Rheumatoid arthritis (RA)...

[IGBT]

My neighbor has Rheumatoid arthritis (75 yo).. (RA) and takes a range of meds including methotrexate and REMICAD all of which have a range of side effects including brain fog stomach and digestive issues and now she's having problems with her pancreas not generating necessary digestive enzymes. Her Dr. prescribed something called CREON...a very expensive prescription digestive enzyme supplement. Digestive enzymes are available over the counter but in reduced strengths and not in Time Release variant. Any thoughts on this?? Any of you dealing with RA and the side effects of the "treatments"??

 

[Heartbreaker]

My Mom has had RA for about 25 years. She has been on dozens of different meds to try and find a combo to control it, and several others to deal with the side effects of the Meds. Her health is utterly destroyed, hard to say how much was the RA, and how much was side effect of RA meds. Currently on Rituxan (given by IV over hours), Methotrexate, and Prednisone.

She hasn't received digestive enzymes.

Unfortunately I started have symptoms about 20 months ago, and it was pretty bad for a while. I did nothing about it, and luckily it has improved somewhat. Oddly my Covid Vaccine Shots seemed to have improved things. I haven't had a flareup since my second shot, but I still have RA morning stiffness in my hands and feet. Looking forward to getting a booster and hoping it improves things more.

 

[IGBT]

Do research on Boron 5 mg supplement and see if the research warrants including it in your diet.

 

[IGBT]

There seems to be a strong cause / effect relationship with tobacco alcohol use among RA sufferers. All the RA patients I know are former smokers...was your Mom a drinker / smoker?? Seems to be an environmental trigger for RA among many RA patients..

 

[Heartbreaker]

There seems to be a strong cause / effect relationship with tobacco alcohol use among RA sufferers. All the RA patients I know are former smokers...was your Mom a drinker / smoker?? Seems to be an environmental trigger for RA among many RA patients..

Is there a useful point to that?

It's impossible to know they precise trigger and it isn't helpful for people living with RA today. My Mom got RA many years after quitting smoking. There is no point dwelling on her past smoking.

Nearly all of the people with juvenile RA, were never smokers. In my Mothers generation, nearly half the population smoked, but only a very tiny percentage got RA.

I have been researching this, as long as my Mom has had it (~25 years) . Yes there is a higher rate of RA for smokers (and many other factors). Alcohol may actually lower risk. It's not that smoking causes RA, it's just one of many possible triggers when you have the wrong combination of genes. It's also very difficult knowing if correlations are causative in population studies with so many confounding factors. For instance having a university degree lowers your risk by 40%.

Here is a list of some risk factors analysed:

Environmental influences on risk for rheumatoid arthritis - PMC

Recent studies have increased our understanding of environmental exposures that modify risk for RA such as smoking and alcohol intake. Other factors such as birthweight, breastfeeding, socioeconomic status and region of birth have also been ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Basically it's seem like an array of stressors can increase your odds of RA, if you have the wrong gene combo, which is likely the most important risk factor.

Determining actual triggers for individuals, seems basically impossible, and has nothing to do with treating the disease once triggered.