To those of you with either Psoriatic Arthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis, could you help me with a question? Does riding cause your arthritis to “flare up?” I would specifically like to know if it exacerbates the exhaustion that can accompany arthritis.
I had a short lesson yesterday to see where I stand ability wise and although my joints did not suffer, I woke up today completely wiped out.
I have not ridden in awhile and I am trying to evaluate if I should be getting a horse to ride, or start looking for a pony/mini to drive. Or just stick with showing my halter pony.
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
I had to stop riding, sorry to say. My feet and legs would get so stiff that I had a terrible time dismounting, and then I would be exhausted.
I took up driving instead and do much better. i still get rather wiped out grooming, hitching, unhitching, grooming, wiping down harness, but it’s a lot better than when I was riding.
I was diagnosed with RA in early '98, and I am on Humira, methotrexate and meloxicam.
Rebecca
I usually find I feel better after riding, but I haven’t been doing any riding seriously lately so I don’t know how a very active lesson would hit me. I do find that my lower back REALLY likes riding as long as I start with a nice active walk warm up to let everything get all loose and relaxed. I’ll see improvements in the nerve pains I get in my legs for days after riding.
I more often get the flare and exhaustion effects from getting sick - even if I don’t really get fully sick, if my body fought something off, I get to ‘hear’ all about it in the form of cranky joints and feeling like I ran a marathon when I just went up a flight of stairs. And riding is a lot of work when you’re doing it right - normally healthy people wake up wiped out after a lesson sometimes, too. 
So with that in mind, I’d probably try a few more times before trying to make a decision? Just in case you were fighting something off or what have you.
If you do that, I’d also make a point of making notes - it doesn’t have to be anything too detailed, just a brief description of what you did in the lesson (to remind you how intense it was) and how you felt before, during, after, and the next day, or something like that. If you do that each time and take a few more trial lessons, you may see patterns emerging, you know? And it’s better than trying to remember back to how you felt and what you did.
ETA: I have psoriatic arthritis, and I was on methotrexate, but right now I’m not on anything because I’m switching medications since the mtx wasn’t doing enough for me.
I do find my ankles/feet get a bit cranky from riding - I spend the extra if necessary to get boots that fit well and are supportive (or that can fit a custom insole in, to give me better support under the arch of my foot) and also try to make sure to allow myself a few minutes at the end of a ride to ditch the stirrups and let my legs hang long and take all the stress off my feet and ankles, relax them a bit before trying to dismount. If I just hop off without doing that, my ankles generally go ‘well, that was a dumb idea. Have some pain!’
When I was first being stabilized, everything was exhausting. In the months leading to my diagnosis, I was in a fog, and just getting out of bed took about a half hour of crying and psyching myself up to move. Just having a sheet touch my wrist or ankle was excruciating. My fingers were so swollen that they barely moved, and I couldn’t open the car door with them, nor could I grip a steering wheel, I had to palm it. Working with my horse was interesting, I couldn’t ride, but I would try to spend time with him. Putting the halter on was a challenge, and since I couldn’t hold the lead rope in my hand, I would drape it over my arm, and fortunately, he would follow. I couldn’t really groom him because I couldn’t hold the brush. So basically, we would stand in the parking lot and I would cry.
For the first 6 months after my diagnosis, I was on prednisone, and when I complained to my doctor after the first few days that the first day I felt like I could run a marathon, and by the third day I felt like I had run a marathon, he upped my prednisone. Eventually I weaned off the stuff, and haven’t taken it in 12 years. My horse retired a few years ago, and recently died, so now the only time I ride is when a friend has a spare horse, and I don’t do too much. Any aches and pains I will chalk up to being 52 and somewhat out of shape. My joints have felt better for the last 12 years than they ever did in my 20s & 30s, because that’s when the PA was active, and that was when the damage was being done, and I thought it was because of old sprains and breaks.
Currently I am on 18(?) mg of methotrexate and I am in a study for Xeljanz (in fact, right now, my joints are so good, I almost didn’t qualify for the Xeljanz trial.) The Xeljanz was primarily for my skin, since the methotrexate no longer helps my skin.
