Diana's Story

It was in the spring of 2002. I woke up one morning and my hands felt like they were on fire. There was no warning, no gradual onset. Then the pain moved into my feet. The pain and swelling were so bad, I could barely function — couldn’t squeeze a tube of toothpaste. Sometimes it would take me hours just to get ready for work in the morning. I couldn’t work out or go dancing. I couldn’t go out with my friends or do as much with my family.

“Now I have a lot less pain and swelling, and my rheumatologist said my latest X-rays showed no new joint damage!”

My rheumatologist thought right away that I might have rheumatoid arthritis. When I found out I have a family history of RA, he did some blood work and confirmed the diagnosis. I started doing some research and learned about joint damage. I was very concerned about how much worse it could get.

At first, I was taking pain managers. My rheumatologist and I considered steroids, but I was reluctant to try them. Then my rheumatologist prescribed methotrexate, but it wasn’t doing enough to control the pain and swelling in my joints. I was very concerned that RA would damage my joints, and I wanted to do more before it was too late.

About eight weeks after I started treatment with methotrexate, my rheumatologist said that REMICADE with methotrexate could relieve my symptoms and also help stop further joint damage. He gave me a video about REMICADE. After I watched it, we agreed that it was time to change the course of RA with REMICADE.

In about two weeks, I felt much better. And the infusions fit into my life just great — just once every eight weeks after the first three infusions. I like having the nurses there to make sure everything is going OK. The infusion only takes a few hours and then I’m back to my life.

Now I have a lot less pain and swelling, and my rheumatologist said my latest X-rays showed no new joint damage! I work, go to the gym, and ride my bike. I’ve even done some 5K walks to raise funds to help other people with RA. The pain and stiffness that I’d been living with…it’s so much better now. It’s a little weird — I almost forget how bad the pain was.

Diana is representative of patients responding to REMICADE under a physician’s supervision. Individual results may vary.

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