My Daughter has JRA

My Daughter has JRA and was just diagnosed this week. i dont know what type she has but they are for now just giving her Naproxen twice daily until the end of this month.. they want to start with methrotrexate. (which i am not doing) anyone out there that knows of natural supplement rather than these harmful drugs. she is 3 1/2 yrs old.

Hi. My name is Tara. I will be 20 in August and have had JRA all my life. My mum to was very reluctant to put me on the powerful drugs i am now taking and she has tried all the ntatural therapies and foods available. Some do work. I make up my own cayenne pepper and ginger capsules (40:60) the ginger takes the bite out of the cayenne pepper as well as acting as an anti-inflammatory. Have a look at using oils, such as cod liver, emeving primrose or flaxseed. However I must stress that you at lease consider using some form of medication to help protect your daughters joints. I was very stubborn and for years refused to take my medication. I used to flush it down the toilet until i couldn;t take the pain anymore. I now have arthritis in almost all my joints.

I now take several medications which are used in combination with each other and I'm happy to say i can walk and hold down a part-time job! I can even sit through a movie which i could never do. Not trying to scare you.

As a result of having this disease i have done lot's of research on JRA. I recommend that you visit this website www.medicinenet.com very helpful

If you need someone to talk to I'm only too happy to help

Sincerely Tara

Hi my name is Jennifer . My daughter Mandy has JRA
(polyarticular) She was diagnosed with pauciarticular JRA at the
age of 18 months. This was after 4 months of not knowing what was
wrong with my daughters ankle. She started with a slight limp and
it progressed into her ankle being so swollen and full of fluid she
could no longer walk. The pediatrician did nothing but send me to
an orthopedic doctor. Not a pediatric one. I was told her foot was
broken, it was not. I waited and it did not get better, it got
worse. I took it upon myself to go to a pediatric orthopod and he
said her foot was not broken. He wanted to wait and see what was
going to happen. I told him I could no longer wait . I needed
something done . He finally after a month told me to go to a
rheumatologist. I went to Childrens hospital of philadelphia. The
rheumatologist took one look at ther leg and her labwork and told me
she had JRA. She had not only involement in the ankle joint but
also the subtailor joint and several toes. She is Ana positive, sed
rate is always high, and so is the creactive protein. I cannot
believe someone did not suggest to go to a rheumatologist months
ago. He said she needed corticosteriod joint injections to help the
swelling and pain. She also needed physical therapy to help with
her walking. She has been on naproxen, sulfasalazine and now she is
getting .4cc of methotrexate injectibale once a week. She was
upgraded to poyarticular JRA in october of 2004 when both knees and
her jaw joints became involved. She is only six years old. She has
side effects from all the medicines. They include behavior changes,
hair loss and mouth sores. She has been pain free until yesterday.
March 22, 2005. Her big toe and some other joint in her foot is
swollen and she is in lots of pain. I feel alot of guilt and
anger. Everytime she has a flair or procedure it is
awful. I take it very hard and I wonder if she will ever go into
remission. She knows no different. She does not know that she cant
keep up with the other kids because she has a disease. I try to
explain but she gets frustrated easily and I get upset. She is 6
years old, she weighs 34 lbs and is only 42 inches tall. They also
tell me the JRA causes slow growth. I get very discouraged when I
see older children that have permenant damage and will never
recover. Mandy had an MRI of her jaw before the corticosteroid
injections in it and there is permenant damage. I was told that my
beautiful baby may have disfiguration as she grows. I am very
sad. I have no one that knows how it feels to have a child with
this ailment and i need help and advice. Thank you for reading this
I know it is long, Jennifer (Mandy's Mommy)

Hello everyone with kids with JRA i hope this helps everyone who see's this.. I am Christine the one with my Daughter has JRA and there was a little Message that reported JRA Miracle after reading that message i checked into it and it has been a miracle for my daughter. i have found something a natural way without any harmful drugs.. (Shark Liver Oil). which is liquid form not a pill. I started with 2 teaspoons a day with Naproxen which i am not giving her anymore and is now only taking 1 teaspoon a day in the morning. everything went down and it only took 6 weeks to see the results.. and i was amazed how this Shark Liver Oil did it!!..

My daughter was diagnosed with pauciarticular jra at 20 months old. She is now 4. Sadly this is the first time I have ever seen anything in print from parents of jra kids! I am quite computer illiterate, but now have email. Through the years we have learned a great deal, but we also feel there is a great deal we do not know. Emma is now on mtx and humira. Anyone willing to offer wisdom or just want to vent any of the rotten things they have gone through, I'm here!

Hi.

I'm Jennifer. 20-years-old and I've had JRA my entire life. I remember I went into remission once for about 2 years when I was 10. Ever since it's been an up and down roller coaster ride. At the worst stages, I couldn't even walk for hours after I got out of bed. I remember, waking up on Easter morning at my grand parents' house. All my cousins and siblings were running around looking for Easter eggs, and I had to crawl around after them. About two years ago, I felt like I was going into remission. I could sit cross-legged (which I normally can't), I could run, and walk for hours without pain. I am 20 years-old now, and I feel like it's at a mid-point, not quite like normal joints should be, but not horribly painful either. All my life I've never been able to kneel.. I wonder what that's like. I'm going to take it upon myself to learn how to get my range of motion normal and one day be able to kneel like everyone else. I would like to say that I have tried some joint care pills from Wal mart called MSM.. I don't know what they are exactly, but let me tell you, they have taken care of the pain and I feel a bit more flexible than I was even last month. I am going to look into physiotherapy to get back my range of motion. I haven't taken physio or any meds in many years. Does anyone have any suggestions?? I am wondering if the damage my joints have sustained is permanent? But, I still believe that they can be improved, whether the damage be permanent or not.