritis see a …rheumatologist within the first 3 months after symptoms appear. As soon as rheumatoid arthritis is diagnosed, early treatment includes medications known as …DMARDs.” (University of Kansas Hospital)

Hope for Rheumatoid Arthritis in a Spray Can

Hope, the noun, is like oxygen. Hope, the verb, is like breathing.

Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis requires hope. Of course, we hope for a cure. We hope that the medicine will work. We hope the doctor will listen. We hope that the insurance covers our tests. We hope people will understand when we can’t do what they expect us to do. How are we going to get this much hope?

A couple weeks ago, I read this blog on hope and it really got me thinking. I totally agreed that hope is essential. In fact, it is like oxygen; we need it to go on. That’s unmistakable.

But I kept thinking, how do we get it - and keep it. Why do some seem to have more of it? Sometimes, I wish I could buy hope in a spray can. That way I could spray it like air freshener as I walk through the world.

After wrestling with it, I realized that hope is not only a noun, but also a verb. The thing “hope” is what we pursue. We all want to have plenty of it and never run out. We’d like to have enough to share. When we are compassionate, we give out some of it to one another. Or God can give it directly to us.

However, hope, the verb, is harder to nail down. We say, “I hope things will change,” and we are trying to will it to be so. We strain towards that goal. Indeed, hoping is something to do. We can either do it or not.

When we do it, it is a choice to do it. It may not be a conscious choice usually, but still it’s a choice - like how much ice cream to eat or whether to wear a seatbelt. There are some things which we can do both deliberately and automatically, like breathing. Hope, the verb, is like that.

If hoping is hard to do, maybe we can get better at with practice - like speaking French or decorating cakes or playing tennis. It’s like a muscle which needs to be exercised so that it can grow stronger. That’s what we are doing when we practice hope against heavy odds; we are weightlifting. When we have to keep on doing it and it seems no end is in sight, we are wait-lifting, too.

If we exercise our hope muscle, we may get really good at it. Then, folks will wonder why we have so much more of it than other people seem to have. “That’s okay,” you can say, “I am willing to share the fresh air. My spray can is full. Breathe in deeply.”

Holly's article on Hope at Health Central

Be Your Own Counselor with RA

Fighting the Depression of Rheumatoid Arthritis

It is great to have a friend. And sometimes professional counsel is necessary. But today I was thinking that we can also be our own therapist.

Here are some ideas that I tried not to let get away...

1) TAKE NATURAL MEDICINE
No, the really natural kind: endorphins. Do something that releases endorphins. There are some foods, like dark chocolate, which can lift you up.
Laughter will rush them thru your blood So read the comics, or make a funny face, for pete's sake, just laugh.
Even crying, if it's needed, can release some relaxing chemicals.
Exercising, if you are able to, will give you an endorphin rush.
If you know more ways, please share!

2) MEDITATE ON A HOPEFUL TRUTH
This is not just think happy thoughts. It has to be true; it won't work if it's a false hope. But there is always some hopeful truth you can find. Here are just a few examples:
It may be science: They are looking for a cure.
It may be simple: Soon, I look forward to lunch with a friend.
It may be silly: My dog still loves me.
It may be scripture: God's mercy is great. Heaven will be awesome.
Repeat this truth quietly throughout your day. Ruminate upon it the way you usually do with your problems. Let it counsel you.

3) REFRESH THE PAGE
Changing your environment can change the picture and make you see things in a different way - or see something you did not notice before. For me this is going out and looking at the sky - day or night. Or seeing the ocean or some wildlife. It's more than just a distraction; it is regaining a perspective that is more accurate. Our problems are actually kind of small disruptions in perspective to the whole of the natural order of things.

4) USE MUSIC
Music is like an IV. Somehow God made most of us able to receive truth directly into our souls through music. It is a powerful resource we probably ignore because we think it takes too much time. But if we say we don't have time to listen to the music that we know will uplift us, maybe we should counsel ourselves about our time / priorities. Besides, there's time in the car, as we eat, while we dress, do chores...

5) CHALLENGE THE STATUS QUO
Ask yourself whether this is the person you want to be.
Maybe it is a habit that should be picked up or put down.
Maybe we can make a small course correction today. Or a big move.
Maybe we can reconsider something we once set aside: like faith in God; or a certain friendship.
Whatever it is, we can question the status quo and encourage ourselves to move on down the road.