i eat loads of fruits and raw veg anyway and feel fine,was interesting to read though,dorothy

Thanks for link Jane. Sorry that you've had a rough night - hope you can catch up with some rest later in the day, or are you working today? Today is my day off and I've had a lovely indulgent time at the hairdressers, and later on I'm seeing the chiropodist. I suppose I will have to do some housework and laundry, but I'm putting it off and came on here for a catchup with you all.

I went to the hydrotherapist on Wednesday - first time - and it was excellent. The pool is unlike any I've been in before as there are underwater handrails at about waist height - makes doing the exercises very comfortable, as there's no risk of toppling over. I had to be careful as there are steps to each change of level, rather than a slope like a normal pool, but with the hand rails to guide me, it was fairly easy. I was with 3 older blokes and another younger woman who has arthritis in her back, plus 2 physiotherapists and a trainee, and it was a very jolly affair, with lots of joking and chat and background music. The exercises started with simple warm up walking and stretching, then we moved onto gentle aerobics for those that were able to, but the therapists were very careful to tailor it to each individual's capacity. I definitely recommend it for anyone, even if you're wobbly on your feet it's brilliant once you're in. This will only be for a few weeks, but it is all free, and I'm hoping that this will give me the confidence boost I need to get back to going to Aquafit regularly. I used to enjoy that so much, but I've let it drift just recently and I know that exercise and keeping joints moving is really important.

I also saw the rheumy nurse on the same day (my hospital is very good on MDT clinics) plus I had my 6 monthly review with the research nurse. I was shattered when I got home and had to sleep for 2 hours - but felt much better later on. I'm on an MTX trial and have to complete a huge questionnaire every 3 months, and they take loads of bloods for extra tests, plus I now have to keep a weekly diary of how I feel. My nurse is very pleased with my progress and we're going to try to half my dose of HDX and Naproxen and see how I cope. I thought I was going to start on sulphasalzine but she said it wasn't necessary and we agreed to stay with the mix I'm currently on hopefully for several years. I asked if it was likely that we would reduce the MTX over time, but she said that is "our biggest gun" so we'll stick with this for as long as we can. 6 months ago, I was a little bit worried about starting the trial when I'd only just been diagnosed with RA and it was all very new and confusing, but now, I'm sure that I'm getting extra good care and attention and it's all being offered "by the book" - so if anybody gets the chance to help on a trial do think seriously about giving it a go - the research nurse said she really appreciates how much time I give and I felt very special!! And of course the results will be helpful for more patients in the future.

Cheers and hugs- Sylvia xx

Hi Jane - have you tried having a soft pillow between your knees? It might help a bit. And soft ice packs (not bags of peas - too lumpy) - I've got one from the chriopracter and it moulds around the joint and cools it down a bit - the other thing that helped me was to shower my knees and calves with cold water - yes it was a bit unpleasant but it did cool things down, and sort've numbed them for a few minutes.

Sylvia xx