Oh my aching feet! RN with RA

[wonderbee, BSN, RN]

I need coping strategies for dealing with RA and 12 hour (if I'm lucky) shifts. When I get home, my feet ache so badly that they throb for a couple of hours leaving it impossible to settle into badly needed sleep. Often it takes a full day off the following day for me to recover. I often take 600 mg of motrin, with a couple of Tylenol PMs and stick my feet in a wide deep pan of really hot water. My doc has recently prescribed Enbrel for me, a very expensive treatment for RA. I've just finished up with the blood work and now have to get approval from the insurance company. I do hope it will change the quality of my life. I'm so tired of this constant pain. I'm so tired, period.

I like my exciting job as a critical care nurse on a trauma unit but lately, I dread just getting out of bed thinking about all the hours I have ahead of me on my feet.

RA takes so much out of a person. I'd like to hear from nurses who are coping with RA, and to know what works for you.