Rheumatoid Arthritis and Resolve

And by "resolve" I don't mean the carpet cleaner :-P.

Up until this summer, I had been taking Enbrel to help control my RA.  At some point in June, I started to have bad flares again and it became clear to my rheumy (aka rheumatologist) and me that Enbrel was no longer cutting it.  We made the decision to start me on another, stronger biologic Remicade.  This one is administered once every two month via an IV infusion that lasts about 3 hours.  I was a little freaked out about starting Remicade because it had always been presented to me as the big boy on the block, so to speak.  I hadn't thought I would start on it until at least my 30s.  I've been reassured by several more biologics that have come out, so that when Remicade is no longer the drug for me I will still have options.  Anyway, I started Remicade in September, and was getting really frustrated when, as of the beginning of last month it really wasn't working.  But then whoohoo!  the December treatment actually has improved my condition considerably (after yet another up in the dose)!  I am no longer the "limpy teacher" at school!  I've even been off of my MTX dose for a full month now--due to a case of bronchitis, extended antibiotic treatment, and forgetting to fill my perscription--and I'm still doing better than ever!  I'll take my MTX dose tonight, but I'm hoping that when I go in for my February infusion, Dr. C will agree to back me off to a lower dose.  We'll see.

Even more exciting, because I finally am seeing marked improvement, I have started working out again--and not just on the Wii Fit!  I joined a gym last week--a LA Fitness to be precise--and I couldn't be happier with my choice!  I had a free trainer session, where the trainer took me around the lower body machines and showed my some isometric and balance ball/medicine ball combination exercises.  Of course, it wasn't until we started that I realized I haven't lifted weights in SEVEN YEARS, but overall I'm proud of how I did.  I could even walk fairly normally (for me) the next morning--and the soreness was mostly in my muscles instead of my joints!  That was Wednesday.  Yesterday I went and did an hour of aerobics--30 mins on the elliptical and 30 on the stationary bike.  It felt wonderful!  Today and this weekend I won't be going in, but on Monday I'll be going to my first water aerobics class!  Here's my general workout schedule plan:

Monday, water aerobics (1 hr)
Tuesday, 10 mins warmup 25-30 mins arm weights (alternating weeks pushing and pulling per the trainer's suggestion), 20 mins aerobic
Wednesday, water aerobics (1 hr)
Thursday, 10 mins warmup 25-30 mins lower body, 20 mins aerobic
 Some Saturdays, water aerobics (1 hr) but that depends on if my desire to sleep in wins out lol

I'm really excited about this!  I'm also going to keep track of my weight/BMI/body fat percentage here...I'll weigh in tomorrow morning and post that here...call it a way to hold myself accountable AND be able to see (hopefully) progress!  Anyways, that's enough of this for now. Time to go relax with my hubby for a bit before bed!