The final diagnosis is poststreptococcal reactive arthritis. Basically I had a strep infection and it caused my immune system to go haywire and start attacking my joints. Not cool. By itself, the Amoxicillin helped some of the symptoms, but it didn’t do much for my arthritis. I was feeling better over the weekend, but by no means good. I couldn’t walk very well, stairs were hard and Sunday was full of painkillers and wrist pain. The natural course of reactive arthritis is to get better over time. Some cases are weeks, most are several months, even a year. With how severe my case was I have no idea how much longer it would take under normal circumstances.

Last night I took a dose of the arthritis drug Humira which is supposed to get me feeling better quick. And wow it did. I would say overnight I went from about 30% to 40%. Everything that ached felt better. I feel encouraged to say the least. The million dollar question is of course, how long before I can skate again? The nurse estimated six weeks (which would be 3 doses of Humira since you take it every two weeks). I think it’ll be awhile, but not six weeks. I don’t think she understands how determined skateboarders can be. I’m gonna be patient and try not to rush it, but at least I can finally start leaving the house again.