I not only have RA, but a herniated lumbar disc with nerve root damage. I am in   pain daily. I've been treating the pain with 1000mg of Naproxen daily, and started MTX on 6/15/10. But after 9 months, it wasn't providing much relief and I stopped. I took Arava for 3 months, but the side effects were so severe I had to stop that also.The epidural steroid injections I received in the past really helped my back & leg pain. Most of my daily pain is in my hands and feet, but hips & knees are a close second. I've already had surgery on one foot to remove a huge RA nodule. That was 2 years ago and now I have 2 more starting, one on each foot in different areas than the first. Recently, I had cortisone injections in my right knee & left shoulder to relieve the pain & swelling. The shots are great, but they're temporary.

I'm starting to look into holistic medicine for RA. The RA drugs scare me with the devistating side effects.