It can take 3 to 4 months to see if a medication is working. However, it may kick in before then. It’s also possible that you may need to try a few medications before finding the one that works best for you. It’s a lot of trial and error. Don’t be discouraged or lose hope. You’ll find something that helps!

@A myRAteam Member I took Erelzi (biosimilar to Enbrel) at couple years back and it was helpful for me for almost a year. Hope it helps you and it lasts longer. It is hard as we are all effected differently by these medications. Hope you have a low pain day :)

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A myRAtea...

Hi Elizabeth,
Unfortunately, we do a lot of try and fail, while finding our working med (s). May I suggest, keep a journal that keeps track of date, time, med, and reactions good or bad, then you can share this information with your Rheumatologist. You may also find it helpful to track foods and weather, that my effect how your RA is responding. I track them on my phone. It can really help to find the cause of a flare.
Some proven things, that I hope will help get you some relief:
1) Ask your Rheumatologist about possibly prescribing a muscle relaxer for the pain vs pain meds;
2) Try, if you can, to take a warm bath with Epsom salts and or lavender to relax and reduce swelling or stiffness in your body;
3) Afterwards, try massaging in either Arnicare or lavender cream to reduce the pain as
both penetrate the muscles and tissues to relieve pain;
4) Drink plenty of water, all day, add in a couple of glasses of Pedialyte;
5) Take a Magnesium supplement;
6) Use Dragon Numbing Gel, in the bottle vs tube, on sore areas;
7) Excercises such as yoga, tai chi, walking, modified bed and/or chair excercise that stretch muscles;
8) Mindful and/or guided meditations, pay attention to your breathing, it should be deep and slow;
9) Rolling a bottle (I use a Caro Syrup bottle) or cold coke can back and forth, under your feet can gently stretch those tendons and muscles and tissues to relieve pain.
10) A lot of members find success switching their diets, the Mediterranean diet works best for me.
11) Ice packs and/or heat packs.
12) Compression gloves and compression socks.
13) Applying icey hot to your forehead, be careful of your eyes, followed by hot coffee or hot tea to relieve headaches.
14) Papaya Enzyme for upset
stomach!
15) Spirulina to reduce inflammation.
16) Moringa, also effective in reducing inflammation and pain;
I hope this helps.
Have a Great Weekend!

Lori thank you for the response. I appreciate the help

Thank you Cindi for the reply. Just wish it didn’t take so long for the medications to reach full effect