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Tracking your RA treatment plan.

When you have your follow-up appointments with your rheumatoid arthritis (RA) team, they will want to know how you are doing. The goal is to get you into remission. It’s important to see how your treatments are working to help you get there.

The doctor may order blood tests and/or x-rays or scans to see how much inflammation you have. This is very important. But the most important way to tell how well your treatment plan is working is by how you feel and how your RA is affecting you. It is important to be open about how you are feeling and how well you can or can’t go about your day.

Your rheumatologist may ask you questions (or ask you to fill out a form like the RAPID3) about how much pain you have and how easy or hard it is for you to do things like get in and out of bed, turn faucets on or off, or walk outside on flat ground. Is it getting better or worse? There may be questions about how you think you’re dealing with anxiety or depression. Both you and your doctor will look at your joints and see how many are swollen or tender. Or you may have used an app to keep track of what has been going on since you last say your doctor.

These kinds of questions and the information you track help you and your doctor see how active your RA is and if changes in your treatment plan need to be made.

Every person with RA responds differently to different treatments. Sometimes it takes a few tries to see which treatments are best for you. It helps to keep track of what works for you.

This information is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment. Talk to your doctor or health care provider about your medical condition and prior to starting any new treatment. CVS Specialty assumes no liability whatsoever for the information provided or for any diagnosis or treatment made as a result, nor is it responsible for the reliability of the content.

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