Yikes Monica. You have been through the wringer with these meds. I do not actually have RA; I have scleroderma,mctd,lupus depending on who's saying. My mother has terrible RA. Remicaid was a godsend for her. I was able to retire in 2005 from teaching but in my last year my husband drove me to and from work every day (22 miles) to conserve energy and I still took a long time to move normally ech day. My doctor and I do not know if the meds did the trick, or retiring did or if the disease had just done its worse. I wish the best for you. I think so many people think, oh it's just arthritis but they don't realize what RA is.

My gosh. I thought I was the only one in the world, and here you all are! I'm 55. I had an hysterectomy when I was 41 and my ovaries removed at 43. I have been on estrogen only HRT since I was 44 with no issues. I had a normal mammogram six months ago. I started taking methotrexate for arthritis six months ago and my extremely sore and swollen breasts seemed to start when I moved to the higher doses of that drug. I even had some evidence of lactation from my right breast. My GP ordered hormone tests and they all came back in the normal range except SHBG which is a protein that binds to sex hormones to carry them around in the blood stream. I also had a mammogram which showed enlarged ducts with some debris. (My boobs are trashed after breast-feeding five kids but nothing they did is anything on this pain and tenderness.) I missed a couple of doses of methotrexate (taken weekly) and my breast pain seemed to start to diminish. I also stopped my HRT because I was so desperate for some relief. After a month, the pain has substantially subsided but I still have a residual tingly burn and they haven decreased much in size. I am yet to have repeat hormone tests or a repeat mammogram. I will try the flaxseed recommended above and post anything else that changes.

Well, at the moment, the problem has resolved. After a few days of extreme breast soreness, the soreness started to lessen, and on Sunday I got another 'fake period' (no bleeding) with cramps, and everything went back to normal. I feel a lot better. However, it should be noted that the two 'fake periods' were only 3 weeks apart, and if I have to go through this every 3 weeks, I am going to be a crazy person. But, I am glad the soreness lasted only 1 week this time.

My dog has had all kinds of lick sores/spots/hair loss, etc. She is now 8 years old, and we FINALLY have it under control. Here are my tips: 1) Make sure your dog does not have fleas/be sure the flea medication works. One of the worst bouts we had was b/c the vet did not check her for fleas (just gave her a steroid shot and cleaned it and gave us meds), and the (cheap) drops she was on did not work. Needless to say, I was angry and changed vets. 2) Look at changing foods as food allergies and skin allergies often come together. Grain free helped my dog a lot. The best one she is on is the one now, though, is this one: Purina One Sensitive. She has had WAY less issues on this one than she ever has. Obviously, different ones work for different dogs. 3) Fish oil is a HUGE help. You can use human fish oil. I use the Costco brand. She is 75 lbs and gets 2 daily. I can tell a difference if she does not get it. 4) She gets daily Benadryl, too. I hate doing it, but it helps her a lot. 5) Shampoo is very important. Frequent baths during bad times will do more good than harm. This shampoo has been a miracle-worker (from my new vet)! Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available. It looks like the same manufacturer may have alternatives, though. Allergroom Anyway, these are the things that helped me with my dog. It is a lot of info, but I hope to save you some years. I wish I had known all this 5+ years ago. :)