My dog has a very painful back leg in the joint which the vet prescribed metacam for, which hasnt worked in the slightest. We have also tried Cortaflex which didnt work. All the sites Ive found on metacam say its for arthritis which my dog hasnt got.

My husband has Rhuematoid arthritis. He was diagnosed when he was 33 and is only 36 now. It is mostly in his hands, neck, shoulders, and knees as of right now. They have started treatment with him and in the last year he has gone through 4 different shots and about 6 different kinds of pills, with side effects ranging from throwing up constantly to full body rash to losing his hair (he has long, beautiful hair….girls would kill for it).

I love him and want to support him and be there for him, but I just dont know what to do. When his hands ache and hurt, I cant do anything. When he has a side effect from his drugs, I cant do anything. When he starts worrying that hes going to get cancer or something worse from the drugs hes on, theres nothing I can say to make it better.

What am I supposed to do to keep his spirits up about a condition he’s gonna have to deal with the rest of his life? Any advice?

My dog has had a low grade fever and some lameness in her rear legs for 1 month. She has taken several blood tests and theyhave been normal. Even the lyme disease test came back negative. We decided to treat her for lyme disease anyway to see if this would work. She was treated with two types of antibiotics – amoxycillin for 28 days and doxycyline for 14 days. She has been improving, but she is not 100%. She has difficulty lifting herself off the floor/bed and sitting. Once she’s standing she usually walks OK. However, when we have guests, like we did yesterday, she gets very excited. Therefore, she had a set back and began walking very slowly. Perhaps we over did it with the guests : ( She was also tested for immune mediated arthritis. This test also came back negative. However, the vet is now treating her with steroids. Not sure if this is going to work, but I don’t know what else to do. I should also note that x-rays are normal. Any help out there?

ie one can tell within a week of starting the treatment that their condition is improving?

My 11 year old golden lab tripped over our 8 month old puppy and is having trouble moving around. She has arthritis in the hips so I think she just aggravated that but I wanted to give her some temporary pain relief.

i’m 62 years old & 235 lbs. i’ve been carring around 100 extra pounds for 20 years & am tired of it. i’ve tried lots of diets but to no avail. i’m healthy, lo blood pressure & no heart prblms. i’m pre-diabetic & hope that dosn’t matter. i had a knee replacement last november & need the other one done. it’s a horrible operation & am hoping if i get a bypas i won’t need another knee. i also have arthritis in my feet and ankles that i hope less weight will help too.

I have been taking high doses of prescription ibuprofen for arthritis (800mgx4/day). Have experienced mental confusion, itching feet, nightime urination, high blood pressure. No blood, protein or sugar in urine (tested normal). Never had any of these symptoms before. Rheumatologist made appointment for me with nephrologist for next month. Have stopped ibuprofen and all symptoms have disappeared.

Since Merck doesn’t make it anymore, is there a country or company somewhere that makes the generic Rofecoxib? My mom has horrible arthritis and is in constant pain. Nothing else has worked, but vioxx was a miracle drug for her! It also cured my back pain.