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Arthritis: Managing rheumatoid arthritis
Living with rheumatoid arthritis can mean living with chronic pain, fatigue, and joint stiffness. Thousands of people have benefited from developing and following plans to help them manage their symptoms. You and your health professional can develop a medical treatment plan that may include medication and other therapies. Early medical treatment can help you avoid disabling joint changes and chronic pain.
Besides following your medical treatment plan, there are several steps you can take to maintain your normal life and activities. This is often called self-management. The first steps include:
- Learning as much as you can about rheumatoid arthritis.
- Learning ways to reduce joint pain, fatigue, and stiffness.
- Taking an active role in managing your rheumatoid arthritis.
Rheumatoid arthritis is going to be big part of your life, perhaps for years-perhaps for the rest of your life. If you become involved in the day-to-day management of your health, you stand a better chance of maintaining the activities that fill your life. If you take on this job the same way you would take on a new career position, knowing it will require daily learning and practicing and that there will be setbacks as well as successes, you are on your way to managing your rheumatoid arthritis.
- Knowing what you will physically be able to do tomorrow, next year, and beyond, starts with learning what rheumatoid arthritis is and what is happening inside your body.
- The next step is learning what you can do and what your limits are.
- The third step is forming and following a self-management plan for your life.
Test Your Knowledge
An important step in my management plan for rheumatoid arthritis is learning as much as possible about the disease and what it does.
Early medication-based treatment for rheumatoid arthritis may limit joint damage and help you to avoid permanent disability. However, even with that successful outcome, the disease may be active for years. During that time, and in the periods of time when the disease is not active (in remission), you will want to continue with the activities that make life complete. An effective treatment plan should include both exercise and creative ways to get projects done as an important part of your daily routine.
Test Your Knowledge
Having rheumatoid arthritis means that I have to stop doing aerobics, cleaning house, or other active routines.
Understand your arthritis:
- Learn about your body and what is happening to it with rheumatoid arthritis.
- Learn about your health professionals, the recommended medications, and what they can do for you.
- Find out what can improve your health, such as losing weight or starting a flexibility exercise program.
Learn how to cope with chronic pain, fatigue, and stiffness:
- Experiment and learn what can help you feel better and what makes things worse. Some people can write without pain while others can't, and the same goes for walking, aerobics, etc.
- Learn basic skills, such as ways to use your body that protect stiff areas, that will help you continue activities.
- Explore the use of splints, canes, and other assistive devices that can help you avoid discomfort while staying active.
Take an active role in managing your arthritis:
- Gather information about rheumatoid arthritis and the steps you can take to stay active.
- Work with your team of health professionals, friends, and family to set up a self-management plan.
- Set goals to practice your coping and strengthening skills and incorporate these goals into your life.
- Follow through with your self-management plan on a day-to-day basis.
Test Your Knowledge
Various routines, assistive devices, and flexibility exercises have been developed to help people with rheumatoid arthritis cope with pain and stiffness.
To learn more about how to set up a self-management plan for rheumatoid arthritis, contact your health professional.
For more information on arthritis self-management plans, the following resources are available:
Book
| The Arthritis Helpbook: A Tested Self-Management Program for Coping with Arthritis and Fibromyalgia | |
| Author/Editor: | K. Lorig, RN, DPH J.F. Fries, MD |
| Publisher: | Addison-Wesley Publishing Company |
| Publication Date: | 1995 |
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The Arthritis Helpbook has been used by thousands of people to help them achieve their own health goals. The book includes proven techniques to reduce pain and increase dexterity, tips for good diets and achieving and maintaining healthy weight, step-by-step exercise programs, detailed information on assistive devices, and advice to help people overcome fatigue and other symptoms related to having chronic arthritis. |
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Organization
| Arthritis Foundation | |
| 1330 West Peachtree Street | |
| Suite 100 | |
| Atlanta, GA 30309 | |
| Phone: | 1-800-283-7800 |
| Web Address: | www.arthritis.org |
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The Arthritis Foundation provides grants to help find a cure, prevention methods, and better treatment options for arthritis. It also provides a large number of community-based services nationwide to make living with arthritis easier, including self-help courses; water- and land-based exercise classes; support groups; home study groups; instructional videotapes; public forums; free educational brochures and booklets; the national, bimonthly consumer magazine Arthritis Today; and continuing education courses and publications for health professionals. |
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WebMD Medical Reference from Healthwise
- Learn about Treatment for Moderate to Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
- Is This RA Treatment Right For You?
- Some Fast Facts
Important Safety Information you should know about HUMIRA® (adalimumab).
Serious infections have happened in patients receiving HUMIRA. These infections include TB (tuberculosis) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body. Some patients have died from these infections.
