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The Watercooler
It has gone from gout to RA within a year??? Sorry but WTH?
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<blockquote data-quote="susiestar" data-source="post: 603078" data-attributes="member: 1233"><p>Sven is right. Make SURE that easy child is getting the tests to set up a baseline BEFORE he gives himself the first shot. He also needs a tb test. I had one while preg with J so I didn't need another, but you need one before these because they can mess up your immune system further. There are a LOT of types of RA, not just what we think of as 'arthritis' and some do some strange things so you might not think of him as having arthritis based on the common types. </p><p></p><p>The shots for biologics are not hard to give and you get instructions in many different formats including written, with diagrams, on video, online (written and video), and any other way your could think of. My doctor insisted I sign off on having been taught by the nurse, watching a video, reading the directions and prescribing info, and giving myself the first shot in his office with someone to drive me home just in case I freaked out or something. It takes very little time to do.</p><p></p><p>I would ask him to think long and hard about them if he has not tried other DMARD drugs, or if he is to try remicade and/or humira. they have very high rates of side effects and every person I know who has taken them has developed lupus as lupus is apparently also a side effect of these medications. You can get lupus with-o the medications, but using these medications seems to guarantee it. I know 14 people here from a support group who all ended up with lupus after one or the other of those medications. Only two were men, but it ended up being all the people we knew who used either medication, so it was alarming. Half of them had kidney failure five years later and the doctor says it is very possibly from the medication also. It doesn't seem to happen with the other biologics like enbrel though. I have not had either kidney problems or lupus and I took enbrel seven years ago. These are not medications to take lightly.</p><p></p><p>DMARDS are disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs and include methotrexate, plaquenil, and a host of other medications. The arthritis foundation website or mayo clinic website will have the info you need on them, and all possible ones should be tried before biologics because they are less damaging to the body AND because we know what they will do to you and we do NOT know what the biologics will do. My rheumatologist gave up on me because I have a form of arthritis that doesn't respond to anything we tried and it gets the worst of the side effects as drastically as possible so many medication trials were total disasters and/or caused permanent problems. He did all he could but when none of the medications helps and every medication he tries does something awful, well, there isn't a lot that can be done. He saw me monthly for four years and then said he was afraid to try anything else for fear of doing more damage than help and sent me to a pain doctor. </p><p></p><p>I hope your son is helped by the medications. I am sure it is not from some out of the country pharmacy. Biologics are so expensive that most insurance companies have specialty pharmacy divisions to handle them. They must be carefully handled and kept cold, so they are generally shipped overnight in coolers with dry ice or special cold packs that keep things very cold. Have him keep those cold packs because they are great if you go on a trip or drive a distance to Sam's or whatever. They keep things cold longer than most cold packs do.</p><p></p><p>Very few people react the way I do, so don't dwell on the issues I have had. My body just does not work right, and refuses to even try. It tends to stick its' tongue out and give a big raspberry to anything we try, and that is annoying to say the least. It is also quite uncommon. I am sure he will find something to help.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="susiestar, post: 603078, member: 1233"] Sven is right. Make SURE that easy child is getting the tests to set up a baseline BEFORE he gives himself the first shot. He also needs a tb test. I had one while preg with J so I didn't need another, but you need one before these because they can mess up your immune system further. There are a LOT of types of RA, not just what we think of as 'arthritis' and some do some strange things so you might not think of him as having arthritis based on the common types. The shots for biologics are not hard to give and you get instructions in many different formats including written, with diagrams, on video, online (written and video), and any other way your could think of. My doctor insisted I sign off on having been taught by the nurse, watching a video, reading the directions and prescribing info, and giving myself the first shot in his office with someone to drive me home just in case I freaked out or something. It takes very little time to do. I would ask him to think long and hard about them if he has not tried other DMARD drugs, or if he is to try remicade and/or humira. they have very high rates of side effects and every person I know who has taken them has developed lupus as lupus is apparently also a side effect of these medications. You can get lupus with-o the medications, but using these medications seems to guarantee it. I know 14 people here from a support group who all ended up with lupus after one or the other of those medications. Only two were men, but it ended up being all the people we knew who used either medication, so it was alarming. Half of them had kidney failure five years later and the doctor says it is very possibly from the medication also. It doesn't seem to happen with the other biologics like enbrel though. I have not had either kidney problems or lupus and I took enbrel seven years ago. These are not medications to take lightly. DMARDS are disease modifying anti rheumatic drugs and include methotrexate, plaquenil, and a host of other medications. The arthritis foundation website or mayo clinic website will have the info you need on them, and all possible ones should be tried before biologics because they are less damaging to the body AND because we know what they will do to you and we do NOT know what the biologics will do. My rheumatologist gave up on me because I have a form of arthritis that doesn't respond to anything we tried and it gets the worst of the side effects as drastically as possible so many medication trials were total disasters and/or caused permanent problems. He did all he could but when none of the medications helps and every medication he tries does something awful, well, there isn't a lot that can be done. He saw me monthly for four years and then said he was afraid to try anything else for fear of doing more damage than help and sent me to a pain doctor. I hope your son is helped by the medications. I am sure it is not from some out of the country pharmacy. Biologics are so expensive that most insurance companies have specialty pharmacy divisions to handle them. They must be carefully handled and kept cold, so they are generally shipped overnight in coolers with dry ice or special cold packs that keep things very cold. Have him keep those cold packs because they are great if you go on a trip or drive a distance to Sam's or whatever. They keep things cold longer than most cold packs do. Very few people react the way I do, so don't dwell on the issues I have had. My body just does not work right, and refuses to even try. It tends to stick its' tongue out and give a big raspberry to anything we try, and that is annoying to say the least. It is also quite uncommon. I am sure he will find something to help. [/QUOTE]
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It has gone from gout to RA within a year??? Sorry but WTH?
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