Medication free after 12 years

Since I was diagnosed with RA I have been on and tried a concoction of medication - Sulphasalazine, Methotrexate, Humira, Enbrel, Folic Acid, Prednisolone, Diclofenac,  Naproxen, and a whole variety of things to dull the pain and to help me sleep.  When something didn't work, I tried something else until two years ago when it was clear than my previous combination of Methotrexate and Diclofenac had ceased to do the trick and I was deteriorating fast.  My husband jokes that it coincided with the time we got married.  I was on crutches still on the morning of our wedding but managed to hobble down the aisle in high heels hanging on to my Dad - amazing what a cooked breakfast and adrenaline (plus a very lovely dress!) can do to you!

The last two years have been a bit of a medication nightmare to be honest.  My rheumatologist put me on the highest dose of Methotrexate and signed the papers to put me forward for funding for the Anti TNF drug Humira.  Self-injecting at home once every two weeks soon became the norm but a certain level of disappointment was felt when we realised that it wasn't living up to the 'miracle' drug reputation.  Next I was put on to Enbrel injections which I injected once a week and were much less painful than the Humira injections (or perhaps I was just used to it now!).  I tried Enbrel for a good while only to be told my my rheumatologist at the 'I've stopped the Methotrexate to have a baby' appointment that the Enbrel wasn't doing what it ought to be doing either.  After some really helpful conversations with the Nurse Practitioners along the way I knew that this wasn't the be all and end all.  There is a drug called Rituximab that they are going to hit my RA hard with once I've given birth - I wasn't keen to try it before trying to conceive.

So essentially I have probably done everything in the wrong order and waited until my RA has got to the worst it's ever been, uncontrolled by the medication, come off everything and now paying the price...but the reward in all of this, I hope, will be a healthy baby.  That thought outweighs all agony and feeling chronically very unwell.