Reply #50: I vote for wheels. [View All]

It's a shitty decision you have to make, but were it me, I'd choose a wheelchair. Because you might suffer liver damage with the meds and still live a long life, only with a compromised liver. And/or it might get to the point where you'll need the drugs anyway at some point, so you might as well go the least toxic route as long as you can.

One of my brothers-in-law has psoriatic arthritis, and it was disabling him - unable to bend an arm, knots all over his vertebrae (and he's very tall, 6'7", and his back was just this mass of knots, he was truly wracked with pain) so he couldn't lie down, and in continual pain, whether he put any weight on his joints or not. Took the drs fricking forever to diagnose it (I guess it's relatively rare). So he's taking a drug that is toxic to his liver, and must be injected, etc., but after a few months he was able to scale waaaay back on the injections because pain management had been achieved (I think instead of injections once every three days he can now go up to 10 days between shots).

The other thing to think about (if you haven't already) is to check with a dietician or research the anti-inflammatory benefits of ginger (as an earlier poster mentioned). Ginger in the right formulation (I don't recall if it's powdered, or how it should be taken) really is supposed to provide some real pain relief.

And finally, I don't know how you feel about alternative therapies, but have you thought of acupuncture, or even something 'undocumented' like polarity therapy, to relieve some discomfort? I know these are an extra cost that are probably not covered by insurance, but I have a good friend who is very knowledgeable about all this if you'd like more information. She also will set up a barter payment system in some cases (she's in Virgina) so she might know others who do as well. Just PM me if you'd like more information.

I wish I could take your pain away, ThomCat. And I hope your upcoming travels are as hassle-and-pain-free as possible.

:hug: