Hurray for... Quinine?

So I have Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). I've known this for about a year and have simply been waiting my turn to become crippled. I had my Rheumatology appointment yesterday at the UW as my serology is becoming incrasingly alarming. (For those of you geeks, my RA factor was 73 at last check ["normal" is less than 34] and my Anti-CCCP was also out of control. However my ANA was still "normal").

But all is not lost!

They have new disease-altering drugs available now! So when E. is weaned, I'll take Planquanil (sp? - it's basically Quinine) for 1-3 years and that should stop or slow the progression of the RA! Wahoo! First we do a "test" with 10mg Prednisone for 10 days, and if that reduces the stiffness/swelling/aching then on to the Planquanil. Pretty cool, huh?

Heck, I'm all for anything that will possibly reduce the chance of me becoming crippled! Even if it's a shot-in-the-dark, I'm game!