Before starting HUMIRA:
Tell your doctor if you think you have an infection, are being treated for an infection, have signs of an infection (such as a fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms), have any open sores on your body, have warm, red, or painful skin, get a lot of infections or have infections that keep coming back, have or had hepatitis B infection, take the medicine Kineret (anakinra), have TB or have been in close contact with someone who has TB, have lived in an area where TB or histoplasmosis is common, or were born in, lived in or traveled where there is more risk for getting TB. Your doctor should test you for TB before starting HUMIRA. If your doctor prescribes any medicine for the treatment of TB, you should start taking it before starting HUMIRA and take the full course of TB medicine prescribed.
Tell your doctor if you have any numbness or tingling, or have a disease that affects your nervous system such as multiple sclerosis or Guillain-Barré syndrome, have heart failure or other heart conditions, are scheduled for major surgery, are pregnant, become pregnant, plan to become pregnant or are breastfeeding. Tell your doctor if you are allergic to HUMIRA or any of its ingredients or are allergic to rubber or latex. The needle cover of the prefilled syringe and the pen contain dry natural rubber.
Also, tell your doctor if you have recently received or are scheduled for any vaccines. Except for live vaccines, patients may still receive vaccines while on HUMIRA. It is recommended that children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis be brought up to date with all immunizations prior to starting HUMIRA.
After starting HUMIRA:
Call your doctor right away if you get an infection, or any sign of an infection including a fever, feeling very tired, cough, flu-like symptoms, warm, red or painful skin or if you have any open sores on your body. HUMIRA can make you more likely to get infections or make any infection that you may have worse.
Possible side effects of HUMIRA:
Serious side effects, which sometimes lead to death, have happened in patients taking HUMIRA.
- Serious infections. These infections include TB (tuberculosis) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria. Your doctor will examine you for TB and perform a test to see if you have TB. If your doctor feels that you are at risk for TB, you may be treated with medicine for TB before you begin treatment with HUMIRA and during treatment with HUMIRA. Even if your TB test is negative your doctor should carefully monitor you for TB infections while you are taking HUMIRA. Patients who had a negative TB skin test before receiving HUMIRA have developed active TB. Tell your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms while taking or after taking HUMIRA: cough, low-grade fever, weight loss, or loss of body fat and muscle.
- Certain types of cancer. There have been cases of certain kinds of cancer in patients taking HUMIRA or other TNF blockers. Patients with RA, especially more serious RA, may have a higher chance for getting a kind of cancer called lymphoma. Some patients receiving HUMIRA have developed types of cancer called non-melanoma skin cancer (basal cell cancer and squamous cell cancer of the skin), which are generally not life threatening if treated. Tell your doctor if you have a bump or open sore that doesn't heal.
- Allergic reactions. Signs of a serious allergic reaction include skin rash, a swollen face, or trouble breathing.
- Hepatitis B virus reactivation in patients that carry the virus in their blood. Tell your doctor if you have any of the following symptoms: feel unwell, poor appetite, fatigue, fever, rash or joint pain.
- Nervous system problems. Signs and symptoms include: numbness or tingling, problems with your vision, weakness in your arms or legs, and dizziness.
- Blood problems. Symptoms include a fever that does not go away, bruising or bleeding very easily, or looking very pale.
- New heart failure or worsening heart failure you already have. Symptoms include shortness of breath or swelling of your ankles or feet, or sudden weight gain.
- Immune reactions including a lupus-like syndrome. Symptoms include chest discomfort or pain that does not go away, shortness of breath, joint pain, or rash on your cheeks or arms that gets worse in the sun.
Call your doctor or get medical care right away if you develop any of the above symptoms. Your treatment with HUMIRA may be stopped.
Common side effects of HUMIRA are: injection site reactions (redness, rash, swelling, itching or bruising), upper respiratory infections (sinus infections), headaches, rash and nausea.
These are not all the side effects with HUMIRA. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.
Information You Should Know About HUMIRA® (adalimumab).
HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe rheumatoidarthritis in adults, may prevent further damage to your bones and joints, and may help your ability to perform daily activities. HUMIRA can be used alone or with methotrexate or with certain other medicines. HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children 4 years of age and older. HUMIRA can be used alone or with methotrexate or with certain other medicines. HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of psoriatic arthritis in adults, may prevent further damage to your bones and joints, and may help your ability to perform daily activities. HUMIRA can be used alone or with certain other medicines. HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of ankylosing spondylitis in adults. HUMIRA is used to reduce the signs and symptoms of moderate to severe Crohn's disease in adults who have not responded well to conventional treatments. HUMIRA is also for these adults with moderate to severe Crohn's disease who have lost response or are unable to tolerate infliximab. HUMIRA is used to treat moderate to severe chronic (lasting a long time) plaque psoriasis in adults who are under the ongoing care of a physician, have the condition in many areas of their body and who may benefit from taking injections or pills (systemic therapy) or phototherapy (treatment using ultraviolet light alone or with pills).
HUMIRA is taken by injection.
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