UPdate & New RA and starting Arava..comments on the med welcomed

[Guest guest]

Hi All,

Well I went to the new Rheumy. There was a good connection and I

left feeling good(unlike the other one i tried). He was on the RA

foundation referal list - Dr. McKnight. In any vent, he recommended

I take ARava in conjuction with the Plaquenil and then whine out the

plaquenil. If that does not work we will try both the Arava &

Plaquenil.

He said that my hlth coverage would not cover me going from

Plaquenil to Enbrel. that the enbrel would cost me like $1,500 a

month. So he suggested we start with Arava and move up from their

accordingly.

What I found unusual was the fact that My finger is still swollen

and very slightly deformed, yet he did not suggest anything in

particular. I have never wanted an injections in my joints,

however, the pain got so bad that I would have welcomed the

suggestion. He did find my let elbow really swollen

I hope this med works. This week I have had my left side go haywire:

the side of my left knee is swollen with the bone slightly

protruding, and he did not say much about the bone that is slightly

protruding above my chest. He did however, say that he did not think

that my lungs were as bad as i had assumed. Although, i will

continue to have Ct scans done every six months.

Any comments on the Arava.

Hugs,

Cookie

PS: Thank you both Ardy and Deborah