Even when I was in the worst pain, I found that keeping moving always made me feel better, so I forced myself to walk the dog, and do other active things, even though I felt miserable. When I started riding again, I primarily rode bareback for the longest time, then prepped myself and my horse to celebrate my 40th birthday with a small horse trial. Then I basically went back to riding bareback, until my horse was retired for lameness.
For all the powerful drugs available, when I was at my worst, the thing that gave me the greatest relief (before the magic prednisone) was Arthritis Strength Tylenol. (And this was when I had access to things like percocet.)
I do agree with kdow, I think keeping active is the best way to keep things moving, you might just have to adapt a little.
Yes riding does make me more ‘tired’ epically when I take an extra hard lesson or a show. I ended up selling my HUS horse as he was just too much horse and I’d often spend the day after lessons sleeping until noon.
Being on the right drug regimen helps too, the current combination I’m on has me back showing all-around for the past 3 years like I was before I got diagnosed. However, I go to bed really early (like after the show is over and I eat I’m in bed) and I also book the day off after shows to help my body recover.
My blog is http://justaplainsam.blogspot.ca/ I used it to track my symptoms and riding from RA and a non-cancerous thyroid tumour. I apologise that my writing isn’t great but it might help you with knowing that someone’s been though it already.
Oh and when I was diagnosed with AR (2006) they told me I’d be lucky to be walking in 5 years, and to give up on riding (I started showing halter horses full time that’s why the blog is called on the ground). Last year I showed a green 3yo at her first ever shows. Listen to the doctors but keep pushing the limits.
Oh and I’m currently on Actemra, Methotrexate, and diclofenac, and I have partial fusion of both wrists and my right foot. I do need help mounting sometimes (my right foot cant find the stirrup on its own anymore) and I need help getting boots and chaps on and off, and carrying heavy things, but I help the kids with their showmanship and they help me with my hard stuff
Thank you all for your replies. I can identify with all of you! I was diagnosised with psoriatic arthritis about six years ago but was symptomatic since about 2000. I am on indocin, but have been on every nsaid, methotrexate, humira and enbrel. I had pretty nasty side effects from the enbrel and humira and those outweighed any benefits I was getting from the drugs at the time.
I would not say my symptoms are very well controlled at this point.
Like all of you, I find moving and staying active helps. I have my ponies at home and do all the chores myself. Mr. Cayuse is a horse lover too so he pitches in if I need help. I am lucky there.
I think I will try a couple more lessons and see how it goes. If it doesn’t work out, I will try driving. It might be nice to have a small driving pony to show. A new challenge.
Thank you all! I am glad to know I am not alone in what I’m feeling.
Learn what your limits are too and work with an instructor that will listen too you. I’ve taken lessons with trainers who push me past my limits (and I don’t want to disappoint) and I end up paying for it for days.
[QUOTE=aqhadreamer;8205998]
Learn what your limits are too and work with an instructor that will listen too you. I’ve taken lessons with trainers who push me past my limits (and I don’t want to disappoint) and I end up paying for it for days.[/QUOTE]
Yes, make sure you have a good talk with your instructor about what your limitations are or might be, and what your goals are, etc. For example, if I had a longer lesson scheduled, I strongly suspect I’d need time in the middle somewhere to slip my stirrups and relax my ankles for a bit, and possibly also my hands. So my instructor would need to be willing to allow for that and perhaps spend that time talking to me about how things were going so far, or whatever. Not just push me to keep going or be cranky about me needing a break.
Were you anxious about the lesson? I do not have RA or PA, but I do have an autoimmune disorder, and anxiety will definitely cause issues, as will lack of sleep.
Why not get a sturdy pony that can ride AND drive and have the best of both worlds? Get something smooth…being able to sit the jog/trot will likely come in handy.
Yes, I had “the talk” with my instructor concerning my limitations and she was very understanding as she also has some health problems. So it’s a good fit as far as that’s concerned. It has always been hard for me to admit to someone my limitations, but this past year has changed my thinking on that
Oh CHT! You hit the nail on the head!! Yup. I was anxious. And it does make my symptoms worse. In fact, when talking with my husband about the lesson and it’s after effects he said
“Don’t forget you were anxious and you know what that does to your arthritis.”. And of course I promptly blew him off!
Yes, I was one big ball of anxiety!
I would love to have a sturdy pony like that, but the ones I could ride seem to all end up in lesson programs or everyone loves them so much they won’t part with them!
