Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives NSD and diet-related; should i start the drugs?

In the beginning of the year i was walking for the first time with a walking stick. that was scary. My whole left leg was is pain especially my knee. I started the low start diet from January and i feel great, no painkillers anymore and i can walk the stairs , up and down.
I decided to find a specialist to find out what is happening with my joints. Yesterday after he saw th MRI scans he gave me a description full of drugs. My intention was to suggest to follow the diet for more time to see what will happen , but i did n't . I got the description and left.
I am confused at the moment.
My AS seems no so bad like other people , but this year scared me a lot.
I feel like a child that has to listen what the "adults" have to say. I feel like i dont have my opinion about this.
I believe in this diet and also i believe these drugs will have side effects somehow. Its just i dont have the courage to say "I WILL NOT START THE DRUGS" and also I am thinking sometimes what if the drugs really stop further damage as the specialist said.
I bought the drugs but i didnt start taking them. hard decision.
I dont read anymore the "pain" section in this forum.
the topics there are like scenarios from horror movies with terrible end. i read now
the nsd and diet related section.
THANK YOU
Costas "the bad boy"

hi costas.

what kind o drugs?

if i may suggest, maybe find a rheumatologist who will work with you as a team. i was seeing dr C for about 2-3 years only because the two previous rheumies said they couldn't help me. at least dr C didn't throw me away, so i stayed. but he bullied me into doing what he said more than once with "well, if you won't do this, i can't help you."

now i am working with dr P and it is such a welcome change. i'm not sure what approach we will take in the future, but he gave me three options last month:

1. continue on the supplement / diet / natural path that your naturpath has started you on, and suggested a few more supplements to add in, and see where you are in two months.

2. you can start the SSZ (sulfasalazine) if you want to. its up to you.

3. here are samples of arthrotec (dichlofenac plus prostaglandin stomach protector), try them if you want to. the rationale is that some nsaids work for me but give me gastritis and/or edema, others don't give me side effects but aren't very effective. however the flector patch which has dichlofenac works very well for me topically over my SI joint, so worth a shot.....if i so choose.

then he recommended trying route #1, but really ultimately left it up to me.

a doctor that spoke his mind, after all he is the professional with more knowledge and experience than i'll ever have, that's why we go to doctors after all, IMHO, but who cared about what i wanted to do.

i share this to say, its not so much which route you choose (though others here may disagree with that statement and that's ok), but that you have a choice that you feel comfortable with.

even when it came to trying nsaids. dr C bullied me to the point that i was very afraid to try them. he scared me.

but with dr B in philadelphia, between dr C and dr P, i tried 4 additional nsaids when i was working with him, because he had a way of making it not seem so scary. like, "let's try this. and if you can't, then we'll try something else." vs "do this or else" like dr C said to me.

i know it can be hard to find a rheumy that is a good fit sometimes, it took me 12 years from a dx, 4-5 years from the time i seriously started searching (per other doctors' orders) and 5 rheumies before i found doctors that were helping me.

and oh BTW, dr P asked me if i had ever tried a LSD or NSD. he asked me. said it can really help some people.

methotrexate 10 mg
megafol 5 mg
meloxicam sandoz 15

Thanks Sue
I am reading your reply again and again... until I fully understand everything you said about different treatments from different doctors

if you wish, here is a more detailed summary of what my new rheumy and i discussed:

https://www.kickas.org/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=439931#Post439931

it was quite interesting to me.

and not to say those three are the only options out there.
dr B in philadelphia had a course of nsaids --> ssz --> biologics.
i think there are a variety of paths to choose, you just need to find what both you and your doctor feel comfortable with.

Sue do you have now three kinds of doctors?
rheumatologist / chiropractor / Naturopath
I must learn more about these sections.

I believe at the end i will decide to not taking these drugs and continue the diet.
if i have in the future severe pain like my knee then I will think about again taking these drugs.
about doctors, I am not sure ...
Can a good doctor found me instead of me trying to find him?
When i see my physician again how i will tell him that i didn't follow his description? I feel like guilty.
anyway , i am going back to bed.
its 5 o clock in the morning , just a few hours more sleep...
Its funny, before i didn't care what i was eating , not important at all...

gooddddd nighttttt

think if i had found a rheumatologist early on or had a more hands on GP, might not have so many different doctors, but it is what it is. i have more than three doctors. my main doctors are:

GP, naturpath, physiatrist, chiro, rheumatologist, endocrinologist, gastroenterologist, GYN.

have a eye doc, dermatologist, and podiatrist, but don't see them very often, only when those things flare.

i only see the endocrinologist and gastroenterologist every 6 months as those things are being managed well, but they'll see me more often if they are not.

and haven't needed the physiatrist as much since finding the chiro and rheumy. before that physiatrist and PT were my main maintenance doctors.

i've also needed an ortho at times and have found a good one. that's mostly when i've developed a severe tendon or ligament problem.

i think a good medical team is important. i could never do this alone. but that's me. think we all have different philosophies on this.

I am impressed!!!
there are many of theme!!! :-)

and to think, through my 20s just a GP and a GYN. those were the days!