Anyone with RA doing or have done STS??

[sistinasm]

I am in middle of doing my IRM for the first two weeks of STS, I would like to do the 6.5 month rotation. My biggest worry is my left wrist gets week and it makes it hard to lift heavy weights. I would love to hear anyone else's experience doing STS and what they did to get around the weak and sore days. TIA

[zippity]

Hello, I don't have RA; but my sister does, so I know a bit about it.

Each individual is different, and I don't know the extent of your RA or how often you have flares, but the general school of thought is that weight lifting is good for people with RA: http://www.arthritistoday.org/condit...ft-weights.php

Would a wrist brace help? I'm rehabbing a fractured wrist and wear a pretty sturdy brace whenever I do weight work or pushups.

I'd also ask your doc about whether or not you should lift in the middle of a flare or on sore days. Do you get a low grade fever on your weak and sore days?

[sistinasm]

Hi, thanks for your reply. I have recently just been diagnosed, in fact tomorrow is my first appt with my rheumatologist and I have a list of questions for him. I haven't noticed any fever, but I do notice lethargy. I have to believe that exercising, especially lifting weights is going to help me.

What kind of wrist brace do you use?

Today I did Day 1 of sts and I find that I cant hold the barbell very well for curls, my left wrist won't turn all the way, so I am going to use dumbbells for those exercises. As far as the push ups, I could do about half of them on my knees.

[zippity]

RA can be very manageable, that I do know...

Fever would probably be low grade, about 99.6F, if any.

Managing the fatigue is actually one of the most challenging aspects of RA. While I don't have RA, I've got young onset Parkinson's disease, and I manage the fatigue with strict periods of rest, excercise, and activity. In a way, exercise "fuels" my day...I just don't have as much energy without it, even though I'm wiped out afterwards and have to take a nap. The cause of the fatigue is different with RA, so how you manage it might be different as well.

I wear a Futuro brace from Walgreens: http://www.amazon.com/Futuro-Deluxe-.../dp/B00009OY6H

I wonder if resistance bands would be even better than weights...you might not have as much pressure on your wrist joints-Just picking up a heavy weight can hurt my tender wrist, especially with a curl-type motion.