It gets better and worse at times, finding the right medication FOR YOU is the most important, I’ve finally been put on Azathioprine and it’s taken being on it for 6 months and this is after a year on hydroxy and so many more meds and vitamins but I’m now finally feeling less pain and having less flares and am well enough to start working out! I’ve gone from housebound/bedbound to having a gym membership after having no hope for 4 years, it’s still hard, really hard and I’m grieving and I can’t do normal things yet but I have more hope now and less severe pain which is a huge relief and I want to take advantage of every second of it

It does get better with the right meds. I was diagnosed in 1981, yeah I know I'm a dinosaur. I have been on so many different meds over the meds. For the past 30+ years I was on prednisone, dosage no lower than 4mg a day. Over the last 5 months, my rheumatologist weaned me off the prednisone and started me on hydroxychloroquine. This is the 2nd time on this drug, with a 40 year hiatus. So far it's working. Good luck on your journey. . D

I wish I could say it gets better...I went for over twenty years without a diagnosis until two years ago. I was off and on prednisone many years (Causing a weight gain of 15 or so pounds), because of the severe rash only arms, chest, and shoulders. It got so bad, I went to a dermatologost. She was the first one to say that it could be lupus, did all the tests, and started me on Plaquenil she was so sure it was lupus. The tests came back and yes, it was SLE with a high RA factor. Yay!! Yay because I knew something was wrong and wanted an answer! Just knowing what was wrong was a relief! Off to a rheumatologist! Still on Plaquenil, but the foot-knee pain is getting worse. He put me back on prednisone, but I didn't see a big difference, so I stopped taking it because I can't sleep on that stuff. I'm making due with Tylenol and Voltaren right now. I'm also researching a lot of other drugs to ask my rheumy about. The knee and foot pain keeps me from doing a lot of things that I love to do outdoors, so I'm looking for options other than nasty drugs like prednisone and the methotroxate. I've heard that's not a good one to be on either. Maybe medical marijuana? Has anyone tried that for severe arthritis pain? I'm researching it, but so far, haven't found any evidence that it works well. I've never even smoked it, so I don't know any of the benefits or risks. Just trying to stay active and mobile. It's tough some days.