Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment

I am taking it for Rheumatoid Arthritis. The side effects are pretty serious. I don’t see much difference in the Rheumatoid Arthritis. I am hoping that I can hear from someone who has had either good or bad effects from this drug. Thanks.

A little background: I have been really sick since the birth of my son (17 months ago) and have seen so many doctors. I was finally recommended to a Rheumatologist who thought my symptoms were Sjogren’s Syndrome. I was also tested for Rheumatoid Arthritis but all tests were normal.
Today I had a check up with the Rheumatologist again and he said he thinks it might be fibromyalgia because I have a family history of it. He wasn’t too confident of that diagnosis though so I’m not sure what to think.
Getting to the point: He wanted to put me on Cymbalta but I tried that before and I can’t handle it so he put me on Lexapro. I was on Lexapro after my son was born for Post Partum Depression. Isn’t that just for mental type depression? I mean it isn’t generally used for physical pain is it? He also put me on a muscle relaxer/pain reliever, Movic (I believe that’s what it’s called) so I could get some sleep at night. Has anybody taken these or similar drugs before to treat fibromyalgia? Did you get any relief at all? He also recommended I start physical therapy for some joint pain? Has anybody found success with that?

I know a medicare advantage plan requires me to pay a 20% co-pay for drugs covered under part b medicines. But I understand that if I have basic medicare along with a medigap policy (either plan f or J), it will take care of all the part b meds. Do you know if i will need to pay a co-pay? I asked the medical billing department at me doctor’s office but she was really hesitant to tell me. Oh, in case it matters: it is Orencia — infusions for rheumatoid arthritis — my doctor’s office does the infusions out of his office so that it does fall under part b drugs.

Dictionaries define the word ’doctor’ as ‘learned’, ‘teacher’, ‘most highly qualified’ etc. However, at least in our country, doctors are among the most ignorant. It may be natural for a doctor not to know much about hydro-geology. It may be possible for him not to be aware of the latest breakthroughs in astro-physics. But for a doctor not know much about Medicine, or not to be aware of the developments in his specialty is not only untenable, but also dangerous and criminal. Yet, there are thousands of doctors in our country who do not know much about Medicine, as it is practised today. Most of these doctors, it will be surprising to know, are very busy practitioners. I personally know of professors of Medicine who advise patients of Rheumatoid Arthritis to get Ayurvedic help since there is no drug in Modern Medicine (still erroneously and unfortunately called Allopathy, meaning “approximate”) for this disease. This is when even the most basic of textbooks of Medicine has a few pages discussing the drugs available for the treatment of this disease. Of course, the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis, like that of most other medical illnesses, is developing and improving continually.
“Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine”, the most trusted and respected resource on General Medicine all over the world, says, “Medicine is an ever-changing science.” It is estimated that about 50% of the medical knowledge is replaced by new, scientifically researched, proven and more robust information every ten years. This would mean that a person who qualified ten years ago and since has not tried to update his knowledge is 50% outdated. He may be more dangerous than the diseases that he treats!
One important contribution for ignorant doctors come from private medical colleges. People purchase their degrees from these business institutions. Not much is taught or learned in most of these places.
Paradoxically, it is frequently a blessing for a doctor not to know much. If one knows enough and well, relevant differential diagnoses (the other likely possibilities that must be excluded) will come to the mind when seeing a patient. It may make investigating and treating rather difficult, given the peculiar milieu of our country.
It is important to introduce new legislation that makes it compulsory for doctors to renew their license every year after passing an examination designed to prove that their medical knowledge is up-to-date. It is unclear why the Government are reluctant to make any move in this direction, though one can make a few guesses.

Although the new drug can`t reverse Rheumatoid Arthritis it apparently can halt the joint- disease, but no mention of the drug doing the same for Osteoarthritis, anyone out there, have anymore information.