Re: RA + FM- Iris

[Guest guest]

Hi Iris. I hope swimming helps you. This is my first year swimming in my

pool with a heater, and it¹s the best thing I did. I was in the pool 2

months earlier than I would have been without the heater. Using a solar

cover keeps the heat in even when the nights go into the low 60¹s. Water

therapy is what keep my joints moving and when they are inflamed, water

therapy helps the swelling.

I¹m sorry about your job loss. It¹s so hard to say what will happen with SS

disability. Some of us get it in 6 months, others in 6 years. It depends

on your ability to get your doctors to provide the information SSA requires

for a favorable decision. You should discuss it with your doctor and see

what they think about trying to get SS. You should collect copies of all

your medical reports. They are your records and you are entitled to copies

of them. It¹s good to have them and will help you if you decide to file.

Submitting copies of all your tests and medical information at the time you

file, it will help speed things up.

Remicade and Enbrel are biologicals. Approved in 1999, they both were

considered a new concept in RA treatment: biological response modifiers that

specifically target tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), which causes

inflammation. Clinical trials were very successful, with 60-80% of patients

resistant to existing therapies responding to these agents. The newest

biological response modifier, Amgen¹s Kineret (anakinra), an IL-1 receptor

antagonist, received FDA approval last year. There are many other biologics

in clinical trials now. The trials indicated that erosion caused by RA was

halted by these new class of drugs, but I¹ve been on Enbrel since it was

approved and I¹ve had new joints become active with RA and erosion

continues. But Enbrel is a fantastic anti-inflammatory for me, so it has

drastically improved my pain.

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