Steve Garner, West Valley City, Utah, auto technician: Working on cars for a living is brutal on the hands and body. But that what I was doing for years until rheumatoid arthritis put me out of action.
In 1993, I was diagnosed with RA after developing a lot of pain in my hands, ankles, and knees. for the next twelve years. I went to the rheumatology clinic at a university medical center every three months for treatment and evaluation. They put me on six different prescription drugs during that time. Each one had side effects that I couldn’t live with.
One medication I received was called diclofenac. The side effects were terrible: headaches, dizziness, and my guts feeling like they wanted out.I told the doctor that this was not the drug for me. She then prescribed methotrexate but warned me that it could also cause a lot of side effects.
It sure did. After about a week, the pain had gone down quite a bit and the inflammation was a little better, but I felt like I had a constant cold with a runny nose, head congestion, and headaches. These were just some of the side effects.
*Meanwhile, my sleep was disturbed from the pain and my performance at work was suffering. The disease was taking the fun and purpose out of life. I began taking massive amounts of ibuprofen, starting with 200 to 500 milligrams (mg) daily. This was just barely taking down the pain and very little of the inflammation. I increased the daily doses to as much as 3,000 mg. I lived like this for five years.
“In 2005, I was forced to retire because of the constant pain and inflammation in my hands. It was impossible to continue my work.